THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - WHEN TRAINERS DESERVE CREDIT FOR NOT RUNNING THEIR HORSE

By Graham Potter | Sunday, April 10, 2016

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

Trainer Chris Waller, so often praised for sending out winners of big races, should be given equal credit for his decision not to run his champion mare Winx in the Queens Elizabeth Stakes yesterday.

You can say that is easy enough to do with all of the success Waller already has behind his name.

Winx alone has earned over $6 million in prize-money and there would seem to be little stress in allowing Winx to wait for another time before trying to extend her already exceptional winning sequence.

Easy enough to say, but how many trainers would not have been tempted to back Winx up after her sterling effort in the Doncaster Handicap last week with a $2.4 million first prize carrot hanging on the Queen Elizabeth Stakes finishing line?

My guess is not many! A possible financial windfall like that does not come around often.

Waller explained his decision by saying that, “the winning run in the Doncaster did require a lot of effort which is hard to quantify ... but visibly looking at her, while she is at 90 per cent, we don’t feel she is 100 per cent of her normal self.”

“She is a horse that has exceptional talent, but expecting her to back up after a tough run would just be expecting too much of a horse that puts so much determination into her races.

“I am very mindful that the public did want to see her race on Saturday, but it is more important that the public get to see her race next preparation and beyond.”

That’s a champion attitude from a champion trainer about a champion horse.

All credit to him.

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For all that it has got to be very satisfying to be in this game in a position where money is not your over-riding decision making factor.

Buffering’s now famous recent victory in the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai is another case in point.

That race was worth US$1 million. Even with the conversion rate that amount still fell comfortably short of the $2,5 million on offer for the TJ Smith Stakes in Sydney, a race which would have been in Buffering’s sights had he not ventured to Dubai.

When Buffering won on the world stage the last thing on the minds of trainer Robert Heathcote and the connections when they jumped around, ecstatic in the sheer delight of victory, was what stake-money the horse had just added to the bank balance.

The horse was always going to Hong Kong after that, but then to option to carry on to Royal Ascot became a huge temptation before Heathcote pulled the plug on that idea saying that, at the end of the day, it was all about what was good for the horse.

All credit to him.

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It can’t always be like that of course.

By far the majority of those directly involved in the racing industry live far too close to the breadline for comfort and very few reach the dizzy heights mentioned above.

But the likes of Waller and Heathcote doing what they do keeps the dream alive for others ... and if they do the right thing by the horse while they are up there in lights, so much the better!