ROB’S SHOUT - YOU SIMPLY CAN’T AFFORD TO LET THE WET WEATHER DAMPEN YOUR SPIRIT

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, October 20, 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.

Doesn't a year go by quickly? It seems like only a short time ago we were getting smashed by the dreadful weather pattern of La Nina this time last year and the early indications are that we are in for more of the same.

That is already the case up North where the Cairns rainfall has already set new records for the month and fingers crossed the cyclone season is nowhere near as destructive as last year's Yasi proved to be.

We have now had a couple of recent Saturdays on rain affected tracks in Brisbane and the Coasts and if not for some very sensible decision making by the Stewards last week, I doubt if the last race would have been run.

Moving the race forward some eight minutes was a proactive and positive action enabling the final race to be run. Smart thinking and they deserve some praise.

Wet weather racing quite simply plays havoc with racing and that's right across all levels of the industry … from the individual horses themselves, their training and race programming, race track preparation and maintenance and also, maybe more importantly, for the punters as well in determining form to have a bet with confidence.

I guess it is fair to say, as what was put to me recently, that the success of trainers and their runners is to a degree left in the hands of God when the inclement weather comes around. Sure, some horses definitely go better than others on wet ground, but as experience has taught me, there are even different variances of wet tracks themselves.

Many horses cope differently with the disruptions that wet track scratching's can cause. It is never ideal to have a horse trained up for a race only to be scratched on the morning, which at times means they may well have missed a crucial track work session.

This is of vital importance with horses that have a tendency to 'tie up', which is an equine affliction similar to muscle cramps in humans.

The biggest concern for me is often the racing schedule itself as it’s often not as simple as just scratching a horse and running it on the following Saturday as a suitable race is invariably not available. This factor alone can often determine if a horse races or not?

I run a big stable, but I certainly have more horses that do not handle a wet track than do. Just last week saw us scratch five and run only the two with one of them not happy on the Heavy 8 track!

I have learned the hard way though that prudence and patience, whilst very frustrating for the connections, is often the right way to go.

There is nothing worse than having a horse set for a particular race only for the weather to throw a spanner into the plans. This happened with Gundy Son last week who we thought could run a big race first-up before he went down to Melbourne to run at Flemington on Cup day.

He will now run up the straight first-up this campaign and whilst his first-up record is good, his second-up record is better, but we have had to go with the safer option and scratch him from last Saturday.

I did recently win with Fillydelphia first-up on a heavy track, but she only carried a light weight in a small field, so it was a far less taxing race than that which Gundy would have faced last Saturday under the 58 kilos.

Whilst resulting in a nice first-up win, we will only know the real legacy of that decision to run Fillydelphia when she runs on Saturday in terms of whether the first-up run on the wet track has taken any toll on her. Her work since suggests that it has not.

Is the weather perhaps more of an enemy in terms of the disruption it can bring to those training schedules, or even just a horses stable routine, than it is on race-day?

With the training facilities available for us at Eagle Farm and I guess also at Toowoomba and Caloundra, the wet weather does not seriously affect the training schedule.

The all-weather tracks cope very well although it must surely be a huge factor for those tracks that do not have a good surface which can handle excessive rain!

What sets a horse back more … missing regular training or missing a race … or are they both essential parts of the fine-tuning process?

Yes, both are essential to have any horse in that 'zone' where the horse can ‘Win’, but I have found that the margins between winning and losing these days has narrowed significantly. Just yesterday I had a $2 favourite that got well back from a wide draw in a slowly run race and whilst she got to the line strongly, she was never a winning hope! A good run, but no chance of winning!

It's not just the training and racing aspect of this industry which is seriously affected with the storm season!

Spare a thought for the many agistment and spelling farms. It's a very stressful time for them as well when the winds blow and many horses injure themselves when spooked in the paddocks. Just recently I lost a top two-year-old during a storm when it broke a leg after being spooked. Being in a stabled environment is probably the safer place to be when the storms hit.

Anyway, I am no fan of wet weather racing, but like so many situations in this industry, you have to play with the cards you are dealt and make the most of it, irrespective of how frustrating it is for all concerned.

On the Melbourne front, Buffering ran a disappointing race last week against a real star in Sepoy. Buff has subsequently been diagnosed with a pretty sore back. He conceivably may have done it jumping from the barriers. He quite simply ran many lengths below his form, but we are confident that he can return to his best.

The chiropractor and the vet have been working on him although we are having second thoughts now about his next race target. The Salinger was to be his goal but that now may change … but more on that later!

It’s Cox Plate time once again and yes, there will be the usual narks and naysayers who will say it's a crap race this year and want to bag the quality of the field. They say the same shit for every feature race though! They always make me laugh as they should try getting a horse into the race … let alone winning it!

I had dinner with John Bary and his jock last Saturday night and I am happy to tip Jimmy (Choux) to be winning.

Can Helmet become another So You Think?

For me, it's just a great time of thoroughbred racing and a pleasure to see the best horses at present going around. There will be some delighted connections after what for many is the Blue Riband of Australian Racing.

Many would argue that the holy grail of Australian Racing is indeed the Melbourne Cup … and maybe so. Quite possibly we may be seeing history once again repeat itself with Dunedan doing an Americain and a Media Puzzle!

I am just happy not to be getting on a plane this weekend and staying home!

Mind you, what an atmosphere there will be at Moonee Valley for the Cox Plate and to see once again, the phenomena of that is 'Black Caviar'!

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