.jpg)

Anyway, she was to be entered in the February Sale as a three-year-old early last year, and my advice was that she was too nice a horse to be sold at a time when she was clearly going to hold no appeal to the market-place. However, she was to go - and I felt that, with my having consistently told Henry that she was a nice horse and that he should not sell her, it would look very odd if she went to a sale, attracted no interest and I didn't bid for her myself. In other words, if I couldn't put a relatively small amount of money where my mouth was, it would suggest that I had been lying when telling him that she was a nice horse. Anyway, the upshot was that she became mine for 800gns.
Anyway, a relatively small amount of money has subsequently become a much bigger sum as Gift Of Silence then spent her three-year-old year doing what she had done as a two-year-old, ie showing plenty of speed and promise, but then not coping with things any time she had done enough to get within sight of a race. She's gone through various stages of starting to hang right very badly in her work (and it's no coincidence that she's running tomorrow on the only right-handed track which races in the winter - even now, with her currently showing no tendency to lug right, I still would be very loth to run her on a left-handed track) and at various times I've worked her in blinkers and/or different bits to try to correct this.
But, as ever, time has been the only cure: she's now, notwithstanding that she still looks an immature, leggy filly, mature enough to cope with things, and for the first time ever she is working consistently well (rather than well one week and terribly the next) and consistently tractably. So she can have a run and we'll see how we go. And we've already had one stroke of luck because, strange though it may seem, in an 8-horse field I was really hoping to draw stall 8 - and that's exactly what we've got.
You might wonder why I'd want the widest gate, but there is method in my madness. She's not the easiest in the stalls because, although she walks in fine, she can get very restive once she's been in there a while. She's never done anything really stupid in them in her sessions in there with Iva, but I wouldn't put it past her to sit down or rear up too high eventually. In other words, she's the obvious candidate to wear a blind-fold, as they usually stand more quietly if they can't see where it is or isn't safe to throw themselves.
And, of course, of all the really silly rules in the book, top of the list is the one which says that a horse wearing a blind has to go in first. If she'd been drawn an odd number, I'd have reluctantly elected to wear a blind and go in first. But with an even draw, particularly the highest one, she can, without a blind, go in late - and, ideally, last - so that she shouldn't be long enough to get into trouble. That's what I hope, anyway. But, even so, I wouldn't put it past her to move around in the gates - and if she does that, she'll probably miss the start - and if she does that, she'll run badly. So don't ask me how she'll run because it could be anything from first to last (and that's assuming that she gets round)!
The other seemingly strange thing about tomorrow is that, as well as wanting the 'worst' draw, I've booked a jockey who can ride at close to 8 stone for a horse with 10 stone, when several of the heavier jockeys whom we use are available. However, it's been on my mind that we haven't given Martin Lane a ride for a while, and he's a good jockey as well as a local and a very hard-working one, and as such deserves to be patronized. So tomorrow looked a suitable opportunity - and let's hope that things go better than the last ride which he had for us which, through no fault of his, didn't even get round (Wasabi at Newmarket). You'll note that he was still riding out through the mornings when we were at our coldest (as you can see in this photograph of David Simcock's string last month) and while many of our fair-weather friends in the weighing room had either fled for warmer climes or were taking shelter in the warmth of their homes, so it's good to be using him.
So let's see what happens tomorrow. I've no idea what will happen - but I'm looking forward to finding out.
5 comments:
best of luck tomorrow,
Ian
Thanks Ian. Looks to have three decent fillies in opposition, but let's hope that we can show some promise.
Your blog is much appreciated John, and gives a fascinating view of how a (top) trainer sees the world.
Keep up the good work !
Hello John, I didnt see the race tonight but from the comments on at the races website, I would think you would be very pleased,
I also agree with Glenn, as I have said before your blogs are appreciated,
thanks
Ian
Thank you for those comments. Always good to find people taking the trouble to read the blog.
Post a Comment