ROB'S SHOUT - BUSY WEEK AS WE RELOCATE OUR SPRING HOPES FROM EAGLE FARM TO FLEMINGTON

By Robert Heathcote | Thursday, September 27, 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.

Hello once again,

It's been a pretty busy week all around but to be honest, that's pretty much the way it always is for most horse trainers.

Of special importance this week has been the relocation of our Melbourne spring racing aspirants from Eagle Farm to Flemington which has had me on edge for this past week.

It is an extremely exciting weekend ahead for us with Buffering now running in the AJ Moir Stakes at the Valley on Friday night … which will be a fantastic night of racing with plenty of turf stars lining up including the super horse, Pierro.

The evenings racing at the valley is the pre-cursor to one of the biggest sporting events on the Australian calendar with the AFL Grand Final so there's sure to be a real buzz about Melbourne.

Throw in Group 1 racing at Caulfield on Sunday with Solzhenitsyn getting his chance in the big league and it's not hard to see why the city is often referred to as the 'Sporting Capital' of the world.

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For those who have expressed an interest, the logistics of flying our three horses from Brisbane to Melbourne is easily explained with the time frame involved.

It's essential to keep their routine for the week as close as possible to normal with Buffering and Solzhenitsyn both having their final good work out on the course proper at Eagle Farm on Tuesday morning and Excellantes rounding out his prep with a very good trial win at Doomben. That fat bugger needed the extra trial and he also needed to be impressive as he really does have an Everest to climb in the Gilgai on Saturday week!

The three horses were taken out to the Brisbane Air Express cargo terminal at 11.30 pm on Tuesday night and I was rapt to see that all three had finished their evening feeds! That was a real good sign.

I had purposefully waited for the cargo plane to have landed in Brisbane before loading them at the stables so it was only a short wait before they were loaded onto the transport pallet to go into the cargo hold of the aircraft.

Buffering is an old pro at this caper now so he didn't need any sedative at all but the other two lads had a little to calm them down and help ease their anxiety.

I left the team to get back home as the pallet was heading out onto the tarmac, but Melissa later said it all went very smoothly and plane took off about 12.15 am. It was thankfully also a very smooth flight and the boys touched down about 2.45 at Tullamarine!

The float from the airport to Flemington had them in their boxes just before 4am which was fantastic. Little Buff had a bit of a squeal as he got off the float at Flemington as he knew where he was, back at his second home!

The boys will each have a very light trot and canter after they have had a light feed and chance to settle into their temporary spring home. I do not plan to do any fast work again with them this week as I am now very happy where I have them, especially the two racing this coming weekend.

Billy Shuck at Eagle Farm has been fantastic in giving me great usage of the course proper for strategic gallops to get the boys ready. That's been a huge leg-up getting my interstate team prepared for their respective races.

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The Group 2 Moir on Friday night looks to be a winnable race for Buffering, but only if he runs up to near his best.

He is a seasoned traveler and he has won around the tricky Valley track previously. There is no Hay List, Black Caviar or Sepoy for Buffering to contend with in this race but no doubt the likes of Tiger Tees, Atomic Force, Hallowelle Belle, Curtana among others will make it an extremely competitive affair.

I am sure our little bulldog will once again do us proud and if he cannot win this race, I know he won't be far away from the winner and I expect him to come on from the race.

Not sure yet whether he will go onto the Schillaci in a fortnight or whether we head direct to the MANIKATO in four weeks but the horse will tell us that after his run on Friday night and his subsequent recovery in the following week!

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Solzie has a huge ask ahead of him on Sunday. The track itself at Caulfield can be extremely tricky for first timers and the quality of the nominations suggests it will be a very tough race. It's a Group 1 and it doesn't matter what anyone says, they are NEVER easy to win and this will be no different, even if the Sir Rupert Clarke is often considered the weakest of the Group 1s on the National Racing calendar.

The likes of Glass Harmonium at his best, Pinwheel, We're Gonna Rock, Moment Of Change and Mr Make Believe as well as a few others will also make this a good race. I am very happy with Solzhie going into the race and he certainly deserves his chance at this level.

Black Caviar apart, it is never easy at this level but it sure is exciting and I am really looking forward to the weekend in Melbourne and that's whether we win or not.

Melbourne on Grand Final day … it sure does have a great feel about it if you have never experienced it!

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I have said in earlier blogs that my stable will be a bit quieter on the home front this season as we currently have a lot of restricted class horses in the stable who have yet to earn the right to be competitive at the Saturday levels and, frankly, have to prove that they have the actual class and ability to be competitive at the city metro level.

This means my stable will indeed have more runners at the provincials for a while and the mid-weeks and to answer a reader’s question from last week, yes, it still gives a huge amount of pleasure to win a race, no matter where it is!

From the Gold Coast to Ipswich and Caloundra, ask any trainer and they will tell you the same thing … it is not easy winning anywhere, so take ‘em with pleasure when they come and enjoy the thrill of the win!

As usual, good health and greetings to you all.

Cheers,
Robert

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