Gingernuts Salver

[PKR]

You never quite know if a 3yo will get 2000m let alone the Derby distance of 2400m. Temperament, conformation, bred to stay, how the race is run on the day, all add to the puzzle. Can't comment on temperament or conformation but on breeding alone Day One looks to have it all before him. But races are not won on breeding alone. We'll all be the wiser just after 4pm today.       

[PKR]

and ... good luck to Cafe participant Aaron Bidlake. As Aaron commented a few weeks back put a line through Tulsa King's Rotorua run. Hot jockey on. No excuses today  

[ADM]

Congratulations Aaron, not quite but a good run

[Ranger]

Interesting interview post race. Who trains the horse? Someone else seems to take a lot of credit.

[scooby3051]

3 minutes ago, Ranger said:

Interesting interview post race. Who trains the horse? Someone else seems to take a lot of credit.

Stephen trains the horse but when you have so many in work you need a team around you do you not??

[We're Doomed]

4 minutes ago, Ranger said:

Interesting interview post race. Who trains the horse? Someone else seems to take a lot of credit.

I saw the interview. I thought he said Stephen does a great job training it.

[PKR]

7 minutes ago, Ranger said:

Interesting interview post race. Who trains the horse? Someone else seems to take a lot of credit.

A team effort. The boss is in Australia. Seems though the horse has to carry the extra weight of the owners' input but to be fair I guess they know what they're doing. Working so far.

[BUCKY]

5 minutes ago, We're Doomed said:

I saw the interview. I thought he said Stephen does a great job training it.

Yes he did say that, and said Marshy is in the gold coast for the MM Sales which start Tuesday.

[We're Doomed]

10 minutes ago, ADM said:

Congratulations Aaron, not quite but a good run

I turned on just as they jumped so didn't note all the colours. The commentator seemed to be calling Aaron's horse on the inside something else until the moment they hit the line.  Either that or he missed it totally and was referring to another horse, I think Day One, diving through gaps when everyone else could see it was Tulsa King.

There doesn't look to be many people in attendance although from the few minutes I saw the cameras didn't do their usual wide shots of the grandstands.

[scooby3051]

1 hour ago, PKR said:

A team effort. The boss is in Australia. Seems though the horse has to carry the extra weight of the owners' input but to be fair I guess they know what they're doing. Working so far.

So people like Bruce Perry and his owner are not allowed an input, they have a ton of experience I am sure it is a team effort.

[chiknsmack]

29 minutes ago, We're Doomed said:

I turned on just as they jumped so didn't note all the colours. The commentator seemed to be calling Aaron's horse on the inside something else until the moment they hit the line.  Either that or he missed it totally and was referring to another horse, I think Day One, diving through gaps when everyone else could see it was Tulsa King.

There doesn't look to be many people in attendance although from the few minutes I saw the cameras didn't do their usual wide shots of the grandstands.

Day One was the other one in the Elsdon Park colours, and was weaving through as described. George just completely missed Tulsa King.

23 minutes ago, scooby3051 said:

So people like Bruce Perry and his owner are not allowed an input, they have a ton of experience I am sure it is a team effort.

He who pays the piper calls the tune, but we all know Bart's line about owners who wanted to help him train.

[PKR]

54 minutes ago, scooby3051 said:

So people likeBruce Perry and his owner are not allowed an input, they have a ton of experience I am sure it is a team effort.

Yes, does sound a bit arrogant but in my experience owners overly complicate things. Yes, they pay the bill but they dont always know best. Many owners do know best and stay out of it. No disrespect to the ownership team - I suspect they have a rather different working relation with the Marsh stable.

[PKR]

I thought Amminati deserved the chocolates today but with some 2.5 lengths over the first seven or eight the Derby is still wide open. And more to come. Imv Day One looked to be held up a bit and when in the clear the winner had already put them to bed, but he went to line well enough, not an explosive turn of foot but 2400m on March 7th is the goal.

[Blue]

1 hour ago, We're Doomed said:

I turned on just as they jumped so didn't note all the colours. The commentator seemed to be calling Aaron's horse on the inside something else until the moment they hit the line.  Either that or he missed it totally and was referring to another horse, I think Day One, diving through gaps when everyone else could see it was Tulsa King.

There doesn't look to be many people in attendance although from the few minutes I saw the cameras didn't do their usual wide shots of the grandstands.

I watched it all the way. George called him correctly through the running  and I was pleased to see Sam Collett stay on the rail round the turn which saved half a dozen lengths but George missed or completely ignored his progress all the way down the straight. Obviouly mesmerised by the TA horse.

[Aaron Bidlake]

Thanks guys, was a great run by the little guy. 

I hadn't been to Ellerslie with a horse for about 10 years, wow they are doing things right up there as far as the horses and staff are concerned. 

[chiknsmack]

Yamato Satona the best horse in the race, Navy Dreams the best stayer. But Ammirati had the tactical speed to be handy in running and had too much of a head start.

Ammirati and Tulsa King were good, Relentless is a miler but was good until running out of puff, Genki had no luck in the run home and along with YS and ND is one I'd like to be on going forward.

[Phar Lap Fan]

Won in 2m. 13.03s, seems slow. Reported as Good 4 track but all race times were ordinary. Doesn't matter if it can stay or not, there will be a winner of the Derby. Whether it will be a good horse therafter remains to be seen.

[scooby3051]

Diminutive Derby hope standing tall for Bidlake
By Paul Vettise, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
Aaron Bidlake has never given Tulsa King’s lack of size a second thought, with experience teaching
him good things can come in small packages.
The Hastings-based horseman was thrilled with his flyweight charge’s run for second in the Listed
Gingernuts Salver (2100m) at Ellerslie on Sunday to keep the Classic dream alive with the son of
Staphanos.
Tulsa King had collected a win and a runner-up finish in the Gr.3 Wellington Stakes (1400m) from his
previous six starts for Bidlake and is firmly on target for a crack at the Gr.1 Trackside New Zealand
Derby (2400m) in March.
“He had three trials and a couple of runs for Barry Donoghue and he trialled up okay but didn’t set
the world on fire and only managed to beat one horse home in his first two starts,” Bidlake said.
“They put him on Gavelhouse and we were lucky enough to get him for only $1,500, I guess being so
small put a lot of people off.
“He really is a tiny horse, but I’m not worried about small horses. I won the Grand National (5600m)
with Eric The Viking and he was pretty small.”
Eric The Viking claimed the National in 2014 off the back of success in the Koral Steeplechase
(4250m) and also won the Wellington Steeplechase (5500m).
“We’re having a fair old ride with a very cheap horse now and Barry Donoghue was the first one to
come up to me on Sunday and congratulate us for running second, so that was nice,” Bidlake said.
“He went super and the ride from Sam Collett was fantastic, they got held up a bit in the straight but
for a horse she’d never sat on before she gave him such a good ride along the fence.
“He came through it very well and we came home through the night back to Hastings, and he was
bouncing in the paddock this (Monday) morning.”
Tulsa King is a family horse, with Bidlake and partner Michelle Young sharing in the ownership with
his uncle and aunt Barry and Teresa.
“Mum and Dad (Karen and Graeme) also have a share in him as part of the Grassroots Syndicate and
we travel all our own horses and Michelle does all the driving so it’s very much a team effort,” he
said.
Tulsa King will make one more appearance before the Derby in an open handicap won by Kevin
Myers’ C’est La Guerre on his way to Classic glory in 2008.
“We will go a little bit different because of the travel, so he’ll go to the Wairoa Cup (2100m) at
Waipukurau,” Bidlake said.
“He’s only 400kg, I don’t want to give him another trip north at this time of the year with the heat,
we’ll stick close to home and then it’s on to the Derby.

“In his previous races, he has got back and gone to sleep and we’ve thought all along he was a
staying type of horse and the pedigree suggests that, the further he goes the better he’ll be.”
The Chequers Stud-bred gelding is out of the Encosta De Lago mare Lilies who is a half-sister to
Soriano, dual Group One winner of the Zabeel Classic (2000m) and Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m), and
the family of Wexford Stables’ 2021 Derby winner Rocket Spade. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk

[scooby3051]

Hope the dream can continue for you and your team Aaron...best of luck in his upcoming races.

[We're Doomed]

Various contributors on here are going quite well with their horses at the moment.  Chris Wood also seems to have struck an impressive run of form.

[Chris Wood]

Thanks, nice horses make the job a lot easier!