 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2010
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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Baileys Dream has had a monkey on his back for years. Niggly little problems here, injury-enforced layoffs there - there has been plenty to keep him away from a lot of big races, and keep his connections frustrated at the same time.
The latest in a long list of bumps in the road was the keyhole surgery Baileys Dream needed to remove cartilage in a knee after he went sore in the build-up to last year's NZ Cup. On top of everything else, it meant he had been away from the racetrack for more than 13 months when trainer 'Benny' Hill finally loaded him on a float again last Saturday.
Quite literally he had a monkey on his back then, too...Monkey King sat behind him in the trail for the last 1900 metres of the Listed $75,000 United Fisheries Ltd Summer Cup, and at the business end Baileys Dream all-but staved off the finishing punch that his stablemate is famous for.
"Halfway down I didn't think they'd get him," said Hill, who was just as chuffed about Baileys Dream's performance as he was about the winner's. "He only knocked up the last twenty metres. And if he'd have had a couple of runs in him, I don't think even Monkey could've got past him."
Hill knows the enormity of such a statement; after all, this is the reigning NZ Cup/NZ Free-For-All/Miracle Mile champion we are talking about here - so it proves that he rates Baileys Dream little, if any, inferior to Monkey King. "I'm probably a bit biased, but if a sound and race-fit Bailey had had the same trips as Monkey did in those three big ones, I reckon he could've won them too. I honestly do."
The only thing spoiling the perfect comeback party for Hill's two pacers on Saturday was Ohoka Dallas, who got shuffled back after being parked early and zoomed home late for a very eye-catching second. A length and a neck separated the three horses at the finish, and Hill walked away knowing that his two were right where he wanted them as the Inter-Dominions draw nearer.
"Monkey was pretty good to go, and because of his following he was more or less expected to win. Which he did, and that was great. But I'm stoked about how Bailey went. He's still a bit big and was probably only about ninety percent, so the run will really tighten him up. And Todd (Mitchell) was pretty happy with him too."
Hill says Monkey King and Baileys Dream are "completely different horses to train", and the latter takes a lot of work. "I didn't miss a beat with him, giving him a serious workout or trial programme of Saturday- Saturday- Wednesday- Saturday prior to his resumption. But you've got to be conscious of keeping him sound too, because you're just as likely to go out there in the morning and find he's sore somewhere. That's what things have been like with him a lot of the time. I know he's eight now, but he's a young eight when you consider how many starts he's had (62). And he's sound at the moment."
Baileys Dream and Monkey King will fly direct to Sydney this time next week where they will be boarding with Hill's good mate Darren Hancock in a township called Pheasant's Nest, which is about an hour and a bit from the city. Two days later the first round of Inter-Dom Heats get underway at Harold Park, then it is onto Newcastle the following Saturday for round two, and Grand Final Day is at Menangle on Sunday, March 7.
"We'll want to be firing and getting points early," says Hill, adding that it is pretty special to be taking across not one but two great horses for such a series.
Monkey King has assumed the role of pinup horse for the industry in this country - mainly because of his emphatic deeds during November, but partly also due to the sub-standard exit from the stage made by Auckland Reactor. At the time when we really needed another hero, the little black rocket from Dancingonmoonlight Farm has filled the void beautifully.
Even last Saturday's racemeeting was dubbed 'The Day Of The Monkey', and his trainer says it's an honour to be part of it all. "It's a really neat feeling. Imagine if he pulled off the Inter-Dominion as well - it'd go dowm in history as one of the greatest seasons ever, and he'd be loved even more. And why couldn't he?"
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 10Feb10