ROB'S SHOUT - HOW QUICKLY THINGS CAN CHANGE

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, May 5, 2011

Robert Heathcote is the leading racehorse trainer in Brisbane. 'Rob's Shout' - the personal blog of the premiership winning trainer will appear every Thursday on HRO.

Hello again,

I don't know about you but the shortened week has made it fly by and before we know it, it's just about time to rumble again on Saturday.

I made a comment recently about racing and, in particular, training. I said that it is not an exact science. I guess if it was easy and a predictable outcome every time we had a race then the racing industry/sport and gaming aspect quite simply would not work.

Perhaps it is the uncertainty and the myriad of variables that exist, that make it such a fascinating industry for so many different individual reasons.

There are of course many times as a trainer that I wish it were a lot easier and an exact science as it would make my life more bearable and I might have more hair?

A couple of recent examples that immediately come to mind of how quickly things can change are Buffering and Fillydelphia!

Just as recently as three or four weeks ago I was advising the owners that a serious hoof abscess to Buffering would more than likely derail his winter carnival.

There were many times around the stable when we were all very pessimistic and even resigned to losing the battle with Buffering’s problems.

I even got to the stage where I thought his level of lameness may even lead to a far more serious and even a career threatening situation such as laminitis or
Founder, which are very serious medical problems.

I got a phone call one day from the vet, Phil Burguez who said that he had just got a massive abscess to burst out of his hoof, I jumped for joy as I knew from experience that this is what we needed.

The horses recovery from that point on was quite remarkable and incredibly he went on and raced in the Group 2 Victory stakes which we know he won!

Even the vet couldn't believe that he had done this as it was less than three weeks from the abscess burst to the race win. Remarkable really … and just another page in my experience book of training a race horse.

A huge job done by my staff, my farrier Chris and of course the vet, Phil B.

An example of the other side of the equation that makes this such an inexact science is the good filly, Fillydelphia.
I came into the carnival really expecting her to be a stable shining light in the winter carnival.

A super and unlucky first-up run, where she carried 58 kilos, has now been followed by two very ordinary runs at set weights where it looked like she would be very well suited.

Why has her form dropped away so sharply?

I know there will be many experts who think they have the solution but, rest assured, we have carried out all the clinical tests from blood profiles and extensive veterinary examinations.

All of these have failed to find any problem and my experienced track riders say she continues to feel great under saddle and her work has been as good as it gets.

So why her loss of form?

A closer look at the stewards’ report will see she has featured extensively in each of her three runs back which leads me to suspect that she may well be just down on confidence.

Is it possible? Maybe, maybe not? Anyway, what can I now do to try and turn the fortunes of this good filly and her owners Frank and Pauline around?

I am removing the blinkers in an effort to increase her field of vision which may allow her to be more at ease amongst the other horses.

We are also changing the jockey and that's not because I am apportioning blame to Larry. It’s just we have to try something. It is a case of change something and see if it works!

Fillydelphia is going to have another race start to see if we can get her to produce the ability that we are convinced she has.

If she fails again, it will be off to the paddock to lick our wounds and try again next prep!

Racing is like any sport where confidence is vital to success.

I know it is with myself each and every time I go to the races and that is certainly the case with jockeys who just make the right decisions when their confidence is
high.

Those who know me now, know it's best to talk to me the day before the race as I will always find more ways to get beat on race-day!

Buffering has certainly given the stable plenty of confidence with his second Group 2 win in the Victory Stakes as we get our teeth right into the carnival.

Hang on, the good mare, Black Caviar has just hit town and here I am talking about confidence!

Still, you have to play with the cards you are dealt and I am under no illusions how tough it’s going to be to win races over the next couple of months.

We have some nice horses in training and racing and even a few ‘newies’ to come along yet so were are certainly optimistic, but also realistic regarding our carnival chances.

Can you believe also that the last three days has seen Funtantes develop some hoof issues and that's come after her return back into the winners stall after a lengthy absence!

I have had my vet and farrier here all week and as recently as yesterday she was a million to one to line up on Saturday in the Silk Stocking.

A miracle this morning as the round the clock treatment seems to have paid dividends.

She worked well this morning, pain free and with more beach water wading, we are now confident she will not only make the races, but she will perform well.

That was of course until the barriers came out today, gate 20!

Ah well, I did say it was an inexact science!

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