The dream is back on! Freedom to Dream returns from his Summer holidays ready for his chasing debut at Fairyhouse tomorrow. It’s a pretty competitive race but he seems well, and we are hopeful.
That’s the contractually required non-committal boring stuff which most trainers and, increasingly, some owners tend to spout. However, as you can see from this photo (taken this morning) Freedom to Dream is absolutely bouncing and is a bundle of nervous energy, primed to the minute for his chasing debut. Kevin Sexton was in the yard displaying both his customary cherubic visage as well as much a much shorter haircut (not that it was ever long); it is to be hoped he can exert some minimal control over this headstrong horse tomorrow.
He's actually schooled very well by all accounts. Plenty of practice and recently went to Tipperary for a 2 mile school over fences. He jumped alongside The Big Dog that day and I like to think that this sharpened The Big Dog up for his comfortable ‘always going to get there’, win in the Munster National a few days later. Darragh O’Keefe rode Freedom to Dream on that occasion (Kevin was injured) and Peter reported that Darragh thought he had jumped brilliantly but that I should ask him myself; so I did! While he didn’t use the word ‘brilliant’ or even a disappointingly weak synonym, I did get the impression that Darragh was impressed. He’s riding Sam’s Profile tomorrow and he’s certainly one of many you could make a case for in the race.
For me, the current betting is all wrong. Gerri Colombe is favourite at around 11/8 and, while I do think he deserves to be favourite, that is plenty short enough. Next comes Bronn at 11/4 and I have no logical explanation as to why a horse we finished 16 lengths in front of at the Dublin Racing Festival should reverse the form on the same terms; in my view, if you fancy Bronn then you should fancy Freedom to Dream more. It appears that, for some crazy reason, Willie Mullins horses tend to go off at shorter prices than they should. Just looking again, and there are five (yes, five) horses at shorter prices than Freedom to Dream who is 11/1. I have contacted my UK bookies runner, Ian, for the first time since Surprise Package won at Punchestown, to place a bet on one of my horses. He has just taken the 11/1 on Sky Bet and I plan to ‘top up’ a little bit more at the course tomorrow.
Of course, tomorrow is about seeing how the horse gets on chasing and for him to get back safely, but I hope that goes without saying. I also have no desire in being pessimistic; I think he has a real chance and even that eternal pessimist, Peter Fahey, seems very confident and is genuinely looking forward to the race. He must be because he has offered to chauffeur me to the course; a potentially awkward scenario if the horse runs like a drain as he will have to listen to me all the way back. But it gets worse:
I made a naïve tactical mistake last week. I was trying to decide whether to stay nearer to Fairyhouse so reached out to Ber to see if she and Peter would want dinner one night and gave her a choice of Tuesday through Thursday. It turns out she is going to the North in the morning for two nights so she wrote back saying “Thursday will be great for me and Pete, and I am sure Pete would be more than happy to grab a drink another night”
If it is possible for your liver to wince with foreboding then that is what happened; there was never going to be enough time for the requisite practice so it looks like the chemist will be paid an unanticipated visit either before or after each night (and, most likely, both). Given that John and Bernard are incredibly excited about our annual racing weekend starting on Friday (Dundalk and Punchestown x 2) this could be a very long week. Incredibly enjoyable, but a stamina test. Good job we’ve only got Thanksgiving going on next week!
What about Surprise Package? you may be asking. Well, first of all, thanks for your interest. I saw him this morning and he looks well albeit a little furrier than Freedom to Dream. He had a slight setback in August when, first of all he struck into himself, and, secondly, he somehow managed to have a slight fracture in his hip. He was never lame for a minute and it wasn’t immediately apparent, but Peter knows the horse so well, he knew that he wasn’t feeling himself. We had x-rays which revealed nothing and then a half-body scan which revealed the issue. The prognosis was good and he was placed on box-rest and that has, basically, been his life ever since. We will do another scan soon but all of the evidence (demeanour, vet’s review) indicates that he is in good shape. He really hasn’t lost too much condition, but we will take our time with him and he will do a load of walking before we up his training regime. It’s unlikely he will be back until the end of the season and, with us planning to go over fences with him, we might just prepare him for a summer jumping campaign (ground permitting)
Finally, if you need proof that my luck is about to change, let me tell you what happened today:
Having decided to stay near to the yard for dinner and drinking purposes, my preferred hotel was not available so I booked another hotel I have stayed at before. I checked in, went to my room but could not get the Wifi to connect – not good when you have a dozen people waiting for a blog! I went down to reception to show the issues and my attempted resolution, and they, not so subtly, indicated that the issue was mine and all but called me a technophobe while showing no inclination to help. To prove my case, I drove down to Costa Coffee, easily joined their WiFi and then called my preferred hotel who, by now, had some availability. I checked out of Hotel No.1 , checked into Hotel No.2 and was informed that I had been upgraded from my twin-room to a two-bedroom Penthouse apartment overlooking the golf course. It is magnificent; these things never happen to me, so I am taking this as a sign of a great day tomorrow. Go Freedom to Dream!