Glen Boss is not about to forget Sunday’s meeting so soon after he got a first-hand taste of the contrasting fortunes that pick-up rides may be saddled with.
The day indeed got off to a positive note for the Australian jockey when he saw his book of four rides double up with another four replacement rides – Big Regards, Shamrock and Redoubt for the indisposed Vlad Duric, and Born To Be King for John Powell (who could not make the weight).
After Boss’s first ride Big Regards ran a decent fourth, it was happy days for the Melbourne Cup-winning jockey when Shamrock ($67) obliged in the $85,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1200m.
Barely thirty minutes later, pleasure turned into pain – literally. As Born To Be King jumped awkwardly in the $85,000 Novice race over 1400m, Boss’s right foot slammed into the side of the gate, causing him to lose his iron.
Sometimes, jockeys can regain the lost stirrup with some nifty rebalancing, but with the Shane Baertschiger-trained last-start winner charging through the field, Boss had no other choice but to lose the left iron as well, while giving his mount free rein to stride to the front.
Such scenarios usually spell the end of the race for the horse even if there has been the odd exception in the past. When a jockey is riding long and bumping uncomfortably in the saddle for most of the remaining race, he will not be in the best position to fully ride out his mount – also most probably exhausted after not being restrained properly.
Balance is the main factor, but safety is also at stake. Boss did give one crack of the whip upon straightening, arguably just to test Born To Be King on the off chance he may not be a spent force yet, but he soon realised the best option left was to ease him out of the race.
Born To Be King beat one home in the end. Ohyioh (Noh Senari) won the race, going back-to-back on his last-start win, defeating Per Incharge (Ryan Curatolo) by half-a-length from an unlucky West North Hill (Koh Teck Huat) who got squeezed 200m out. The winning time was 1min 22.7secs for the 1400m on the Short Course.
While such rides sitting directly atop a tiny racing saddle on a racehorse going at 65kph can be painful in a specific area of the body, Boss was seen clearly limping after the race. In his case, it was the right foot the area of concern, with doctors later standing him down for the remainder of the meeting (five rides remaining).
“That’s racing. The horse came out at right angle, and my foot got slammed against the side gate,” he said dejectedly after the race.
At least, Boss won’t be at home nursing his hurt foot and other body aches without a winner to ease the pain a little. Following a 10-out-of-10 ride aboard the Mark Walker-trained Shamrock, Boss was able to steer the Helmet three-year-old to a head victory from the fast-finishing Wild Bee (Ng Choon Kiat).
Boss said all the credit should go to trainer Mark Walker for the patience shown on Shamrock (not to be mixed up with the nickname given to Kaypeeai, Nicholas Child’s starter hack), and more was in store. Shamrock was resuming a winner after bleeding at his second outing in September.
“He’s still very immature, very gangly. He may need blinkers,” he said.
“I think he’s a horse who will win more races.”
That would have been music to the ears of assistant-trainer Gus Clutterbuck (still deputising for Mark Walker currently in New Zealand) and connections, the Fortuna NZ Racing Stable.
Clutterbuck was indeed happy the home fires are kept burning while the boss is away, but was even more rapt for one of the unsung heroes in his yard.
“Eddie is the one who looks after this horse. He doesn’t get to strap him on racedays as he has to help me with the other stuff, but he was so happy he came down for the picture,” said the Kiwi horseman.
“He’s a nice neat horse. It was disappointing that he bled, but Mark gave him two quiet trials and he’s come back more settled now.
“We may have to put the blinkers on at his next runs.”
