It Could Be A Wilde Night At The 'bool
The Age
Tuesday November 13, 2007
WARRNAMBOOL has been in the grip of a spring carnival party with the Emirates Stakes win of local trainer Ciaron Maher and his horse Tears I Cry, but the Western District city could be in for further celebration after Saturday's Sandown Classic.
Local dentist and part-time trainer Bill Wilde said yesterday the opportunity to run his consistent stayer Baughurst in a group 2 $400,000 race was too tempting to resist, especially as there were only 13 entries for the race yesterday, none of whom are group 1 winners."I don't particularly like the quick back-up (after running second at Flemington on Saturday) but in a year when the numbers have dwindled a little, it's too good an opportunity to miss racing in a group 2 race," Wilde said."He beat Extend in the Werribee Cup and then ran second to him after Extend had the run of the race the other day and Extend will be one of the favourites (this Saturday). We'll meet him better at the weights also, so while the horse is fit and racing so well, it's worth a shot."Baughurst has won seven of his 27 starts for prizemoney of more than $290,000 and is Wilde's best galloper at the moment. Last season, Wilde, who is helped around the stable by his son Simon, won 30 races, including three in the metropolitan area."That was our best season yet," he said. "We're getting better and getting our hands on some better stock, so we're pleased with how things are going."Wilde, like many around Warrnambool, enjoyed the surprise win of Tears I Cry in last Saturday's $1 million Emirates Stakes. "It was lovely to see for Ciaron as he's a terrific young bloke. It's good for the district and for our racing," he said.? Brian Mayfield-Smith made the tough call last Tuesday to scratch Maybe Better from the Melbourne Cup after a small lump appeared on a leg and the trainer now has sent the horse to the paddock for a spell instead of running him in the Sandown Classic."I just decided to turn him out as there's not much to be gained by pushing on," Mayfield-Smith said. "If we had run in the Melbourne Cup, we could have ruined him and, as a precaution, we didn't run and we won't run again until the autumn."Mayfield-Smith said Maybe Better's ailment was not permanent and that it appeared simply out of wear and tear."It was my call but the horse's welfare comes first. You could argue that we've set him for this race for 12 months and whatever, but at the end of the day, you would never forgive yourself if things started to unravel in the home straight in the Melbourne Cup."Mayfield-Smith said he was looking forward to Maybe Better's return next year. "I'll be glad to say goodbye to 2007. It's been a pretty ordinary year. I just didn't have the depth beyond Maybe Better to be competitive in the better races."? Melbourne jockey Noel Callow on Sunday night became the first jockey to notch 100 winners in a season in Singapore.Callow, who began riding in Singapore in December last year, brought up his century aboard the Bruce Marsh-trained Royal Crown at Kranji racecourse.Callow, who broke the old record of 84 winners in September, is a runaway leader in the jockeys' premiership, having ridden 100 winners from 337 rides, and is 43 clear of his nearest rival."I can't believe I've ridden 100, I really can't," Callow said before paying tribute to trainers such as Don Baertschiger and Laurie Laxon.
© 2007 The Age
