 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2008
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Brian & Trish Fraser with Wayne Adams (centre) and Badlands Jewel |
Wayne Adams knows how much things can change in less than a minute. Because, 500 metres from home in the $150,000 Nevele R Fillies Series Final at Addington on Saturday, he was starting to think his trek north from Invercargill had been a wasted trip.
Badlands Jewel had only one other filly behind her at that stage, and then when a skirmish unfolded around the last bend, his heart sank even further as he conceded "oh well, that's it". But wait...two acts of sheer brilliance later - the first by driver Mark Jones to avoid the melee, and the second by Badlands Jewel to balance up and power home - and Adams had to pinch himself, because he'd just trained his first Group 1 winner! "That was unbelievable," Adams said. "After how the race had panned out, if she'd have got up to run third or fourth I would have been happy. What a huge thrill."
Badlands Jewel is about as 'Nevele R' as you can get. She's by Badlands Hanover out of a Holmes Hanover mare Holmes Dream, who in turn is a daughter of the great producer Port Melody who has been responsible for a plethora of winners in recent years. Oamaru enthusiast Brian Fraser races Badlands Jewel on lease from the stud, having an option on the filly until the end of her 5-year-old season. Fraser's association with Adams began more than a decade ago through the horse Brilliant Butler, whose last of six wins was achieved from the Adams stable when he took out the 1998 Waikouaiti Cup.
"Brian raced Brilliant Butler with the late Pat Heffernan," Adams said. "After Pat died I trained a couple more for him that weren't much, and then Brian sent me Bold Cruiser who was a real nice horse. It sort of grew from there, and he has been a great owner to have." Adams trained Bold Cruiser to win seven here before he was sold across the Tasman, where the son of Live Or Die has continued on his winning way. Badlands Jewel is Bold Cruiser's half-sister, and there is every indication that she could go a long way further. "Right from day one she had a bit of the 'X factor' about her," Adams says. "She won a couple of workouts, and I just liked the way she was very relaxed about everything. She's a big filly, so I was never expecting too much of her at this age."
That all changed once Badlands Jewel got to the races though, because within the space of a month she was unbeaten in four appearances. "She was very impressive at Omakau first up. Mark drove her that day, and wanted to stay with her for the big fillies races later on. And then at her second outing she drew seventeen in a 2700m stand, but bolted in by three lengths in 3.26 - I knew then that she was a real staying type of filly. She had a fortnight out after those four wins, and when she came back she wasn't as sharp for a few weeks. But when I worked her around Ascot Park with a galloping pacemaker last Monday, she just dropped her bum and flattened out really well. I thought we pretty much had her right again."
Still, four wins in the south is a long way from the cauldron of a Nevele R Fillies Final at Addington, and Adams wanted to believe that he had every right to bring her north. "Deep down inside, I always thought she was as good as the rest of them," he said. "Even Mark told me not to be scared of anyone. And I actually think she'll be better this week over the longer distance, although it'll be a real good field again."
Adams is no stranger to Addington, having campaigned the likes of First Glimpse, John Albert, Happy Chip, Atitagain, White Star Sam, Bold Cruiser and more recently Weka Lass there over the years. Even on Sunday he said the realisation of his first Group 1 victory was still sinking in, and he's also been humbled by the amount of congratulatory wishes he has received. "The phone's been red hot," he says. "I haven't trained many 3-year-old fillies at all really, and I've probably never had one as good as this."
After this Friday night's NZ Oaks its full steam ahead to Cambridge for the Jewels, although there is one thing that worries him. "She hasn't got a lot of gatespeed. But then again she could develop some in time, because she's never really been asked. She's actually been growing a lot in the last three or four months too - upwards, not outwards."
Adams says last Saturday's victory was his proudest moment in the sport, with the only other one that comes close being First Glimpse's win in the Oceania El Dorado Final in Melbourne 17 years ago, although that occasion was also tinged with a great deal of sadness. Adams stayed with the late Vinny Knight for five weeks during his Australian sojourn in 1991, and Knight was in the sulky when First Glimpse took out the Aus$270,000 event. First Glimpse turned out to be the last horse that the great Australian ever partnered in a race though, as two days later he was found dead after committing suicide.
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 14 May08