Surprise Package is running tomorrow at Sandown and I was excited for a few minutes back there. You see, I’m not sure I like these 48 hour declarations; far too much time for emotions to swing violently in all directions. Yesterday morning, as the declarations came out for the Imperial Cup, I was delighted that none of Langer Dan, Anyharminasking, Carrerea and West to the Bridge had been declared. Ok, there were still 22 runners but as I said in a Whatsapp to Peter “now, we have a right chance”.
Adding to my optimism was the relatively dry forecast and the fact the going had ‘dried up’ to Good to Soft “perfect”.Everything was all set and now I could dream
Roll on 24 hours and things are a little different in my mind. I have developed full scale Peter Fahey Syndrome and my erstwhile (when do you get chance to use that word?) confidence has been replaced by a sense of foreboding. Already I have found ten horses who are likely to beat him and that’s after looking at only half the field! All of a sudden, something Peter said on Wednesday is dominating my thoughts and I just can’t shake it!
He said, slightly paraphrased, “James Bowen is an intelligent jockey so if things are not working on Saturday he’ll do the right thing; it could be another Wicklow Brave” What???
As a reminder, Wicklow Brave ran in the Imperial Cup before coming out, six days later, to win the County Hurdle. When I say ‘ran’ that would be using a very vague definition of the term. He swerved left at the start, was always behind, never travelled and was, eventually, pulled up before the last. Ridden by Ruby Walsh, this was the archetype of ‘looking after the horse’
Let me tell you Peter Fahey, please get such negative thoughts out of your head (keep the one about winning the County hurdle though) as me and five friends are descending on Sandown tomorrow and we need to have our confidence built and not destroyed.
Let me try: he was not quite right at the Dublin Racing Festival. If you remember, it was touch and go if he ran after a runny nose. He ran ok but the race came a few days too soon; he was a different horse four days later. I even recall a buoyant Mr. Fahey saying he was a stone (14 pounds for my US friends) better than at the DRF. Oh, how trainers have such short memories!
The ground at Sandown looks like being perfect for him and we have secured the services of James Bowen who we all agreed is top class. Of course, you have to be concerned how he will take to travelling but he seemed fine yesterday, cantered and had eaten up on Wednesday night. I know that because Peter told me before ending our call with “ I’ll see you on Saturday; will call if there are any issues” So, you know what happens: every time my phone rings, I look down in trepidation in case I see “Peter Fahey”
At this point, you may be asking “what happened to the cherubic Kevin Sexton? Surely he’s not chosen to ride in a maiden at Limerick instead”. No, he hasn’t. He had a fairly heavy fall last weekend so is taking it easy before Cheltenham next week. Peter had a list of available jockeys and, after reaching out to some respected friends and fellow forumites, James Bowen was the unanimous selection.
I have hired an 8-passsenger MPV to take us down. It will be six of us but representing my two sets of racing friends; we will see how they mix. I haven’t told them yet, mainly because I am in denial, but it is conference seating in the back. I am hoping for a table but am resigned to us looking at each other for almost three hours each way; desperately trying to stop our knees from touching the person’s opposite. There will be my very good friend Ian who is paying for his London marathon exploits years ago with knee issues, Cob who will not back anything under 20/1. John is an ex-boss and is coming over early to meet my mum; I have told her what I tell everyone else: you will hear him before you see him. Matthew is the youngster in the party and he will be entrusted with getting the rounds in for John and Bernard who will not agree with the cashless policy in the bars. Bernard is having trouble with his hearing right now so there wilL be a lot of shouting win or lose
In this real time blog I feel compelled to tell you that I just took a break and went down to the pub to meet Ian. We were set upon by an impassioned staff member who urged us to participate in the ‘blackout’ that would benefit a local cancer charity. Having had my own cancer battle, I am a sucker for such causes; the deal was to pay £2, choose a number and stand a chance of winning £60. The numbers went from 1-60 but many had been taken. Initially, I wanted four as that is the number Suprise Package is carrying tomorrow but that had gone. So, following similar logic, I opted for number 58; the number Freedom to Dream currently has in the Martin Pipe Handicap next Friday when he needs 34 horses to come out so as to get a run. The results are in and ….I won!!! This has to be a sign, surely
I called Kim to tell her and she agreed it was a sign. Unfortunately, she had adopted full ‘Peter Fahey’ mode and said “yes, it’s a sign he will stay at number 58”
Many people seem to think Freedom to Dream is well handicapped at a 135 rating – I am not going to disagree. Unfortunately, he may not get into the Martin Pipe so then we will need to decide whether to be aggressive and go for the Albert Bartlett or a race at Uttoxeter the day after. Uttoxeter was my local track growing up and I have been many,many times; it would be cool to get a winner there but would it be cooler than running in a Grade 1? I personally think the Albert Bartlett, while it looks like we have no chance, could be very interesting: we bought the horse by mistake, we left him at the forfeit stage by mistake and now we are pondering what to do – the signs are clear but, then again, are they any clearer than number 58 in the Martin Pipe?
Anyway, let’s enjoy tomorrow. How great is it to have two horses running in these quality races? After a couple of pints, my optimism has been rekindled (funny how that happens) and I will be going to Sandown in a a confident or, at least, a pretty confident mood. More to come…