Trial #2 Update

Sonny ran 2nd in his trial today in blustery conditions at Geraldton. Results here. To sum it up briefly he got squashed and flattened at the start, and from that point on he had to work hard throughout the rest of the trip.

Sonny knew what today was all about and was a real handful for Clive in the saddling yard and stalls. He was kicking the back of the stall and was full of fire. It was clear he knew what he was there for.

There was a big field contesting the trial and one of the other horses has a history of bad behavior and lived up to it's rotten reputation with an appalling display behind the barriers. Sonny was one of the first horses into the gates, and Roy said he was "ready to go" from the outset, pushing up hard up against the front of the gate.

The clerk and handlers could not get the rotten egg into the stalls. He was going in, then backing out for a good 5mins. It was a painful period for all. Sonny though, settled in well, probably too well. The starter decided to let the trial go without the rotten egg, and when they jumped Sonny was completely flat footed.

There were two much bigger horses on either side of Sonny, and when he jumped flat, they "squeezed" him and nearly put him onto his nose. Not an ideal opening at all. Roy said he had to really work hard to pick himself up, and then worked very hard on the outside of the field in order to stay in the race.

Sonny finished off well running into second position and has returned to the stables with no visible damage. He ate up well, which tells us he took no adverse mental affect from the hard going.

Whilst Clive was hoping for another easy trial, things do not always turn out the way we hope. As it is, Sonny has really had to work hard and found out that it's not all bells and whistles out there. In addition, he is not the biggest framed horse so will always get bustled around more than the others.

Clive will be looking to trial Sonny once more time after today's tough run. He wants to be sure Sonny took no hardship and will still get out there and be competitive.

We also have to see how his shins are as Clive reminded me that he may pull up a little sore.

The next trial is on the 28th of January, so we will be pushing forward towards that date.

Sonny on Track for Trial #2

All things are moving smoothly along with Sonny and he is set to trial this coming Sunday 10th at Geraldton.

Clive has been doing pace work with him over the last week, which is solid work to prep him for the trial. He will have a working gallop (=fast work) on Tuesday and then pace work on Thu. Fri/Sat resting and then trial Sunday.

Just a little note on his "form line". At Sonny;s first trial winner was Freo Doctor see here. Freo Doctor raced at Geraldon this week and won first up see here. This just shows that the trial was a good indicator and places Sonny well.

I'll try and get a video shot of the trial for us all.

Giddy Up
Slacka

New Owner joining into Sonny

We have a new owner joining the elite crew of Sonny. Joining into the partnership will be David Day.

David was our buyer at the magic millions sale and did all the running around with Clive as we narrowed from 41 horses down to the select few of 3 that had passed Clive's inspection and that David headed into the sales ring to bid on.

The story around is posted on Sonny's blog here and just to pull a couple of the comments that came to me by SMS during the bidding:
"Feeling Fluid"
"Clive really likes but thinks it will go expensive..."
"Good looking looks like Tappy"

Well the rest is history as we got Sonny for $53,000 when the hammer came down. He also earned the nickname from Clive's wife of Sonny...Son of Tappy.

All in all David has a history with Sonny, and if what we are hearing from the stable turns out to be real on the track he will have a whale of a time with the rest of us. As a Perth resident with Gavin, David will be on hand close for all the action.

David is no stranger to racing. He has enjoyed all the wins of the mighty Dog, and the beaut Black Amber and participated in numerous family wins around Peter H Day's racing success. David though has never been an owner in a horse, so this will be a first. He will get to experience racing on this side of the fence. The Kings side.

He did not know he was about to become a part owner at the time, but David visited the stables on Christmas eve to look him over and reacquaint himself with our future legend. I had to laugh when mum recounted a story from Clive. He took mum to the side and had a quiet whisper in her ear :
"Jeanette, you really should be an owner in this horse. He is going to be something special"

As our late father used to say "you have to get a ticket to get on the fun train", and David now has his ticket.

Giddy Up
Slacka

Happy Christmas Bro

Happy Christmas Bro !

I'd thought long and hard as to what I could get you as a Christmas gift. I wanted to make it something memorable, unique, and fun. Like a big boys toy on steroids that would not run out of batteries or need charging. Also something that could be shared with Sarah and your own friends.

With the history that you have with Sonny, I reckoned this would be the go! Racing together. I doubt there would be anything else that could come close to enjoying between us as the fun we can have through owning a horse together.

Your Christmas gift is a 1% partnership into Sonny. (I had to respect the limits...but...errr, well to hell with that)

If we have the run with Sonny that I'm thinking, then we are in for an entertaining time together. Dad and I shared so many great times together around racing and now it is time for us to do the same.

Thus I wish you well as a partner and owner. You have a ticket :)

Happy Christmas

PS. You have 1% ownership paid up till Railway stakes day in 2010!! The word on the street is this could be worth a bit more than current cost :)

Sonny First Trial

We are pretty happy with the way Sonny stepped out in his first real test on the track. He did everything right and acquitted himself very well with respect to all aspects of education.

See here

Sonny to Trial

ome big news!!

Clive has Sonny lined up for a Trial this coming Thursday at Geraldton.

Since bringing him back in to this final work, all Clive's expectation have been met. He has worked well on the track, and built up fitness to the point that Clive is ready to push him onto his biggest test to date.

The trial result itself is unimportant (unless he runs many lengths from the winner which will leave us scratching our heads...and arses) as this is all about proving he is well educated and does not make a mess with the pressure on. The general plan is to bustle him out of the gates, then let him find his own pace in the race. We will not be pushing him hard trying to do anything more. What we are looking for here is to see how he reacts with all the noise and excitement of many horses around him. We will not worry if he finishes in the middle or the field or just behind it so long as he behaves and shows us he knows how to run.

Up until this point, he has only worked alongside a single horse. He does not yet know what it means to be in a full field with other horses. Thus, a big part of the outcome on Thursday is to see how he handles this step up in pressure.

The training has gone very smoothly till this point. Clive put him through a "jump out" last week, which is like a trial of a trial. Just with one other horse. Roy came back in saying that he felt super and had plenty of petrol left had he asked for it. What this means, and what Clive feels, is that Sonny has the ability to run a solid pace and they believe he still has enough juice in his tank for a powerful finish.

The trial will take place after the last race of the day at Geraldton and Roy McKay will be riding him. It will not be played live over radio or Sky Racing. It WILL be put up onto the WA Turf Club members site. It costs about $100 a year to subscribe to the site that gives access to all the race meetings and replays including trials. I expect to see the trial up there about Wed the following week.

I will be getting a debrief from Clive on Thu evening, and will drop you all a message as to what happened etc.

I'm very excited about this all. The trial is really the pinnacle in the training. After Thu we will know a little bit more and make our forward plan depending on how he comes through the trial.

Giddy Yup

Slacka

Sonny kicks Amber....

Sonny is in the bad books this week. Clive had him at the beach with Amber. As all kids at the beach, Sonny started frolicking and jumping around. In the process of enjoying himself, he kicked down on Amber and has hurt her leg.

Clive has Amber in bandages right now, and it only looks like a surface wound...fingers crossed, as we have no spare time in this very careful campaign we have set for her.

We hope Sonny has not thrown his "foot" into the plan.

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?