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Luciani Racing News

Lou Luciani is one of the most experienced horse trainers in WA. He offers owners a complete package, from selecting and buying a horse through to agistment, training and racing. He takes care of everything – from organizing horse floats to taking care of paperwork – so that owners can have as much or as little hands-on as they want.

Friday 9 December 2011

THE CHICKEN AND THE EGG SYNDROME

We have all had the question posed to us at some stage...... Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I believe that the answer to that question is a lot more complex than the question I have asked many times recently to which so far I have not had a good enough answer.

My concern is with the programming (or more to the point the lack of programming ) of early season two year old races. I guess at the same time there will also be the question of how early is too early to run two year old races in a season however that is another point entirely.

Let me give you some statistics. The three states of Victoria, NSW and W.A all start racing two year olds at about the same time of the year. In fact the eastern states are a week before W.A. In Victoria, there are 21 two year old races programmed from the start of the 2yo season up until December 31st. These are run on city tracks and provincial tracks. There is a two year old race run on most week ends or at worst at a mid week provincial meeting. In NSW the number is slightly less at 18. Both of these states seem to cater for early season two year olds and both states have massive 2yo stakemoney races such as the Blue Diamond and the Golden Slipper Stakes.

In W.A. over the same period of time we have SIX races programmed and that comes with the threat that if there are not enough acceptors, the race will be called off! Now I am not saying for one moment that everything they do in the east should be done over here however the difference in the number of races available is somewhat staggering.

The reason given by those in charge of programming is that since the Karrakatta  Plate was shifted to the Autumn, trainers hold back running 2yo's and so there are less horses in work and hence they programme less 2yo races. My argument is that if as a trainer with a big team of young horses, I knew that there was a two year old race programmed weekly as there is in the east, I would have a lot more 2yo's in work early to try to get an early return for my owner as well as qualifying my horse for the better autumn races. From a business point of view, it does not make sense for me to have 20 two year olds in the stables in October November and December when there is only one race every two weeks that I can compete in! It is simply bad business.

It intrigues me that we continue to remove distance races from the programme as we no longer breed stayers; Yet, we breed for speed but don't programme races for early maturing young speed horses to run in. Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me. I have also often wondered about the theory against running 2yo's early and the perception that they don't train on. The list below from my stables alone does not support that belief.

Over the years I have had many 2yo winners with many of them winning one of the very early programmed races. The likes of EAGLE FLYER, TIMELESS ACTION, BUSINESS BEAT, LOCK THE VAULT, DARING HOMBRE, STORMY'S SON and others all won pre Xmas races whilst horses like HARDRADA, AMYQUILL, KING CANUTE, GUYNO, ISLAND MORN MR TANZANIA and HARD ACT all were either raced or trialled as early two year olds with most of them winning as two year olds. Each and every one of those horses went on to race and win as three year olds, four year olds and beyond.

Back when the Karrakatta Plate was run before Xmas, the winner and most of the field invariably went on to become the states top three and four year olds. Whether horses train on or not has more to do with training methods of two year olds and the surface on which they race and trial, rather than at what stage they are put under pressure. Obviously an immature young horse is less likely to stand up to the rigours of early season racing however far be it that early runners do not train on.

So back to the chicken and the egg. Do trainers not have two year olds in work because there are so very few opportunities for them to compete in or is there so few races programmed because there are so few two year olds in work? As I said earlier, if there were more races available, I like many other trainers with big teams of young horses would have no hesitation in having them up and running, ready to go from October 1st onwards.

I am not for one moment suggesting that we go 2yo mad and have all our two year olds galloping in August. Each to their own. Some trainers prefer to train late developing horses, others enjoy training young horses whilst others including myself prefer to have an even mix of babies and older horses. If only we had races for the youngsters in my team to run in!!

(Hoofnote: To the wag who sent the comment. I will make sure I use spell check in future. Thank you)

Thursday 8 December 2011

MY OLD MATE IS BACK IN THE STABLES

I know I have said it before but there is no doubt in my mind that when my old mate and top class performer GUYNO is in the stables, there is a completely different feel about the place. Even though he is getting on in years, the old boy loves the stable life and routine and it doesn't take him long to let all the other horses in the stable know that he is back and he is in charge! The world or the stables at least, revolve around GUYNO and he makes sure everyone is aware of it.

GUYNO had a few minor leg issues after he returned from Adelaide however the main reason for his lengthy time off was a severe case of colic back in late May which nearly claimed his life. Typical of his fighting spirit, the horse pulled through where many others would have given up however he did lose a heap of weight. It has taken a long time to get the horse back into top condition however  thanks to some great care and attention by my good friend Bruce Kay who nursed the horse throughout his ordeal, the horse is once again full of cheek and looking somewhere near his best. With another month or so of good feed and slow work, I reckon the old boy will be ready to let rip again.

At this stage, there are no set plans for the old boy however another trip across to the east coast would certainly not be beyond him. The local country cups are always an option however he  is always asked to carry top weight here in Perth so it may be a case of running where he is best weighted. We will decide which way we go after we step up his work and assess his fitness and keenness in another month or so.

STACKS ON IN EASY WIN

Smart filly STACKS ON cruises to the line to record an easy first up victory with Jason Whiting on board
More photos can be seen at www.hollandsracetrackphotos.com

Promising 3yo filly STACKS ON  won the second race of her career when she defeated a smart mid week field at Ascot yesterday. The lightly raced daughter of last seasons leading first season sire, SAXON, was having her first start for this campaign and only her fifth lifetime start. The filly had previously won over 1000m at Belmont earlier in the season as well as running a very close second at her race track debut.

After being slightly slow away, regular rider Jason Whiting was quick to put the filly into a commanding position before the corner and when asked for an effort in the straight she quickly set up a comfortable winning margin. Whilst the stock of SAXON should get better with age and when they step up to 1400m and further, I feel that this filly will always be best placed in short course racing.

The filly is not overly big however she is strong and sound and has a terrific will to win which should ensure she can maintain her current winning strike rate for a good bit longer yet. She is likely to have her next start in Saturday company in a couple of weeks.