Trainers reaping the rewards of using cheapest ingredient
By Chris Roots
The hardest thing for emerging stables with a good horse is deciding how long to wait before heading to the big stage.
Warwick Farm trainer Bryce Heys made that choice with Dancing Alone earlier in the year, as did Hawkesbury-based Ed O’Rourke with Iron Man, and their rewards could continue at Randwick on Saturday.
O’Rourke has already seen the benefit of his patience in Iron Man’s two wins off a 38-week spell and a throat operation.
“He was always a really nice horse but in his last preparation he loomed to win and just didn’t go on,” O’Rourke said. “You could see there was something wrong, so he had the operation.
“We brought him back for the Provincial Championships and he just wasn’t right, so we stopped again, which was hard.”
O’Rourke waited for the winter. After a couple of impressive barrier trials, Iron Man stormed through a gap late to win at Canterbury on his return and then stepped to Saturday grade with an explosive win in a benchmark 78 charging down the centre of the track.
Iron Man charges away from his rivals in Benchmark 78 company at Rosehill last month.Credit: Getty Images
Iron Man stays in that grade with three kilograms extra on Saturday, but O’Rourke is confident in his best horse.
“All his wins are on soft and heavy tracks but he is better on firmer ground,” O’Rourke said. “He is a lot stronger because of the time he has had away from racing, and more mature.
“That last win, he was three wide with cover and rounded them up so quickly, so I’m not worried about the weight.”
Iron Man could be heading for bigger races in the early part of the spring, particularly if the tracks stay dry.
“We actually waited with him for the tracks to be a little less wet because he needs that confidence in his footing,” O’Rourke said. “The good thing about his two wins has been he has shown the ability I knew he had, and he hasn’t yet got on a firm surface.
“Bart Cummings said ‘patience is the cheapest thing in racing and the least used’, and this shows that he was right because we could have rushed him and not had the success we are having.”
It is a similar story for Bryce Heys with Dancing Alone, which has shown potential from her debut. Her record stands at six wins from eight starts after being well-placed by Heys.
The I Am Invincible mare rose through the grades last spring winning four of her six starts and finished the campaign by being placed at group 3 level during the Flemington carnival, but Heys decided to miss the autumn with her.
“It was the toughest decision to make because I know how good she is,” said Heys, who went so close to group 1 glory with Speith a few years back.
“It would have been a quick turnaround into the autumn, so I felt giving her a long break could pay dividends later on. Being a small trainer, you don’t get many like her.
“She is older and stronger and we would like to get her back to stakes level again, but timing-wise this is a good starting point for her.”
Dancing Alone is unbeaten first up and is a $3.20 second favourite behind the flying Our Kobison ($1.90) as she returns over the Randwick 1000m, where she is likely to take a sit behind the favourite.
It was a tactic she used to run down smart sprinter Jedibeel over 1000m at Kembla Grange at the beginning of her spring campaign last year
“She is going to take improvement from the run on Saturday,” Heys said. “I think she is going to get those black type races later in the prep and be very competitive.”
Rosehill stable providing Golden Path for Price and Kent junior
Mick Price and Michael Kent junior’s satellite stable at Rosehill has earned more than $1.5 million in six months and they are hoping to make it a permanent part of their business to let horses like Golden Path shine.
The Melbourne training partnership is waiting on confirmation from the ATC to formalise their Rosehill stable, where they already have staff.
Golden Path has won his past two starts, including powering away from subsequent Grafton Cup runner-up Touristic in the McKell Cup at the end of June.
“He is a horse that has loved being in Sydney and since that last win he has had a short break with the Premier’s Cup in mind,” Kent said.
Chad Schofield and Golden Path score an easy McKell Cup win in June.Credit: Getty Images
“We earmarked that race after his last win and Saturday is the logical lead-up with his target two weeks away.
“Chad [Schofield] knows the horse well and I think from the good gate he will be confident of his chances over the 1800m”
Golden Path is $3.40 favourite for the Premier’s Cup Prelude against a group of stayers looking to further into spring and races like the Wyong Cup, Newcastle Cup and the Metropolitan.
“These are the only two runs we have planned and then we will assess where he is at,” he said. “Getting him to win at 2000m has opened up plenty more options for him but if he’s going well we could push on into spring, but there are races like The Ingham later on for him.”
The Price-Kent partnership have had a handy group of horses at Rosehill including Queensland Derby winner Warmonger, which is spending a couple of weeks in Sydney to start his spring, and All Aged Stakes runner-up Amenable, which is back in work after running fifth in the Stradbroke.
“He could look at the Epsom and the Five Diamonds,” Kent junior said. “There is a good program of races in Sydney for him and it is what makes Rosehill a big part of our stable going forward.”
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