 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2000
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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We are unlikely to see Agua Caliente ever race from a stand again. But Glen Wolfenden will settle for that.
This time last year he tried desperately to settle Agua Caliente during the seemingly endless delay to the start of 1999's NZ Cup, and at the end of the event he had a horse with only three legs. "He tore all the cartilage in his ankle that day, and he was that lame and that sore when he came off the track I didn't think he would ever race again," Wolfenden recalled. "The course vet worked all night on him. But he is a lot sounder and a lot happier this time round, and after he paced a half in 55 seconds at the trials the other day I knew he was about as good as we could get him."
Wolfenden wasn't wrong. He and Agua Caliente tagged onto the back of Stars And Stripes in the minor Free-For-All on Cup Day, and those that were waiting for the Lischner runner's sprint soon saw that there was something else with an even bigger turbo boost. Agua Caliente was timed to run his last quarter in 26.2 seconds. "And he knocked off once he got to the front, he's a bugger for doing that," Wolfenden continued. I didn't want to use him out of the gate because the big free-for-all is only three days away - that is our main target this year. Stands really are a waste of time for him, even today with all the hype he nearly wouldn't go out onto the track at all before his race. I am just glad that the public got a chance to see what he can do. This horse has been through hell - but he keeps coming back."
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 16Nov00