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MARIE MCCABE |
Weblog: The wife of leading all-weather trainer Alan McCabe with her weekly diary.
America calling after week of ups and downs
I'm not really sure how to approach this week's blog because emotions have run high at Averham Park for the past week or so for a variety of reasons.
I think if I concentrate on matters horsey, we should get somewhere.
This week has seen disappointment and satisfaction in unequal measure as we have enjoyed five wins, including two doubles. The first of these doubles occurred at Southwell with Il Battista and Eastern Hills in consecutive races.
Il Battista won well under a great ride from our old comrade Declan Cannon. Declan knows the horse well, which is important as he can be a little unwilling at times and needs a rider who can read his every move. In the early stages of the race he looked as though he would rather be at home watching Bargain Hunt but, through Declan's urgings, got his act together and won fairly convincingly with stablemate Watch Chain back in fourth.
The second leg of the double came on the back of Eastern Hills whose owner, Charles Wentworth was present for the win. Charles has never been at the races when Eastern 'The Beastie' Hills has won before and was tempted to vacate the course shortly before the race to hide out in his car in case of jinxing him.
He needn't have worried and Beastie won gamely. I was prepared to allow him that victory even though my old boy, Elusive Warrior, was finishing well in third and not beaten far. That's sportsmanship (or sportswomanship) for you. Warrior's time will come - I'm convinced he's not done with winning just yet.
Old Silver Wind scored again at Wolverhampton on Saturday night, proving that the old-timers can mix it with the young 'uns and he's become a bit of a poster-boy for the more elderly residents of the yard. He has a good chance when he runs again in an apprentice race at Wolverhampton on tomorrow.
The second of ourdoubles was an across-the-card job when Brio
surprised us with an emphatic three and a half length victory at Leicester closely followed by an even more emphatic 29length win for Bedouin Bay over hurdles at Huntingdon.
Brio had been bought from Ashbrittle Stud by Sale of The Century (owners of Fratellino) and had made a somewhat unpromising start to his career. The manner of his races have been fairly hit and miss, sometimes he runs quite well and others woefully.
There was no knocking his style of victory though as he gamely led for much of the way, finishing some 5 or 6 lengths clear of the other runners on the stands side. I am under no illusion that this selling race was hardly the Derby, but a win is a win and every addition to our seasonal tally is gratefully received.
Bedouin Bay's long-term future looks rather more rosy and he has taken well to his new career as a hurdler. I felt he had the upper hand over the favourite as it fell at the final flight and he was eased in front, winning comfortably. Denis O'Regan is a superhorseman and gave him a brilliant ride and an easy
race. Denis even managed to catch the loose horse as it swung by and bring it in, something not often seen on flat tracks.
Saturday at Newmarket was a day we will remember and put down to experience. A Group 1 runner (Caspar Netscher ran in the Middle Park) in a yard like ours does not come along very often (indeed, this was our first) and it was disappointing that things panned out the way they did. When you have sixteen horses contesting a Group 1 race, nobody will do anyone else any favours and things can get pretty tight, even on a wide track like Newmarket.
Disappointing though it is to feel you could have won, it is far more disappointing to be soundly beaten and left wondering if your horse is as good as you thought he was. So while we may not yet have that Group 1 in the bag, at leastwe still know we have a good horse and his Gimcrack and Mill Reef victories cannot be discounted as flukes (woe betide the person who suggests to me that they were!).
We are now USA-bound and, if his acrobatics on Wednesday morning are anything to go by, he will fly out in tremendous form. He's a tough little bugger and an absolute pleasure to train. The passage is booked and we are raring to go - although few of us are sleeping well at night. Nobody said it was easy.
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