Something a little bit exciting

“I have to tell you something Peter. Now I know we have not galloped him yet, but he is something a little bit exciting”

- Clive.
April 15th, 2009

This was the opening of an update I had with Clive yesterday. He is very excited about Sonny and normally not one to come out with such forward statements of performance, unlike the financial institutions most of you work for !! Clive has made one such reference in the past, just prior to turning Sonny out for a break.

Clive has had Sonny back in now for a few weeks, and has him training in both the bush and at the track. The reference to “galloping” above is in terms of speed. Sonny has not being allowed to stride into a gallop. This is a normal process for your horses who are being looked after and will not race until they are 3yo or 4yo. Sensible trainers do not like the babies to hit top speeds, because this is how early bone fatigue and joint problems can begin especially through the higher stresses of running the bends. So, at this stage he is still only cantering.

Clive has had him working at the track with another 2yo, that our own jockey Roy McKay is training (Roy is training part-time now). The difference in the two horses is apparently quite noticeable. Means not much until they hit the track galloping, but gives an eye of where he could be. The horses are doing work and education. Sonny is worked with the other horse, then is dropped back behind the other and then brought around the outside. The other horse then does the same.

Roy hopped off his own horse this week and told Clive that Sonny has “some arse”, meaning he is powerfully built behind. (equate this to human sprinters vs human marathon runners). Clive himself puts it bluntly “he is built like a brick shithouse”. (he leaves the shit out...needs to be in there imo)

So, all in all Sonny is shaping up to be something to look forward to.

The forward plan, is that he “may” trial in a short 400m up-the-straight 2yo trial on April 27th. It will depend on how he is training, and that nothing at all is amiss such as shin-soreness which is a common issue in growing horses. The trial itself is not yet confirmed in the planning, thus we are waiting on two different confirmations.

The trial will not be televised, and the position of Sonny is unimportant. What is important is that he behaves himself in the gates. This is confirmation of his education. All else is just enjoyment and the thril of having him begin the next phase of prep to real racing.

Another little thing from Clive. He said he has started to show some real attitude. He has changed from the gentle natured little horse, into a strong willed, strong bodied gelding. Equate this to a kid growing from a weak 12yo into a bustling 16yo full of cheek and attitude with the body to match, but not the conditioning to take on the big boys. Clive has lost his kid, and now has a teenager on this hands. Whilst he laments the loss of the kid, he has a real excitement in his voice about the future.

All good.

Slacka

The Final 3

All tips are in, and we have our final 3. Tip count summarized below.
Looks like Lodger came out a clear leader in the tips, but vote count
saw it evenly spread with Crafty Lodger, and The Lodger.

Our top 3 are
Lodger
The Lodger
Crafty Lodger

Time to cast one of these names aside and leave us with just 2. I'd
like to be doing this at a pub, on a round table. Debating one of
these names out, then drinking on until we had consensus over our top
pick. Alas. That will not be.

So what i reckon is as follows. Put this new list in your preferred
order. I will then follow same method, and we will get
the top 2. Then we need to debate a little and vote again.

The Final 6

Final decisions from all are in!!! Very strong support for the Lodger base.

The list stands as below

Lodger
The Lodger
Crafty Lodger
Cunning Lodger
Lawless Lodger
Foxy Lodge

Process from now is to select the top 3 from this list. We will then get down to top 2, then the

We have 3 votes each.

Udate

Quick update : Sonny is still in the stable, doing everything right. Clive has him out on the track doing light work and he will start this week to work alongside another horse. We reviewed yesterday our general plans for him and believe the best line is as follows. Clive is aiming to have Sonny take a trial before he puts him out to the paddock. It may not happen, but in order to prepare for it we have a couple of things needed.
Clive will have him xrayed this week to confirm all joints and bones (leg/feet) are 100% ok. We want to do this before we put any more work into him. In the trial, we are never sure what a horse will do. If he grits his teeth and decides to "run" then we want to be sure he is 100% ok before exposing him to rigors of the trial.
We have to have him named and fully registered.

This is getting exciting. The trial is a real marker in the deal of racing. As you've all understood, it takes a lot of effort and time to get a yearling from the auctioneers ring to be ready to trial. The trial lets us look at him for the first time around other horses and the story begins to unfold as to how he approaches racing.

So, we'll let Clive deal with the horse while we get a short list of names.

I've broken below into two groups. Those connected to his parentage and those not. My preference is to have something connected, but a killer name is better than something limp. I'd like to hear back from each of you if something in the non-connected group really tickles your fancy. If you really love one of the second group...please shout. If no-one jumps up and down, then we will drop the second group and focus on the first group.


The naming of Sonny: By Bletchingly Park, out of Tenant (by Canny Lad)

1st Group: Names that are connected to his parentage:

Vagabond : from a "hanger" in parks and general nuisance to the public.
Delinquent : even more derogatory name of a "hanger" in parks.
Squatter : a tenant who does not pay rent.
Common Vassal : from English for Park and old English for tenant.
Little Hobo : speaks for itself
Novus Garten : from Latin for "new" ad German for "park"
Sequoia
Forest Ranger
Forest Fire
Wild Fire
Lone Ranger
Sonny the Addict (city parks)
Homeless Sonny (city parks)
Homeless Hero
Loitering Trader - (combo of the two themes)
Monkey Bar
Foxy Fella
Sonny Sanctuary – As in Sonny’s Park

2nd Group: Names not-connected:
Traders Revenge : from no-bloody where - just a thought
Perdido - from ole crabs musical roots (that will need some explaining)
Stardust - from ole crabs musical roots (that will need some explaining)
Angel of Music -- from ole crabs musical roots (that will need some explaining)
Trader's delight
Bear market
Credit crisis
Liquidity injection
Buying the bottom
Ten Bagger
Trader's Remorse
Trader's delight
Hang the Fed
Hang Greenspan
Shoot the Fed
Printing Money
Stay Short
Volatility (or some added word to volatility)
Killer VIX
SonnytheLad – Common on Ladddddieeeee!
Poorbuggerme – no connection to anything - that’s just how I feel at present – and the idea of a horse called poorbuggerme winning the Railways Stakes makes me smile.
Traders Prayer – I like traders revenge, but at moment revenge seems along way away – more divine intervention may be required
Watchful Bob – a more tenuous play on Canny Lad – I just liked the ring to it

The naming of Sonny -

After our past few discussions, here is a list of ideas for naming

Trader's delight
Bear market
Credit crisis
Liquidity injection
Buying the bottom
Ten Bagger
Trader's Remorse
Trader's delight
Hang the Fed
Hang Greenspan
Shoot the Fed
Printing Money
Stay Short
Volatility or some added word to volatility
Killer VIX

On the park/Tenant theme....
Sequoia
Forest ranger
Forest fire
Wild fire
Lone Ranger
Or in city parks....
Sonny the addict
Homeless Sonny
Homeless hero
Loitering trader - Ok, that's a combo of the two themes
Monkey bars

Sonny coming back in....

Hi all,

Just spoke to Clive this evening and he is planning on picking up
Sonny this week from the adjistment property and bringing him back to
the stables. Jason, the guy who broke him in, is back in Geraldton
and Clive wants to give Sonny a change of scenery and get some more
work into him.

I'll give you an update once he back in.

Soaking Sonny

I traveled back from France to Geraldton for a little R&R with the family and we took a drive out to where the young gun is growing up. The property is about 25km outside of Geraldton in an area called Chapman Valley, close to the town of Nansun. Interestingly, my mother grew up in that town and we drove past all their old stomping grounds on the way to the property of Sue and Mark.

We landed in Geraldton right as three cold fronts came sweeping into town, and just managed to see Sonny before the rain came pelting down. Without a doubt Sonny and the rest will be soaked through by the end of this front.

He's looking great. Nice tight looking gelding with plenty of strength in the shoulders and the rump. There is not much to say more than all is well with him.

Sue and Mark confer that he is a well mannered youngster. He eats up well. Does not get into any mischief, and likes a romp around early in the morning and at feed time. I did spot the tell-tale "chew" marks on one of the posts and asked about sucking. When he first arrived, he was sucking and Sue painted the post with some pepper-laced post paint. He just moved down to a new post! They then put another horse in the yard next to him and since then his sucking has stopped.

Nothing to concern ourselves with, but it is an annoying trait for Clive.

We took a few pictures with the kids out there, which is a testament to his well natured character.

Sonny on his way to 15.3

Video shot at Kevin's

Sonny - Behaving Right

Video shot at Kevins

Sonny on Camera

This is a video Gavin shot of Sonny in mid May 2008.

Visit by Gavin

June 4, 2008
Sonny visit

As promised I (and the family) made the trek to visit Sonny a week or so ago.

Clive took us to see the young fella who had clearly been worked pretty hard during a earlier morning session ( we got there in the afternoon); a very likely consequence of the Roy debacle (refer earlier blog).

While Sonny did look a little contrite to me, the horse whisperer and
Robert Redford dead ringer (and our trainer) Clive Laurensen assures me of some spirit there and early indications are that he wants to run - I think you will all agree this is happy news in the circumstances!

He looks terrific to me, and while I am no expert, the commentary from Clive was encouraging (refer the video.)

He was gentle generally, had no problems being touched or patted (I was assured this apparent "niceness" in no way reflects his desire to win!) although I note this was before he had his nuts chopped off and he may well now be a little crankier!

We shall see...

Gavin

Sonny, spelling out of town

After the rather tragic end to the broken aspirations of Sonny to be a sire, he is now at an adjistment property about 25km out of Geraldton. It is the same property we have Black Amber out taking her spell.

He has been there about a week now. Clive took him out after he lost his nuts, and took along Tapdog for the float ride to keep him company. All went well with the trip out, and Sonny looks to have benefited from the floating that he had with the 10 days at Norms.

Sonny settled in very well to his new surroundings, and he has a new neighbour in the form of an retired old horse from the region. He is eating well, and will now settle into the routine of life in adjistment.

The horses are all fed dry feeds along with what they eat themselves from the paddock. The fences all all professionally done and the owners of the business he is at all all old horse people. He is in good hands Clive says.

Clive will head out regularly to check on both Sonny and Amber so we'll be getting updates from those visits.

Sonny the Sonless

Today Sonny lost his balls. There will be no sons, or daughters for him.

What else is there to say?

Sonny - no son!

Well here we are with a classic!

The past few weeks Clive has been telling us that Sonny has been getting bully. Feeling himself a young stud etc etc. Getting ready to strut his stuff with the big boys.

After 2 and a bit weeks of very smooth riding with Jason, with Clive riding alongside on Tapdog everything was ready for his nest stage. Roy returned from his annual vacation with Bernadette and the kids and was ready to get back into the swing of things with the Carnarvon season just kicking off. Around visiting Clive he put his hand up to ride Sonny and get him over to the track.

I think Roy is wishing he had not put the hand up!

Day-1 with Roy all went smoothly. Clive was happy with the new gun and his education. Nothing to report other than Sonny kept pushing Tapdog.

Day-2...disaster!
Roy got a little bit behind Clive and Tapdog and when Roy moved Sonny forward, the colt came up a little too fast to Tapdog and let out a whinny. Now, the old Dog was not going to let the young gun up like that.

So, uncharacteristically he lashed out with a swift back left aimed squarley at Sonny stomach. It got him right where he aimed...but Roy's ankle was in the way. Roy caught the brunt of the kick on the stirrup thankfully. But, the kick spooked Sonny who then reared a little and then dropped his head and tossed Roy over the front. Roy landed on his shoulder and fractured his collar bone.

It was a bad result all around. Roy will be out for 2-3 weeks. Sonny got a hell of a scare. And Clive feels terrible to have that happen to Roy. But, the Dog is still king of the stable.

We could not let Sonny head to the paddock and be gelded without getting back on him and re-confirming his early education. Clive has sent him out to the main breaker in Geraldton. Norm. Norm has two properties, one out a little from town where the horses stay and another property in closer where he works them. SO every day Sonny will be floated back and forward into his work. This in itself is a nice bit of education as he needs to be comfortable with floating. In addition, Norm will continue to put him through his paces for these next 2 weeks or so. That should finish off his breaking nicely.

At the end of the day we feel for Roy. Especially because it was his old favourite Tapdog that gave him the whack and spooked Sonny to throw him. He could have done without it.

In all stables there is a boss. The king. The top dog. And Sonny has been shown that he is not yet ready to take that mantle from the old dog.

Puffing Sonny

Jason has continued riding Sonny each day since the first. Their routine is now taking them out in the "bush' adjacent to Clive's stables. If you have a look on the Google map here of Clive's place, you can see the bush to the left (west).

Clive is riding Tapdog and Jason is riding Sonny. They are now starting to do a little bit of work around the bush, and Sonny is feeling it. Now recall, Tapdog has just come out of a full campaign, is match fit, and at 10years old he knows what this game is all about. Sonny, at little over a year old is literally a baby. Clive says that by the third lap around, Sonny is plodding along like an old grandma and puffing like a blowfish.

His education has been really tops. Although he is still "bully" from the feeling of his manhood, Sonny is behaving really well. One of the most important parts of this period is to ensure he is not upset by cars, by people, or by noises. All these can "spook" a horse. Sonny has seen and heard them all now, and Clive reports that he is first class. All calibre. He has no problems with cars passing him, and they were in the bush this week just after school knocked off and they cae across a big bunch of kids playing in the bush. Sonny just kept about his business following the Dog around.

Clive continues to be very happy with his progress. Nothing at this stage will give us any idea as to whether he can run, and run with speed and the fight to win. But, he has handled all stages of this early period and come through with flying colours.

Jason is heading away from town now, and our stable jockey Roy McKay returns from holidays. Roy will now take over on Sonny.

Clive wants to give him a "look" at the track this week. That is, take him over to the track (same map above, follow it north) with Tapdog and give him a look and a run around it. There is only one objective and that is the introduction to his future fighting ring.

I told Clive to make sure he runs past the winners post each time in front of Dog. Dog will not like that, but I want Sonny to know what it is like to be there when it counts.

Coming soon....the big cut!

It will be around the time Gavin makes his first stable visit, so we will get a first hand feedback.

Cheers
slacka

Sonny the Bull!

Clive reports that Sonny is starting to become a bull. That is, he is now beginning to "feel" himself as a young strapping male full of hormones and looking to be the king of the pad. His behavior has changed and he is a little more "heady".

Now of course that is good news, because already the young gun carries himself like he is a challenger as top dog, but his character up till now has been very placid. Just like a good natured 15yr old lad who does all he is told and is affectionate with everyone. Comes a time when the 15yr old balls drop, and well i guess there are more that one possibilities.

In Sonny case, he has felt his maleness and is looking at the world through new eyes.

Clive has him under control though, as in the stable Clive is boss.

I wonder how Sonny will feel after he loses his nuts? Hope he does not need prozac!

Sleeping Sonny - first day with a rider

Today was the day. Clive had organised a young bloke (Jason) to ride Sonny for the first time. Jason has been doing track-work in Geraldton, and also working for a breaker around town. Clive

So how did Sonny take it? Well, as Clive put it..."he is a clever little bloke".

When a horse first feels a rider in the saddle, there are a lot of "issues" that spring into their heads. There is the new weight, and new pressures on areas that have never had them. A major issue for the horse is when looking back they see a "threat" up above them. So, horses react to all this by typically trying to get "rid" of the problem. The rider.

Sonny took it all into stride. He first put his head down and gave a little kick and buck out the back. Jason got his head up, then he started to react to the new image and wave his head around. Within the minute, Sonny has sized it all up and sat peacefully. Jason walked him around a bit, and Sonny new just what to do. He was a little champ. Clive was most impressed.

Clive gave Sonny a decent exercise in the morning to make sure he had the edge off when Jason got on the first time. And talk about taking the edge off...he was asleep after lunch when Clive went to get him ready for Jason! As Clive put it, "I had to get the young bloke out of bed".

So, Sonny was sleeping leading up to the first ride...he was sure worn out. First time Clive had to wake him up after lunch. Sounds like a few blokes I know having a wee kip after a big boozy lunch...but that is another story.

Jason said Sonny felt good under him. Nice strength.

Tomorrow they will take him out to the big yard! All going well.

Update Tue:

Sonny was in bed this morning when Clive went down to feed them breakfast! Little bugger is feeling this new regime!

Jason took Sonny out to the exercise yard today, and walked him around and around. Sonny knew what to do from the get go. He did not put on any show, or try and get rid of Jason.

Day 2 and all well. This process will go on for another 10 days with regular afternoon exercise by Jason. Clive has a very good opinion of him.

A really top point is the way sonny looks under the saddle. Clive said he is a proud looking horse. "Looks really tops". Makes you happy when you see a horse look so proud under a saddle.

All good so far!

Breaker Booked

Clive has a rider booked this coming Monday to begin a 2 week education on Sonny. The rider is a young bloke who has been working for a breaker in the Geraldton area. Clive has done all foundations of the breaking in, so what is left is the "in-the-saddle" part.

He has already put himself into the irons on his back, and thinks that Sonny will be no trouble at all for the rider.

We will see....

Riding Sonny

Big week this one for our young gun. Clive has finished with all his basic mouthing and handling. He has also had the saddle on him and put him through his paces in the longing yard.

He is ready to have a jockey on him for the next stage of training.

Clive has someone lined up to talk to this week about it and if all goes well, Sonny should have someone on his back by next week. It will be someone local in Geraldton who rides a lot of the new horses.

We've just retired our grand old champion Tapdog after his final run (3rd) last week. Tapdog will be kept in the stable for a little bit to help with the education of Sonny. At least until we have Sonny ready to turn out for his growing spell.

Clive reports that Sonny has continued to grow since we brought him. Heading towards that 15.3hands that he expects him to be. He still has a chuckle in his voice when talking about the clever little bloke.

All will be revealed.

Sucking Sonny

A busy week in WA racing with the running of the WA Derby over 2400m, and after heavy rain (3") dropped on track the meeting was moved to the Sunday. The Derby was won by a raiding filly from the east coast who won the Oaks the week before. Black Amber ran third in the Oaks 2 years back and its tough for fillies to line up against the colts and geldings but Grand Journey did it.

On our home front, Clive Lauritsen picked off yet another cup when the stable runner Jonguydon won the Mingenew cup for connections. Woosha (stable name) has been a tough horse to crack, but finally put his best foot forward. You can see the final pictures of the win here, and an article on the WA racing site here.

That photo of ower Kevin Eastough with the big grin is what racing is all about. I hope we are standing with the same ones with a victory of Sonny!

So, onto the update of our young gun.

He gave us a real scare. About 10 days ago he started to "suck" which is a horrible problem for horses. Essentially they grab hold of a rail with there teeth and then "suck" the air back into their lungs through the open mouth. Its a problem that normally cannot be fixed. There is no real obvious impact on the horses racing and ability but it is a really horrible sounding trait. It annoys all the stable and gives the impression you have a donkey not a thoroughbred.

In his customary thoughtful way, Clive set out to try and solve the problem. Clive thinks that the behaviour can be fixed if he can keep the horses mind busy enough not to get bored enough to go and suck fences. Sounds horrible, but we will see if he is onto something.

He started by moving Sonny into the stable that is closest to the training yard. He can nowsee the other horses when they are out having a romp in the free. Clive then painted all the rails of the new yard with a horrible tasting oil. Sonny was still sucking the front rail (metal) so Clive painted that too.

He then went and brought Sonny two new toys. A basketball on a rope, and a witches hat. Now for those who have no idea here are some pics. Sonny is now dragging the ball around by the rope doing dribbling work through the witches hat!! No joke!

We have fingers crossed. Sonny has not sucked since he got his new toys. Clive is hopeful...but the odds are stacked against him. Clive has never heard of a trainer beating a "sucker". So we have to sit this one out and see who wins the mind games!

On the technical side Sonny continues to learn his trade. Clive stresses how clever the little bloke is. It may point to the reason he can get bored, and the important relationship between the mind and the body.

At this stage, everything on the training is perfect.

Next steps is another 2-3 weeks of this daily education, with the bridle and saddle on. Walking and longing exercises. We will then be looking to have him ridden. That is the most important next step for him.

After that...Sonny will lose his balls. Now he probably would object, but he needs to be gelded so that he can join other horses in the next longer phase of growing out in a paddock. It is very hard to get colts into any commercial property, so you've got to have the property yourself or be a professional breeder. We are neither so Sonny is destined to lose em.

Sorry fella. We all feel for ya.