After FIFTEEN attempts by our Trainer to get Becky to lose her maiden tag, Micky Hammond thought he had found the ideal opportunity for her to improve her CV by managing to get her head in front, for once, where it matters.
This time it was the marathon 2ml 5f Class 5 handicap at Ponty, Monday 23rd April `18.
Sixteen races on the flat over EIGHT different distances the stats show.
Available at 12-1 the night before, it seemed many punters had latched on to the fact Becky was a seriously well handicapped horse for this race, and the money came for her in lumps as she was backed down from 12`s to 5-1 2nd fav just before the off.
The money didn`t come from McGoldrick Racing members that`s for sure……………..well maybe with one exception !! nevertheless we were hopeful the money was well placed.
Fast forward to the final furlong of the race, and, what we were thinking was a beautifully timed run from Paul Hanagan turned out to be another frustrating near miss
Second again !!!
I bloody well hate finishing second, especially being beaten by such a small margin.
But thats what the stats will forever show.
Unless you`re talking through your pocket, you have to feel sorry for me….sorry, that should read the horse, because yet again she`s run an “absolute blinder” to quote the jockey, yet still we await her turn to come on the flat.
Immediately after the race there was talk of a stewards enquiry and an objection because, as The Racing Post commented in its results section, Becky was bumped close home which the stewards had a look at but dismissed, and that moody, temperamental bay mare of Phil Dennis Madam Lillibet didn`t do us any favours either by spitting her dummy out, then pulling herself up in front of ours, forcing Hanagan almost into South Yorkshire when taking evasive action to avoid a pile up.
But, whingeing won`t get the result changed, so we move on.
Undeterred, Micky will come good sooner or later, and he will prove he CAN train a winner on the flat for McGoldrick Racing, but for now its 0 from 16.
To offset that however, our Becky has raced nine times over hurdles and won three times, and her combined efforts over both flat and hurdles have resulted in place prize money earned on 12 occasions.
She is a 5yo who we all believe, when given the right conditions, will show much improvement over hurdles, so the sooner Micky can get this flat victory obsession of his out of the way, the sooner we can concentrate on Beckys hurdling talents.
Again, given the right conditions (good to soft ground) and also the fact she has been lightly raced since January, and is a fresh horse, I don`t think Micky will be in a rush to put her away for a summer break just yet.
So him and I will be scouring the fixture list in search of more success for Becky over the next couple of months.
Richard