Next to having kids, the greatest thrill I’ve had in life is when horses I’ve bred have won significant races on more than one occasion.
Picture this. Nine years ago, a mare I’d been gifted, the three-win Sheezashotseye (Cicerao), produced a colt foal by middle-range stallion Road to Rock. The mare was a “shy breeder”, being hard to get pregnant and problematic in terms of maintaining that pregnancy. I’d been injecting her with a magic formula at regular intervals to greatly lessen her chances of aborting the embryo and the hard work paid off.
As a young horse said colt was moody in the extreme, but he moved like silk: I’ve always thought that natural athletes can be forgiven almost everything. Unsurprisingly, he’s still moody; trainer Graham Eade once commented that training him was never boring – you got a new horse every morning.
Anyway, Riviera Rock’s now in the twilight of his career. Each season he’s raced he’s won at least one race and has accumulated no fewer than 13 second placings. He’s no champion but always gives 100%.
Yesterday he raced in the Southland Racing Club’s Southland Crystals, a $50,000 open handicap over 2200 metres. He’d won this event last year but this time around the field was stronger and we’d decided to employ a new jockey. Moreover, had time caught up with him?
As it turned out, trainer Graham Eade was right. He’s at least as good as he was last season.
