THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ALLIGATOR BLOOD ... THE VIEW FROM AN OWNER'S PERSPECTIVE
By Graham Potter with Jeff Simpson | Thursday, September 19, 2019
Jeff Simpson is one of the three owners of Alligator Blood. He spoke to HRO after the All Too Hard gelding had secured his fourth win in a row at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday, September 15. Unbeaten to date, the smart three-year-old is now set to head south once again, this time to Melbourne to line up in the Caulfield Guineas Prelude at the end of September where he hopefully will have better luck than he did in Sydney where his scheduled run in the Ming Dynasty had to be aborted. This is an owner's back-story of Alligator Blood’s progress so far … as experienced by Jeff Simpson.
“We were at the Magic Millions and Alligator Blood (Al) was passed in at the sale.
“I liked the breeding. Kylikwong is his granddam and Kylikwong is related to Typhoon Tracy. I also love All Too Hard as a sire. He was a magnificent racehorse … a Caulfield Guineas winner … so we went and pulled Alligator Blood out of the stable so we could have a look at him. I said to my nephew, his breeding tells me he should come home to us.
"We actually went to look at another horse as well … a More Than Ready horse. They were in the stalls next to each other and we ended up buying them both.
“It wasn’t a case of being too difficult to choose between the two. We were very happy to take them both because of their breeding.
“We always thought the More Than Ready would do more than Al, but the More Than Ready has taken much longer to come to hand. He has raced already. His name is Strong And Fast. He had a first-up run (in May at Ipswich) and we were then advised to put him out. He is also with David Vandyke.
“When we bought Al he had a few issues. He had a hock problem that took time to deal with and we were willing to give Al whatever time he needed to come right. We never thought he would race as a two-year-old.
“He was about two inches away from going off to the paddock again when David and I had a bit of a chat one morning and he said I think this horse probably needs to go out into the paddock, but I’ll give him one more jumpout with two other horses before making a final decision … and from that morning onwards he has never looked backwards.
“The first win that he had at the Sunshine Coast … I know it was only a Maiden event … but I will never forget that. It was that good a feeling. Another two wins and we had three-in-a-row but those three wins came over a seven-month period. David is very patient with his horses and we were happy to be patient as well.
“It wouldn’t be racing if there weren’t any disappointments though and we got our first real taste of that with Al when we went to Sydney. We all went down for the race and that was an absolute disaster.
“When he won that three-year-old race at Doomben (his third win, On August 10), he won by three lengths. We went and had a look at him and on that day he was like Mary’s Little Lamb in the tie ups. We thought … ‘you beauty’. We can travel this horse anywhere he is such a cracker … but then we saw another side of him in Sydney.
“He was fine in the stable. It was only when he went to the track that something set him off. We don't know what it was. By the time we got down there to look at him … ten seconds after looking at him … I said, I don’t think this horse is going to run today.
“It wasn’t a pleasant experience but, in real terms, it was probably only a minor setback.
“Al was scratched from that race (the Ming Dynasty) and we brought it back for a run at the Sunshine Coast over the weekend.
“Never mind that it was a Class 5, it was a big test for him in many ways. He had to come through it well and he came through it fantastically.
"The run was going to decide whether we headed south again. He passed that test so we are back on track and can head for the Caulfield Guineas Prelude now.
“Jake Bayliss rode Al in his latest run. Jeff Lloyd, who is now retired, rode Al for his first two wins. Ryan Maloney was on him at Doomben for that third win but he couldn’t get down to the 53kg that Al was set to carry … so we went with Jake Bayliss.
“Jake is a nice boy. He is riding very well and he can ride at a light weight and I’ll be happy to give Jake rides on the horses we have got coming through. We’ve got twenty-one horses actually and we think we have a couple of good ones coming through, so we are fortunate.
“I must just say here that I think David is a fantastic trainer. All of us who are involved with him think that.
“We have a great liaison with him and the stable. Because there is only three of us in the syndicate with Alligator Blood we get on so well together. We have breakfasts. We go to the stables probably three or four times a week. David has no qualms with us going out there.
“David really is a master trainer and his expertise with the horses and his professional and friendly approach to us as owners is one of the main reasons why it is all working out so very well for us.
"We are grateful for that.”
*Related articles: The David Vandyke racing season - August 2019
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