FROM MY PERSPECTIVE - THERE IS ONLY SO MUCH YOU CAN DO WHEN A HORSE DECIDES TO RUN OFF THE TRACK
By Michael Cahill | Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Five-time Group 1 winning jockey Michael Cahill is the latest addition to the HRO blogging stable. Apart from Australia, Michael has ridden in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Malaysia, South Korea and Mauritius. He brings thirty-three years of race riding experience to the game and with this greater all-around experience Michael is superbly qualified to give insightful commentary on the racing scene. Michael’s personal blog, ‘From my perspective’ will appear every Wednesday on HRO.
There is only so much you can do as a rider when a horse wants to run off the track the way the well fancied Fiveandahalfstar did when seemingly having the Ranvet Stakes at his mercy in Sydney on Saturday.
The favourite was a repeat offender over the final 200m giving his jockey a tough ride and, although he was straightened late, Fiveandahalfstar ultimately went down to Foreteller by half-a-length to the disappointment of his followers.
Normally, in such a case, you would want to keep your whip in your left hand if you can and use your right hand rein to steer them. That can sometimes straighten them but it is often easier said than done and that plan cannot always be implemented.
The laws state that you have got to stop and straighten a horse if it is shifting ground. That law is in place to lessen any degree of interference that you might cause.
Of course, if you are clear of all other runners, as Fiveandahalfstar was, you can shift as long as don’t cause that interference, but when a horse suddenly tries to run off the track, particularly when you are focused on the finish over the last 200m, you are not always certain how you are placed in that regard.
You do want to stop the shift anyway, as the horse is covering ground, but you run the gauntlet in doing that in terms of possibly disrupting its momentum, which you obviously don’t want to do at that crucial time.
So the final, split second choice of action actually comes down to a pretty fine line, particularly if the fact that the horse is tiring badly is a contributing factor to his shifting ground.
All you can do is to try and steer the horse to the best of your ability. Like I say, if you can, you use the whip in the outside hand … the hand which he is laying towards … to try and straighten them.
You do get your persistent ones who want to do it though … and they can throw races away!
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Also in Sydney, Overreach rubber-stamped her Golden Slipper claims with a four length romp, easily beating the highly regarded Villa Verdi.
She is currently the favourite for the world’s richest two-year-old race and is doing everything asked of her.
Certain trainers, like Gai Waterhouse, who have had success in the Slipper before … they obviously do know how to get their horses there, but that is only half the battle.
Barrier draws are crucial in a race like the Golden Slipper so I wouldn’t be picking a good thing before they are known.
You have got to have the horse obviously, but barrier draws and luck in the running are also huge factors that are sure to play their part in the final outcome.
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On the local front I was lucky enough to have two winners on Saturday.
I’ve stayed on Epic … I’ve been in the saddle for his last five starts … and this time we got the win.
I think he is getting better, but the big factor that played in his win was the better ground. It was a bit firmer and he really relished that. He showed a good turn of foot.
I’m certain it was the track (a heavy 8) that cost him his last start.
He was going to win in the trip. He was going to win on the turn … but he just couldn’t quite quicken on that surface, whereas on Saturday with the good footing underneath he was able to quicken up and that made a big difference.
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My second winner, Seeking More, also did a good job.
He’s won three out of five now and is unbeaten in two first-up.
I didn’t really set out to lead, but circumstances found him in front … and then we got pressured mid-race when General Jackson came up and worried him a bit … and then the other one (Tiger Dimejan) challenged strongly and tested Seeking More all the way to the line, so it was a good win in the circumstances.
That result rounded off another good day for me.
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I galloped an interesting horse, Muir*, in-between races at Coloundra on Sunday.
It was an ex-Lloyd-Williams horse. He is a former Adelaide Cup winner who hasn’t raced since the Sydney Cup almost two years ago.
He gave me a good feel. He felt to me like a typical European stayer. When he went through his work he was just building, building, building … getting better all the time.
It’s been a long way back for him and it is early days so we’ll just have to see how he goes from here but his effort in the track gallop was a positive sign.
Till next week,
Michael
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*Muir won the 2011 Adelaide Cup (3200m) under Darren Gauci for trainer Robert Hickmott beating Saddler’s Story (second) and Macedonian (third). He had one more run after that finishing tailed off in the Sydney Cup of the same year. Muir is a six-time winner from twenty-three starts. All of his wins have come over distances from 2000m up.
**Trainer Trevor Miller adds some insight into Muir’s arrival at the Sunshine Coast.
“I bought the horse in March last year (2012). I didn’t go down to specifically to buy him. The one’s I wanted were too dear. I’m lucky I missed some I think. I’ve always followed this horse and liked him but things didn’t turn out well early.
"You couldn’t pick it, but after he’d been in work for about a month he had a problem and he had to have an operation. He had a splint bone taken out and he was then out of action for six months. I’ve had him back in work for about twelve weeks now.
"That’s the first time I’m asked him to go and Michael got a good feel of him. We’ll just take it in short steps. Give him a couple of short runs and then just build up the distance from there.”
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