Snap-Crackle-Pop....the foot is broke

Today was heartbreaking. 

We went into the race with the wind behind us, thinking we had the field covered, and the guns came out to back our Champ. 

His run was perfect. Settling back off the pace, and coming into the straight with the wind behind him. But disaster has dealth us a cruel blow. I'm not able to write much more, as Sonny has broken a bone in his foot. It is bad. We are unsure of what this means at this stage, but he has been one hell of a soldier and this is not the way to go out.

We will look at options over the next few days after the Wizard knows more.

Race 6, 1200m Geraldton

We got caught very wide and the jockey was forced to push Sonny forward to take a position in front. On a day when the front runners got rolled over, Sonny entered into the straight in front but then got worn down by both Rachine and Spy Story to finish up in 3rd place. It was a good effort on the day.

Sonny Race 5

Race 5 ....2nd by a short head

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be7MvMpFYFE

Sonny stepped out for his second run this campaign and acquitted himself very well to lead from the beginning but just get caught before the line, running second by a short head.
He lugged top weight of 59kg and did all the work from the outside barrier to get to the front and lead the race.

Damian shot him out like a rocket, and he was freewheeling in front in unfamiliar territory.

At the top of the straight he was left exposed and fought off the first wave of attackers before Mio Fratello loomed outside and ran him down. It was a solid run and he should improve from it for his next start.

Race 1 Campaign 2

Sonny stepped out for his first start in the new campaign. Things started off pretty well with him showing his explosive start and he lobbed beautifully. The field was a very strong one, and passing the 600m a lot of horses were pushing forward starting their runs with Sonny stuck back in a bit of traffic.

Coming around the corner, they were all flying but Sonny did not get a clear run to have a crack. Had he got out, he still would not have made it to win but he may have finished a little closer up to the winner.

A good first up run to build upon and he took no damage from the run.

G'Yup
Slacka

Race 1, Campaign 2

Sonny is set to step out at Geraldton for his first campaign for the year. He has had a great long break, grew his woolly coat, and came back a little bigger and stronger. After quite a long preparation he had a satisfactory trial and is now poised to open his account.

All aboard, for those with a ticket :)

G'Yup

Race #3 Video

Race # 3. Ascot March 6th 2010. Oh so close

What a heart pounder!! Here for the result.

Young Sonny raced courageously in his first city outing in finishing a close 2nd to the fast finishing Saytorio. It was pretty much as we had established pre-race. We had the field covered but did not know how good Saytorio was, and we found out that he is pretty damn smart. There are big wraps around the city for him and although he got us, Sonny held out the rest of the field.

He had to do a fair bit of work early in making the position on the outside of Prosaic. Watching the replay over and over again you can see it was a very smart move by Alan Kennedy, the jock on Saytorio, to drop out of the leaders race and assume the one-out one-back spot from which he launched the final attack.

They clocked a 1:10:41 for the race, that was a little slower than the main 1200m of the day 1:09:94 and quite a lot slower than the 2yos who ran a cracking 1:09:35. Sonny's closing 35:32 was a bit slower than I thought he was capable of, and showed that he ran out of fuel towards the end.

The forward plan is a spell for a couple of months and then back as a stronger 4yo.

Two from Two

That was a brilliant second start win over 1100m in a time of 1:06:17.

Sonny has now broken through all the early hoodoo’s. Debut winner from a 1200m death gate, and he wins his next start after a maiden win that is just so hard to do. 2 starts 2 wins. 100% strike rate. This little horse has got a huge depth to him. Anyone care that he is little... Hehe!!

Today was a game of cat and mouse. He was the mouse and the cats were too slow. We saw again his raw gate speed...he just flew the barriers, his “sleep” mode, and then his power at the finish. He went to the line full of running and had that 3yo field well and truly covered.

The ride by Damian Lane was perfect and the kid showed poise to just let him roll to the front when it was clear Shazza was not going to match him early. Damian stayed very quiet through the corner and then gave him the first shake and crack after they rounded. He booted clear from Chief of War and then was sort of waiting for the pack to come. He only really got moving again over that final 150m when the late brigade came bearing down. But he booted away so cleanly that it makes me think he is still learning. We will keep our eye on Chief of War who showed tremendous maturity and guts for a horse having it's first race start.


Gyup
Slacka

A record worth displaying

A win on Debut

Sonny has opened his racing career with a brilliant win on debut over 1200m.


Starting from barrier 9 he exploded out of the gates and settled in a nice position one back and one off the fence. Roy had him nicely poised coming into the home turn and pushed him forward around the pace maker. Born a Diva mounted a strong challenge as they straightened and it turned into a two horse war with Sonny digging deeper and giving more to take out the maiden event by a half length in 1:12:59.


It was a very polished performance by our young gun and the ride by Roy was absolutely perfect. As he always does, Clive had Sonny turned out looking a treat and we have to tip our hats to the wizard who has done it again. The patience we showed in giving him those 3 trials has payed off for us.

There was a lot of excitement leading up to the start with wobbly legs, butterflies in stomachs, racing hearts and these were the owners not Sonny!! With a group of virgin owners, it was understandably a pretty exciting few days leading up to the race and then the race itself.

I've heard there is a video of one of the owners watching the race that would be a priceless vid to get hold of.

After the race the celebrations kicked in with a little buzz happening all over the globe from Perth, to Singapore, to Sydney, to San Francisco, and closing in Paris. I think we are still all celebrating, and as Crabs says "this replay has had more reruns than Dallas". There is a real buzz around this cracking opener and we are all in for a real fun time ahead.

Some of the memorable debut quotes:
"Great ride, great guts, great result!!"
"YA - BLOODY -HOO!
I did shit myself!
Wot a Champ!"
"Boyz, I don't know how you feel but I'm fair dinkum shittin' myself!"

Final results of the race here.

Sonny race record here.


Report above from http://www.grassrootsracingwa.com/

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.