horses4courses
06-05-2016, 07:13 PM
Finally - an Epsom Derby victory to go with Weld's many global successes.
Winning horse, Harzand, overcame an injury scare that day, too.
http://images.racingpost.com/2016/Jun/206774.jpg
http://www.racingpost.com/horses/home.sd?story=2095262#newsArchiveTabs=last7DaysNew s
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/04/globetrotting-pioneer-dermot-weld-fulfils-derby-dream
Morning of the race, it very nearly wasn't going to happen.
Dermot Weld, trainer of Harzand "He was pretty unlikely to run today after what happened. This morning, when he came over, he just stood on himself. Racing plates are very light and unfortunately he pulled one off. By doing this, he just drew blood as well so his foot was very sore. "I've got excellent staff and immediately old-fashioned treatment came in. We poulticed him and then, when he got to Epsom this morning, he was very sore. So we treated him again and I was happy then that we'd drawn anything we had wanted to out of the foot. We then put him in ice for four hours. He hadn't damaged the plate - it was clean and hadn't buckled at all. Jim Reilly, Jim Bolger's farrier, was able to tack that back on. Jim is a very gifted man and we were lucky to have him here. He tacked the plate back on so delicately and then we put the foot in ice again. The track veterinary was there watching him all the time and we both agreed that he had to pass three tests. Dermot Weld "The final test was Pat's call. I told him that if he wasn't happy with him at the start then he should just pull him out. I watched him go down on the big screen with Pat and he trotted down sound. So here we are - such is life!" Dermot Weld "We took him out then as His Highness (the Aga Khan - the owner) was due to leave at 2.20pm to come to Epsom. The shoe was tacked on at 1.55pm and I was happy when he jogged with the track vet and he was perfectly sound. I called His Highness and away he came. We put his foot back in a bucket of ice for the next couple of hours and I stayed with him. We came down and saddled him later, which was the next test, and he jogged out perfectly sound. The track vet was also happy. We did it again to be sure and he was fine. The final test was Pat's call. I told him that if he wasn't happy with him at the start then he should just pull him out. I watched him go down on the big screen with Pat and he trotted down sound. So here we are - such is life! "He has improved since Leopardstown because of his breeding. He's a late maturing horse. As often happens, these staying three-year-olds start to come into themselves at this time of year. Once they start improving, they keep improving. He's a typical late maturing colt and, when we worked him at the Curragh ten or so days ago, this is when we saw this horse coming into his own. He started to show the extra sparkle that we needed to see."
RgBSwl3hgs4
Winning horse, Harzand, overcame an injury scare that day, too.
http://images.racingpost.com/2016/Jun/206774.jpg
http://www.racingpost.com/horses/home.sd?story=2095262#newsArchiveTabs=last7DaysNew s
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jun/04/globetrotting-pioneer-dermot-weld-fulfils-derby-dream
Morning of the race, it very nearly wasn't going to happen.
Dermot Weld, trainer of Harzand "He was pretty unlikely to run today after what happened. This morning, when he came over, he just stood on himself. Racing plates are very light and unfortunately he pulled one off. By doing this, he just drew blood as well so his foot was very sore. "I've got excellent staff and immediately old-fashioned treatment came in. We poulticed him and then, when he got to Epsom this morning, he was very sore. So we treated him again and I was happy then that we'd drawn anything we had wanted to out of the foot. We then put him in ice for four hours. He hadn't damaged the plate - it was clean and hadn't buckled at all. Jim Reilly, Jim Bolger's farrier, was able to tack that back on. Jim is a very gifted man and we were lucky to have him here. He tacked the plate back on so delicately and then we put the foot in ice again. The track veterinary was there watching him all the time and we both agreed that he had to pass three tests. Dermot Weld "The final test was Pat's call. I told him that if he wasn't happy with him at the start then he should just pull him out. I watched him go down on the big screen with Pat and he trotted down sound. So here we are - such is life!" Dermot Weld "We took him out then as His Highness (the Aga Khan - the owner) was due to leave at 2.20pm to come to Epsom. The shoe was tacked on at 1.55pm and I was happy when he jogged with the track vet and he was perfectly sound. I called His Highness and away he came. We put his foot back in a bucket of ice for the next couple of hours and I stayed with him. We came down and saddled him later, which was the next test, and he jogged out perfectly sound. The track vet was also happy. We did it again to be sure and he was fine. The final test was Pat's call. I told him that if he wasn't happy with him at the start then he should just pull him out. I watched him go down on the big screen with Pat and he trotted down sound. So here we are - such is life! "He has improved since Leopardstown because of his breeding. He's a late maturing horse. As often happens, these staying three-year-olds start to come into themselves at this time of year. Once they start improving, they keep improving. He's a typical late maturing colt and, when we worked him at the Curragh ten or so days ago, this is when we saw this horse coming into his own. He started to show the extra sparkle that we needed to see."
RgBSwl3hgs4