Symon Wilde has long had a theory about Australasian staying horses, and he can’t believe he might have the chance to prove it.
‘’I am so relieved and happy that we have been able to develop our own stayer,’’ Wilde said on Sunday just one day after his talented mare Tralee Rose’s impressive first group race win in Adelaide in the 2600-metre Lord Reims Stakes.
‘’It can be done. I think it’s more a training thing rather than a breeding thing and it’s just unbelievable that we might have the horse to prove the theory.’’
Wilde’s hypothesis is that Australasian-bred horses should be able to compete on level terms with the well-bred imports from Europe if they are properly managed and developed. With stables at Warrnambool and at Ballarat, Wilde believes he is well placed to allow stayers time to progress.
He purchased Tralee Rose (NZ), who is by Tavistock out of a Zabeel mare, for just $50,000 in New Zealand with the idea of developing her slowly but surely into an elite stayer. Now, after just 10 runs, she has won five races and seems to be getting more potent the longer the races are.
‘’When we got the owners together, we said we won’t see her running as an early horse and you’ll need some patience and now it’s paying off,’’ he said.
‘’Part of it is environment. Over in Europe, they have straight tracks and softer tracks and horses are in work a lot longer and it’s a gradual process for them.
‘’These imports we get out here are four and five years olds and they’ve all had a handful of starts only but you rarely see that in an Australian horse.
‘’She seems to be just getting better and better with time. Her behaviour is better and we were so happy with the way she travelled over there (Adelaide).
‘’It was sort of a dress rehearsal for the Adelaide Cup and it was a question mark for us but she’s just becoming a complete racehorse from being a touchy filly.’’
The Gr.2 Adelaide Cup (3200m) on March 8 is Tralee Rose’s next assignment before connections turn their minds to next spring’s Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) and how best to qualify the mare for the race.
‘’I was having a think about it last night and if she did happen to win the Adelaide Cup, you’d have to think about the Sydney Cup,’’ he said.
‘’It’s a Group One and worth a lot of money and if she could win it, she would be in the (Melbourne) Cup next spring. We wouldn’t have to wait for the Andrew Ramsden in May or having to have her earn a spot in the spring.’’
Wilde said Jason Holder may well retain the mount in the $300,000 Adelaide Cup in two weeks.
‘’I have to talk to the owners, but I thought he rode it very well,’’ he said. ‘’It was probably an easy ride, but he did it well and I would be tempted to keep him on.’’
Wilde won his first Group Two race last spring when Allibor (All Too Hard) took the Sandown Guineas (1600m) before he was snapped up by owners to race in Hong Kong.
He said he had not yet received any offers for Tralee Rose and added that he and her owners were determined to continue to race her and see where she takes them.
‘’She’s not for sale,’’ Wilde said.
