It has been a difficult few weeks with very little racing. It is nice to come back and have two lots of entries in front of me to decide what we are running over the weekend. We have managed to get plenty of work into the two year olds and we are starting to have quite a few two year old runners – a good position to be in, writes Joey Ramsden.
Joey Ramsden – nice bunch of 2yo’s
They are running well and look like a nice bunch.
As they say, no trainer ever killed himself with an unraced two year old in his yard – we live in hope. We seem to take longer than most trainers with our youngsters but I have no interest in 800m and 900m races. I think we take far too long before putting on 1200m races.
I think the days of the quick scurries are long gone and fairly pointless but that is only my point of view.
We are starting to get the Durban horses ready and all is good on that front so far. We have had St Tropez, Disco Al and The Conglomerate come back from lengthy holidays.
Brutal Force even managed to catch a couple of weeks out at grass before travelling up to Johannesburg with trainer assistant Alson Ndzilana.
Alson did a smashing job with him last year and we will try and have a go at the Computaform Sprint, all being well.
Brutal Force
We all managed to survive the Durbanville sale. I though the prices were pretty decent for what was on offer.
Horses are like paintings: people will only pay what they think they are worth and that was very much the case a couple of weeks ago.
We managed to pick up five and I was extremely happy with the individuals we bought.
Maybe the pedigrees were not as strong as we would have liked but we were all more than satisfied with the horses themselves.
Biarritz (Count Dubois – Corlia’s Bid)
I just have the one youngster I need to find owners for.
He is a rather nice colt by Biarritz x Darley Rose from Graeme Koster’s Rosedene Stud and I like him very much.
We crack on with more sales, with another exciting CTS sale and, of course, the Nationals.
There is also the Sydney Easter Sale where I am sure records will be broken.
One man who might not be there is champion trainer, Peter Moody, who has – wrongly in my mind – handed in his license after being given a six month ban for a cobalt positive on Lidari.
It looks a ridiculously harsh sentence when given and reading all the facts, Moody’s stature as a trainer and his present and past record. He was one of Australia’s top trainers, a really good bloke and he will leave a huge hole in the industry.
I would have liked him to have taken the Turf Club on. Australia still hold a very strong old boy network in their Jockey Club and I would have liked to have seen them having their backsides kicked. I am sure there were people queuing up to help Peter with the kicking.
He has no reason to give anything to his horses. He has an extremely large string and is not that desperate – as he has proven by throwing in the towel and sticking two fingers up at the authorities.
What a great loss to Australian racing.
Peter Moody -travesty of justice
He was one of the great characters and one must also mention all the staff employed by him. I cannot believe that racing’s ruling body put any thought into what would happen to these employees, many of whom must have been extremely fond of Peter. The thought of losing their jobs – and the horses they have cared for and loved over the years – must be a bitter pill to swallow.
Who can forget that this is the man who trained the brilliant mare, Black Caviar. Her string of unbeaten victories in Group races are unlikely to be repeated.
We have some interesting runners for the weekend but will end this blog now as Colleen is on my case to hurry up so we can get it typed in time for the Sporting Post!
Read the full story on www.joeyramsden.com
