As anyone familiar with the song whose name I've borrowed for the title of this chapter will know, from the Aboriginal sit-down at Wattie Creek on Lord Vestey's land grew, via Gough Whitlam pouring a handful of sand through Vincent Lingiarri's fingers, came Aboriginal land rights as we now know them. Let's hope that something similarly big can grow from the little acorn which was Oscar's debut yesterday - because it genuinely was a very, very small acorn indeed.
Oscar, as you can see here, is still a real baby: he could just about pass for a two-year-old, which is remarkable for a horse aged five. His work had been OK, but it had been plain to me that he'd struggle with deep ground: not only is he visibly so weak, but also if it's very wet and one takes him on one of the Polytracks which, through poor drainage, get very deep when it's wet, he really struggles, even just cantering slowly. The ground is basically heavy everywhere, and has been for months; but Southwell hadn't raced for months on the turf, the weather was good, and the ground was 'soft, good to soft in places' (ie as good as one would get) so that seemed the place to go.
Anyway, the ground was testing, as times varying between 30 seconds and 45 seconds slower than standard testify. We'd have probably been OK had we been in the first race; but the bumper, of course, is the last, and by that time the track was really chewed up. I vaguely suggested to William to go wide of the chewed up ground, but he correctly pointed out that that would mean being maybe six or seven wide all the way; and, unless the other seven all decided to go wide too, that wasn't really an option.
There were no stars in the race, but there were no poor horses either: the complete outsider at 50/1 had finished better than midfield at Warwick (where I generally think that the bumpers and novice races are quite strong) on his only run. Oscar travelled well for two thirds of the race and, turning out of the back straight, it was inconceivable that he could run last. But he knocked up really badly, and that's exactly where he finished.
Anyway, as often happens when horses race on bad ground which they can't handle, he's suffered a few soft tissue injuries. He was pretty sorry for himself when he got home, but walking sound. He ate virtually nothing overnight and still looked quite miserable this morning, but it's nothing that won't heal with a couple of weeks' rest and then a gentle and gradual return to work.
I'd say that he'll be ready for another run in around two months' time - and that's grand as it'll probably take a couple of months before sound underfoot conditions become the norm (unless 2013 mirrors 2012, in which case it will take dozens of months before such conditions are commonplace once more). So the Oscar dream can live on - and, really, we're no wiser than we were yesterday morning about what he can or can't do. It'll be fun finding out - and, I hope, it'll be good weather when we do find out.
Talking about how grotty the weather has been does not overlook the fact that, as these latter photographs (taken today) attest, we've had a lovely sunny (if cold - the ice in the shade didn't properly melt all day) day today, which has been a real delight, even if we're now settling in for another very cold night. No, today was a joy, even if a cold one, when the still and dry air in brilliant sunshine allowed one (if one overlooked the sub-zero and then single-digit temperatures) to harbour the illusion that it was summertime.
Anyway, as often happens when horses race on bad ground which they can't handle, he's suffered a few soft tissue injuries. He was pretty sorry for himself when he got home, but walking sound. He ate virtually nothing overnight and still looked quite miserable this morning, but it's nothing that won't heal with a couple of weeks' rest and then a gentle and gradual return to work.
I'd say that he'll be ready for another run in around two months' time - and that's grand as it'll probably take a couple of months before sound underfoot conditions become the norm (unless 2013 mirrors 2012, in which case it will take dozens of months before such conditions are commonplace once more). So the Oscar dream can live on - and, really, we're no wiser than we were yesterday morning about what he can or can't do. It'll be fun finding out - and, I hope, it'll be good weather when we do find out.
Talking about how grotty the weather has been does not overlook the fact that, as these latter photographs (taken today) attest, we've had a lovely sunny (if cold - the ice in the shade didn't properly melt all day) day today, which has been a real delight, even if we're now settling in for another very cold night. No, today was a joy, even if a cold one, when the still and dry air in brilliant sunshine allowed one (if one overlooked the sub-zero and then single-digit temperatures) to harbour the illusion that it was summertime.
No comments:
Post a Comment