Even reduced from the 17-race bonanza that was the first meeting of the season at this venue, a 13-race card on Sunday still felt like a long day at the office for this groom.
Allensmore, as I have mentioned in a previous post, is one of my favourite places to race; or at least, it was until the 2013 season. I’ve worked there on two occasions and spent one day there as a spectator only, and can honestly say I’ve not enjoyed one of the meetings.
The week leading up to the meeting was quiet. Now that the season is in full swing the racehorses are just kept ticking over; they all know their job and it’s just a case of keeping them at the optimum fitness level. Mellie is gearing up for a trip to the racetrack in the forthcoming weeks, and once Bongo has qualified I believe he’ll be heading home for the rest of the year. Pinky continues to be a bit of a noisy madam although she loves a bit of attention and I quite enjoy getting her out of her stable for a groom. Laddie’s wounds are healing well – the two at the tops of his legs have all but closed over, the marks on his neck are growing new hair and the main injury to his lower foreleg is showing significant improvement.
Jingo has been given a week off to prepare himself for what we hope will be another lifetime best performance next weekend at Ammanford, and Hamish was also left at home as his general health has been a bit up and down. So the three musketeers heading to Allensmore were Big Mac, Bongo, and old favourite Sammy.
I met The Boss, Julie and Thomas at Allensmore having driven down from the north following the excellent meeting at Tir Prince. I had that feeling that it was going to be much like the weekend where I was at York Championship meeting on the Saturday followed by a charity meeting at Cullingworth on the Sunday, i.e. poles apart.
Bongo was in the first qualifier and was harnessed up to warm up between the gate practice and the start of the qualifiers. He was drawn five on the gate, which meant that The Boss had two options – go like stink to get to the front (his preferred tactic) or pull back and try to either find some room on the rail or sit parked on the outside (a tactic reserved for Big Mac who likes to have some racing room). In the qualifier he decided to opt for the ‘like a bat outta hell’ method and was fortunate in that the 4-horse inside him was unable to get up to the gate, meaning he had less distance to travel to get inside by the corner. Unfortunately the track out that wide was a touch uneven and he put a few skips in before settling and heading to the front at the second corner. He settled well for the first lap and travelled nicely despite it being his first run on grass. At the start of the second lap I expected The Boss to let him go a bit more but to my surprise I could see Frisco Mick (running a provisional drive – compulsory ‘practice’ drives for drivers looking to sit their test and obtain a driving licence) running up his inside and passing him with what looked like ease. It looked as though Bongo had stopped, because the rest of the field were scooting up his inside, but then without warning he turned 90 degrees to his right and headed straight for the hedge! I couldn’t tell what speed he was travelling so had visions of him going into the hedge at some speed, but The Boss managed to turn him around the remaining 270 degrees and get him back pacing about 15 lengths behind the back horse. He completed the mile, never putting a further foot wrong, and I headed back to the lorry for the de-brief.
The whole debacle mirrored Jingo’s escape off the track 12 months earlier, when he decided that he didn’t want to race any part of the mile and veered off the track towards the paddock on the first bend. It would seem that Bongo is just as clever as Jingo and had decided that one lap of fast work was enough and he would pull himself up and head for the lorry. Whoever said horses are stupid creatures has never met these two! Rest assured, we have all explained to Bongo that harness racing is at least a mile, so he’s going to have to race for two laps from now on.
Big Mac went out in race six, drawn 9 (four out on the second line). The Boss had decided to pull back and tuck in on the rail this time instead of travelling two wide, and as they crossed the start line I could see him taking a pull. Unfortunately, the driver inside him had the same idea in front of him and instead of listening to The Boss shouting at her to keep out, she veered in and repeatedly hit Mac’s legs with the wheel of her cart. The driver must be deaf – she couldn’t hear The Boss shouting, me shouting from the fence or Mac’s leg crashing into her cart, and the force of the collision caused his over-reach boot on his offside foreleg to turn itself inside out. He struggled to settle for the remainder of the race and the very same driver decided to pull out at the same time as The Boss did on the second lap, before her horse blew up entirely and only acted to block the way for poor Mac. It looks as though Allensmore is his bogie track too! Fortunately when he returned to the lorry he was unharmed, but it can’t have been very nice for the big fella and I hope he doesn’t assume from now on that drivers are going to cut him up if he pulls back.
Sammy was the last to head out in race 9, drawn four on the gate. Sammy likes to run from the front, and in previous years has shown real guts and determination when challenged coming home to hold on when we thought he’d be beat. The Boss made the most of running off the gate (rather than 10 yards) despite the bad draw, and chased the gate away to get to the front by the bend. Sammy settled into his rhythm in a way that only aged horses can, and rolled for the first lap before being asked to quicken down the back straight. The last time he ran at Allensmore he seemed to blow up after six furlongs, so I was pleased to see him pass the ¾ pole still in front of the challenging Talavary Activator on his outside. But I could see that he wasn’t going to last the mile and coming past 7 furlongs he began to fade. I found out after the race that the outside driver had cut Sammy up and bashed into his back end as he overtook (bunch of cowboys if you ask me). The Boss wisely laid off as the field passed him coming up the home straight and he crossed the line towards the back of the pack. It may be disheartening that our old Sammy doesn’t quite have his usual fire about him, but he’s travelled that bit further under pressure and in testing conditions, so perhaps it’s a bit soon to be writing him off just yet. I’d really like to see him in a few saddle races, as I feel that his handicap will mean less without a sulky. After all, the Appleby saddle winner was off 50 or 60 yards, and you can make more of tight gaps when there’s just a rider on board. Perhaps the change would do him some good, after all they do say a change is as good as a rest. The bonus on the day was winning ‘Best Turned Out’ with him, an accolade the lowly groom takes great pride in, and it’s one that is usually won when you don’t make a huge amount of effort (i.e. not plaited up)!
Next weekend the team is off to Ammanford on Sunday afternoon. I will be in Musselburgh for the premier two-day meeting there – as my mother says about me, ‘can travel, will travel’! The Royal Welsh show has been on all week so I’ve not been able to visit the yard to muck out or see the horses but I’m hoping to go back on Monday after I fly back to Cardiff and no doubt I will provide you with an update from the weekend’s racing in Wales – knowing my luck they’ll all win like they did the last time I was out of the country!
Over and out for now,
Sarah (#1 Groom and Jet-setter)
