A case of Dejavu for the King!!

It sure is hard to wipe the smile off the faces of the winning connections of KING OF THE STALLS, even though they had done it all before only seven days prior. Hopefuly now it is on to bigger and better things for the KING.

King of the Stalls cruises to another win.

Dion pushes King of the Stalls out to win the last race of the day last Saturday and make it two on the trot for the KING. It is nice to see the old boy regain form.

A couple of very happy part owners.

Part owners Bill Biggs and Rod Kemp are very excited and very proud to be leading King of the Stalls back to scale after his first Ascot win for a long time. There is no more keen an owner than Kempy and he certainly gets a big kick when one of his horses gets the money. We would all dearly love to turn the clock back and be legging him up on board.

King of the Stalls eased down on the line.

Jason Whitting eases King of the Stalls down on the line after the first of his last two Saturday Ascot wins. It was his first win for nearly fifteen months.

TWO FOR THE KING.

KING OF THE STALLS kept up his good recent form yesterday with another brilliant display to remove any doubt that this horse is the real deal.

After an indifferent campaign last year where the horse was battling to regain form, things have gone from strength to strength with him this preparation winning his last two and running second at his previous start.

The horse was ridden in superb style by Dion Luciani who had the horse well placed in behind the speed all the way before pulling out across heals on the corner to win running away. Since Dion was suspended in late February for 23days he has had a real struggle with his weight but was determined to make correct weight for King of the Stalls yesterday, boosting my confidence in the horses chances.

Whilst battling to control his weight, Dion has been out of the winners circle for a while in town but as I explained to him on Thursday morning, it doesn't necessarily mean he is out of form. The horses he has been riding have been both out of form and not suited where they have been racing. Some are just not good enough including a few that he has ridden for me. I am confident that yesterdays win will do Dion's confidence the world of good and it wont be long before he is saluting the judge once again.

Meanwhile King of the Stalls will be kept in work while we work out Just where he may be best placed in the future. A Coolgardie Cup or a Hannans Handicap would not be beyond him!

Finally someone agrees with me.

It was very interesting to read a comment posted by racing commentator Marty Young on his West Oz racing site this morning. The article relates to track bias.... a subject which I tend to get into a lot of debates and arguments about.

For years we have been hearing the story about track bias, a myth started by the wise men from the east. Naturally enough, it didn't take long for the local racing scribes and commentators to also get onto the "bias" bandwagon. About twelve months ago or maybe more I posted a lengthy article on this site, refuting the so called "track bias" theory.

I will continue to argue against its existence. As I have maintained for a long time, there are only two things which effect the outcome of races at Ascot (and for that matter most tracks) and they are PACE and WIND. The reason Ascot is so peculiar is because of the easterly or south westerly breeze. In fact during the course of the day the effect can change dramatically according to the wind. Neither of these things can be attributed to track bias. Sure weight, barriers, jockey quality, trainer quality, fitness etc etc all have a bearing but when assessing a horses chances, punters would be far better off assessing the two factors which I will continue to mention. PACE and WIND.

I was encouraged to read this morning that at least someone else out there agrees with me. Marty and I don't necessarily agree on most things however it is nice to see that he is starting to get the hang of things!!!! I am confident that Marty will start to back even more winners from here on in!!!! L.O.L.

King Of The Stalls back in the winners stall.

King Of The Stalls found his way back into the winners stalls last Saturday after a long absence from the number one position. The horse started off his WA racing program with a couple of very impressive wins. The horse was spelled with ambitious plans in place for his next campaign. Unfortunately the horse had one setback after another and it was a struggle to get him to the races and producing his best.

The horse was given another spell and did not appear to be much better when we began to do fast work with him. The horse had already undergone extensive tests but nothing seemed to help or fix his problems. About two months ago I threw my hands up in despair after the horse pulled up lame after a Saturday morning work out. Considering that I had just told the owners that we appeared to be on the right track with him only a few days earlier, things were looking grim.

We finally performed some radical hoof treatments on the horse under the instructions of Dr Kim Rose which were carried out by my farrier John Godwin. After a few days of adjusting to his new shoeing, the horse has not looked back. He has come through his three races this campaign in good style and last Saturday he was able to win over 1500m, a distance we never thought possible with him early in his career.

Hopefully we can keep the horse sound and trouble free so that he may be able to show his true potential.

Easter runners in the paddock.

After a long and tough campaign through the Summer and Autumn, all of my Easter runners are now enjoying a well deserved break.

The WA DERBY winner Guyno is currently enjoying a spell at Amelia Park as is Outside Edge and Secret Vault. Celt Code is having a short freshen up and will be aimed at the winter staying 3yo races. She did not have a heavy campaign and did have a good spell prior to her last preparation.

At this stage I am undecided as to where we will head with Guyno next preparation. There are a number of options including the Perth Cup however a tilt at the Kalgoorlie Cup is also on the cards. For the time being though, he can enjoy the break. I would love to be with him! I may have to wait until later in the winter.

The very happy connections of WA DERBY winner GUYNO, Mr John Court, Mrs Helen Court, Mr Peter Richardson, Mrs Shirley Richardson, Jockey Jason Whiting and yours truly are joined by the District Sales Manager for Coca-Cola Amatil, Mr Lee Merenda, for a group photo after the win of GUYNO after (wait for it) THE MOUNT FRANKLIN LIGHTLY SPARKLING WATC DERBY......try saying that a few times after a few full strengths!

Yours truly receiving the trophy as the trainer of GUYNO after winning the WA DERBY.

A time to reflect? Not sure just what was going through my mind here but I'm sure it must have been interesting! It sure is a buggar when you get caught with your "pants down."

A very proud part owner Mr John Court being presented with the trophy for the WA DERBY won by his horse GUYNO.

How sweet it is!! GUYNO powers to the line to win the 2007 WA DERBY with Jason Whiting on board. (Photo courtesey Hollands Photographics)

GUYNO IN THE DERBY

Guyno showed that he new exactly which way to go with a display of toughness, courage and straight out staying ability when he won the WATC DERBY in brilliant style yesterday.

GUYNO showed that to win a big race like the Derby, everything has to be in order and nothing can be left to chance. That is the way I approached the race during the past few weeks when I realised that if we were to beat NEW SPICE, we needed to improve about four lengths. The improvement was there it just had to be brought out and that's where a slight change in training tactics seem to have worked wonders with him.

After his last start defeat, I soon realised that my horse was already as physically fit as I could get him however I needed to get his mind a bit stimulated as life had become a bit boring for him. During the past two weeks the horse only went to the track on two occasions and that was for a couple of grass track workouts. In between the horse did a bit of arena work, some bush work, some trail walks and some river swimming. I just kept my fingers crossed that I didn't stuff up.

With the horse now a bit keener to perform, I felt it was time to reapply the blinkers to help him take advantage of his good barrier and his new lease on life. I am not sure which individual thing had the most effect on him but the proof of the pudding is in the eating and GUYNO certainly didn't let the team down.

At this stage I am not certain what the immediate future holds in store for him and no plans have been made for him. The horse has pulled up better than his trainer who may need a few more days to get over the "hard run."Then again he is younger than me so he is entitled to pull up better.