ROB'S SHOUT - BLACK CAVIAR'S PROWESS DEFIES BELIEF

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, October 13, 2011

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

I am not exactly sure what more can be said about the extraordinary feats of Black Caviar, but I had the pleasure of being at Caulfield last Saturday to see her return to racing and demolish yet another field of 'specialist' sprinters!

She was once again so dominant over the 1000m and the apparent ease with which she does it defies belief.

Before the race I was watching her walk around the outside parade ring and she has such a comfortable, relaxed demeanour as if she does not have one care in the world … and this defies the explosive nature of her prowess on the track.

I had a chuckle watching so many people near Black Caviar, when she was having her pre-race walk, who were oblivious to her identity and treated her just like another racehorse … until the saddle cloth went on and then her adoring fans couldn't get enough of her! The same to a degree with Helmet!

Yes, it is fantastic for racing to have a superstar and Black Caviar is in another stratosphere. We all love a champion and she fits the bill brilliantly.

The great mare brings people to the races and that has got to be a good thing and whilst Helmet is not in her league, he is also very exciting!

There was a genuine, near tangible excitement on the track on what was quite a lovely Melbourne Spring day.

I do have to say that the race which excited me the most on the day though was the epic duel between Manawanui and the new superstar Helmet.

The fastest ever Caulfield Guiness and on a Dead 4! Wow, a couple of superstars there!

I am not willing to write off Smart Missile just yet. I am confident he can bounce back, maybe not this prep but he will later!

Things didn't quite go as well as we had hoped with Woorim who ran a solid sixth place, beaten three lengths.

A couple of things went against him as he didn't show his customary zing the last 400m. Three runs in three weeks may have taken the 'ping' out of him and we subsequently found post-race that he had suffered a massive black eye from the run. Experience has taught me that can certainly 'slow' them down.

I am still his biggest fan!

The goal posts will now change for him as we give him the three weeks until his next run at Flemington.

Buffering will race at Caulfield again this Saturday, but I have to admit that I find the handicapping of the race incredulous.

Buffering is equal top weight with Beaded who has had 22 starts for placings in 21 of them including three Group 1 seconds and a Doomben 10,000 win from her last four starts.

If I thought she was well treated, then try Sepoy. He's rated a whole seven points higher than my horse and yet in a HANDICAP, Buffering still has to give him 2.5kg’s!

Yes, he is a three-year-old, but he's won three Group 1s and $3.5 million. He will just about have to fall over not to win this race.

He basically goes from 52 to 55.5 for a dominant Group 1 win in the Manikato! Sorry, but it doesn't make complete sense to me seeing as it's a handicap and not a WFA race, so he is thrown into this race.

Interesting that Helmut is the new Cox Plate favourite and yet Peter Snowdon still calls Sepoy as the best three-year-old in the land! The handicappers obviously didn't hear that comment from the master trainer!

I was quite chuffed with the run of Our Lukas on Saturday. He just got pipped for third place at the juicy odds of $50 bucks under the hefty weight of 59kg, so that run shows he is bang on target to defend his Seymour cup next Sunday.

He won two consecutive Ipswich Cups so could he make it two Seymour Cups as well?

I will certainly be there to cheer him on this coming Sunday, but he is sure to get plenty of weight! They don't mind stacking the kilos on down there as I have found of late.

I remember as young fella that interstate flying/travel had a touch of excitement about it, but the 'glamour' of it has certainly well-worn off for me these days! 3am starts with track work at Eagle Farm and then the journey to Melbourne at 7am. Long days at the track and then the return journey back home at 7 pm all in the one day does make for a tiring schedule.

Damian Browne seems to cope better than me. He had four wins from four rides on the Sunday at his home track, so travel is not affecting the little champ!

The tiring day was certainly tempered with a good day back home at Eagle Farm where our stable landed a winning double. Jimmy Byrne is riding in great form also and his timing has been spot on of late!

He says its ‘cause he’s getting onto some of my better horses, but I am happy to deflect the praise to Jimmy.

Fillydelphia's return to racing was awesome and she did it on a Heavy 8 track first up over the 1300m … so her effort was fantastic to win the feature race of the day.

Jim summed up the farcical pace to cruise past them at the 600 for what, in the end, turned out to be a pretty soft win!

At this stage I am happy to leave her racing at home. There is another quality over 1400 in a fortnight that suits nicely and there are some nice open mile races leading up to Christmas including the Recognition and finally the Bernborough. These look like suitable races for her!

Racing Heart is doing a super job for his connections. He won his eighth race on Saturday. He's come back in great order from restricted grade to win two from three in Open company.

Whilst he only won in the last stride, his effort was full of courage. He is bringing a lot of pleasure to a lot of people!

The rain caused us to scratch our two other runners and what a great call from John Thompson (Sam’s owner and not the Patinack trainer) to not only scratch Sam’s Town, but to agree to sending him for a spell!

I guarantee most owners would have raced him knowing that a spell was around the corner. The horse may have had a gut-buster with the 58 on a Heavy 8 track so that was a great call and he will spell very well now.

Redessi isn't comfortable on wet tracks. That was a no brainer … so he can race this Saturday.

The stable double allowed us to sneak ahead of the ‘Patinack Juggernaut’ in the trainers premiership which is adding a touch of interest to the local racing scene.

There is a bloody long way to go in that race though!

Jimmy rode four winners on Saturday and Damian four on Sunday. I am fortunate to be spoilt for choice with in-form jocks who do a lot of riding for me.

With them being part of the 'team' … and throw in Glen C, Paul H and Larry among others … it can only help stable confidence. Or is it the stable result’s that are giving the jockeys confidence?

That’s probably a two-way street, but it sure does help getting the top, in-form jocks on the horses.

It's another busy weekend for the stable with all hands on deck. Buffering and Trump fly the flag at Caulfield with Lukas lining up at Seymour on Sunday. I am looking forward to spending the weekend in Melbourne to make the trip up to Seymour instead of the same day return journey back to Brisbane.

Back home it will be a busy day with a number of decent chances. The weather may well have the final say in what's happening at home though as the forecast looks a bit ugly for Saturday!

Gundy Son may make a reappearance to the track and Captain Clayton depending on the weather. Il Cardinal and Red God are knocking on the door. Redessi and Dux Bellorum are both progressive racehorses and Hidden Kisses does have plenty of class so maybe we enjoy further successes on the weekend.

We will certainly be trying.

Cheers for now.
Robert

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