THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN: ALLIGATOR BLOOD GETTING SET FOR A SHOT AT THE BIG TIME

By Graham Potter | Sunday, August 18, 2019

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.

The strike rate behind the Sunshine Coast based trainer David Vandyke’s name has always been impressive.

Sure, like every stable, there are quiet patches where winners are temporarily infrequent, but Vandyke’s is one stable where you can almost bet that the pendulum will swing back into the spotlight soon enough and bring another run of success.

If you ever needed a reminder of that just look at the Vandyke stable statistics from July 14 to August 14.

During this period the stable sent out twenty runners, winning nine races with eight different individual runners. Also, stable runners, who did not win their races, also finished in the first three placings on five occasions.

Weboughtazou was the only Vandyke runner to win more than once during this time … and all credit to the gelding who has finished in the first three in nine of his eleven starts … but it was the on-going success of the smart Alligator Blood which attracted most attention.

The lightly raced son of All Too Hard has had more trials than races. Alligator Blood did not win any of his four trials to date but, significantly, when it counted, he reeled off three wins from his three career starts and has done so with a touch of excitement and a fair slice of authority which has Vandyke eyeing the rich races down south.

After Alligator Blood scored his latest victory, Vandyke commented, “We are excited with what we have here. Once he matures, I think you will really see something. He is entered for races like the Golden Rose in Sydney and Caulfield Guineas in Melbourne.”

It is worth noting this assessment for at least two reasons. One, it comes from a trainer whose results show he has a fine understanding of the horses in his care … and, two, Vandyke is not prone to getting ahead of himself.

So, could the good old Sunshine Coast have a future star in its midst?

There is still a lot of water to go under that bridge and bigger tests await but all you can do, at any stage, is win your races and that is just what Alligator Blood has been doing with the strong tick of approval from his trainer.

It is anticipated that Alligator Blood will have one more run in Queensland before heading south.

It is always a big test travelling and taking on the best but that is what you have to do to earn due recognition and you can be sure that when Alligator Blood does take that next step the local racing community will be right behind him in his push to prove his trainer right.

In the meantime, watch that strike-rate. As already stated, it is impressive.

More articles