Well..Suprise Package is running at Naas on Sunday and the question is: will he add an ‘r’ to his name and surprise us again? Time for a recap:
He finished a slightly disappointing 2nd last on his debut at Thurles. I say ‘slightly disappointing’ in the same way that Jennifer Lopez is ‘slightly attractive’. The reality is that he was woeful and Peter’s immediate reaction after the race was to tell me “trust me Paul, he’s better than that”. I do trust Peter and it was gratifying to know that he probably isn’t the second slowest horse in training.
So, onto Fairyhouse we went; up in trip to 2m 4 furlongs but now with the ground heavy and we knew he would just hate it. Peter set the expectations: “better than last time” followed by a barely audible “I hope”. Now, it was a poor race but, even so, he really did surprise by finishing 3rd. I think the horse ran better than Kevin Sexton expected as well, because he was called into the Stewards room afterwards to explain the ’apparently’ tender handling of the horse.
Kevin reported that the horse made a respiratory noise and the vet in attendance added that he was ‘post-race abnormal’ (the horse, that is); these, of course, are just the sort of things a new owner wants to hear. Anyway, here we are, almost three weeks later, and the horse has not displayed any problems or issues subsequently. I have a few theories:
1. He gets himself stressed on race days. Poor old Bay of Freedom could develop ulcers on his way to the racecourse so this is not so far-fetched.
2. He gets stressed during the race. This is less likely to me as he has Kevin sitting on his back and he rides so quietly that I often fall asleep just watching him.
3. Being around other horses in a race is creating some sort of stress. After a week of Board and Committee meetings, I can relate to this one. Indeed, at several moments I could have been considered as making strange respiratory noises as I tried to keep my comments in my head and not on my tongue. In addition, I could safely have been considered post-meeting abnormal based on the additional beers it took to calm me down.
Personally, I don’t think it is any of them and that it was just an anomaly. I am somewhat incentivized to have that opinion given he is running in a 20 runner maiden tomorrow – that is a lot of horses if you don’t like company.
Ok, so why, putting all this conjecture aside, did he run better at Fairyhouse? Well, first of all, it was a fairly weak race and a number of horses were there only because the point-to-point season has been shut down. Secondly, and in retrospect, the ‘runny’ nose he had at Christmas probably affected him more than we had appreciated and he was still a but ‘run down’ at Thurles. This makes total sense to me.
Realistically, Sunday’s race looks much stronger than Fairyhouse and I would be happy if he finished in the first half dozen or so. Once again, the ground will be pretty soft and Naas is a track that doesn’t suit every horse so a lot of imponderables. It would be good to see him confirm the improvement he showed last time.
Freedom to Dream is in the yard and, seemingly, fully recovered from the tendon injury he had last year. We have been very patient with him and he has been restricted to lots of time on the walker, some road work and a few gentle canters. All signs are that he is in great shape and, when we get chance, he will be out in a field to enjoy some sun (and a lot of rain) for a few months before the serious training begins.
The clocks change tonight here in the USA. I mention that because I only realized last week and means an extra hour lie-in every morning for me before Cheltenham starts at 9.20am. The fully vaccinated Kim is off to Florida on Monday to visit her brother. I have no idea why I suggested she go this week but, by coincidence, I am also taking the week off and am trying to desperately to come up with things to do to fill the void left by Kim’s absence. All I can come with are the following:
- Hours of form studying in complete silence and no guilt
- Watching every race and re-running it several times
- Actually watching the racing without using the mute button
- (Not) surreptitiously making deposits to my US betting account
- Enjoying the European football from Tuesday – Thursday and the Premier League on Monday and Friday
- Ordering Indian take-out. A treat normally forbidden due to Kim hating the smell and the taste
- Buying some air freshener
- Watching the last season of Peaky Blinders again. It’s difficult enough for me to understand the Brummie accents without my wife saying “what are they saying?” every two minutes
- Having some Zoom after race/pre the next day calls with my racing pals.
This last named may not be such a brilliant idea. There are two distinct groups and for no good reason I am the only common thread. We will be meeting at 5.30pm and 6.30pm each evening (subject to change based on how far behind I am on keeping the house clean). It could be amazing if we have all won but the most depressing thing ever if we haven’t. Not only that, I am delaying my drinking until the football at 8pm (4pm here) so if that lot have been imbibing it will make it even worse. We’ll make the best of it this year and look forward to next year (which, come to think of it, is pretty much what I said last year when I bitterly regretted going and being forced to return home early because of our last unlamented President’s Emergency order)
I hope everyone has a great Cheltenham and try not make too many funny noises when watching it! Go Royal Kahala!!