ROB'S SHOUT - THE FOCUS SHIFTS TO OUR CARNIVAL

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, April 12, 2012

Robert Heathcote is the leading racehorse trainer in Brisbane. 'Rob's Shout' - the personal blog of the multi-premiership and Group 1 winning trainer will appear every Thursday on HRO.

The Autumn campaign in Melbourne and Sydney with my stable runners has come to an end with a bit of disappointment, especially with Woorim's last couple of runs!

Thankfully we have discovered the reason for his less than expected performance in those runs and its pleasing to note that it wasn't his troublesome hoof issues.

The champ has picked up a low grade infection which has given him an inflamed throat with signs of mucous and some coughing. He has been receiving antibiotic treatment back home at my Eagle Farm stables and he will now go out to Washpool Lodge for some sun on his back.

We are very hopeful that a couple of weeks of r & r will see him recover from this setback!

The plan is to still have a crack at maybe the Doomben 10,000 and the Stradbroke if all goes well this next month or so. He has done a tremendous job winning the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate and a slashing run in the Newmarket so I am far from disappointed with his trip away.

It is with a twinge of regret when I look at the million dollar Group 1 TJ Smith at Randwick on Saturday and see a field of only six lining up. Buffering has beaten both of the favourites in the past, but he did have three gut busters in Melbourne and experience has taught me that you can only go to the well so many times. You quite simply cannot run in all of the big races.

Buffering has enjoyed a mini break and he came off the track at Eagle Farm this morning having a squeal and a play so I believe I have made the right call and this will become more evident when the local Winter Carnival group races have been run and won!

I have paid particular attention to the very astute placement of Black Caviar by her trainer, Peter Moody.

It is essential that the top horses be looked after as the tough runs they invariably have at the highest grade do take a lot out of them and to ensure their career longevity, racing them conservatively with short racing preps is the way to go in my opinion.

Anyway, I have my eyes firmly set on the Group 1 BTC Cup as the Buffs primary goal!

No Black Caviar and no Hay List … Mmmmmmm !

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We are getting ever so close to our carnival officially kicking off and we have a great appetizer this coming Saturday with the running of the Bribie Handicap!

Some very good local horses are lining up and I should be well represented with three runners.

Excellantes and Mondean are yet to prove themselves at stakes level so they have a big task ahead of them, but the old stable favourite, Gundy Son has won at Group 3 level.

His cushion track run in the Weetwood can be forgiven, so I expect a good run from him.

Adebisi recently trialed awesome so he will be right there as will Border Rebel who won well at his last start! It's a race like this which can set up a good carnival for many of the runners?

The three-year-old Listed 1350 looks a cracker of a race on paper with some nice horses lining up! I have Trump representing my stable and he produced a slashing first-up run under a big weight and he closed nicely from the rear of the field on a day when the leaders were advantaged.

I have a nice opinion of the son of Written Tycoon and I do believe there is a nice race in him. The barrier draw will be crucial to his chances as it will to many of the others.

As a trainer I am especially excited heading into the winter with some very nice horses.

Some recent very good runs from Funtantes, Solzhenitsyn and Triple Honour suggest there are possible wins around the corner for them. I have a very good prospect in Fillydelphia, who was awesome in a recent jump out. She will appear at the races on Saturday week!

A plane load of kiwis has arrived as well with more to come in the following weeks and experience has taught us they do not bring their slow ones over!

John Barry called me the other day asking for a couple of boxes for The Hombre and Jimmy Choux so they will be great draw cards for our carnival.

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We saw a little bit of controversy last week regarding the tracks, or more specifically, the firmness of the tracks in both Melbourne and Brisbane.

This caused a few trainers to scratch their horses not wanting to run them on the firm tracks.

This situation just highlights the degree of difficulty track managers are faced with to produce the ideal track. Action-wise, often they are damned if they do and damned if they don't .

Here we have had three months of nonstop rain and all of a sudden the tracks gets a bit of sun and warmth onto it and the top bakes like a loaf of bread.

The track curators certainly do not have an enviable position and it's a no brainer that they strive to achieve the perfect track which is a Good 3 with a touch of give in it.

Sometimes circumstances do not allow that but I am comfortable that every effort is being taken to produce the best track!

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If you have been to the races recently you will have seen the new measures introduced to mount the jockeys onto their horses in the pre-race saddling enclosure.

The aim is to have the jockeys congregate in the one area and mount up as the horses come past them.

This is supposed to be a safety issue (I think), but from what I have seen to date it quite simply does not work and causes more confusion, safety issues and unsettles the horses who are already on their toes prior to the race!

It only takes one troublesome horses to cause chaos to the whole system.

I would like to see us revert to the old system where the trainer and jockey walk out directly to their horse and load the jockey up. I can understand the enclosures can get a bit congested with owners in there as well so I agree to have a separate area for the jockey and the connections to converse pre-race which is an important aspect of racing.

It will be interesting to see what transpires with regards to this!

Kind regards and good health to you all.

Robert

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