Carnival Dream Kicks Off

krizon

krizon

At the Start
Joined
May 2, 2003
Messages
16,263
Location
Dahn sarf
Thanks to the most sterling effort by crazyhorse, I've been able to locate the yearling Songsheet and I sold last year, by CARNIVAL DANCER out of REACH THE WIND. At the time of the Tatts Sale, she went to 'B&P Bloodstock', apparently destined for Germany! Anyway, thanks to crazy's research, I've found out that she never got there. She's in the UK, at Alan Berry's yard. What's happened is that her trainer, Bruce Hellier, then based in Mulheim, helped to buy her for Ian Cormack, an owner based in the UK. Bruce is currently waiting for his British training licence to come through and has leased some boxes from Alan Berry's yard for his horses, although doing the actual riding-out and training himself.

Sooooo... (isn't racing complicated at times?) the yearling is now registered as CARNIVAL DREAM, and I spoke to Hellier this morning about her. He's very pleased with her. She's pretty much as she was at Songy's farm - relaxed, laid back, well-behaved. But she is also working and apparently pleasing him with her attitude there, too.

Under Alan Berry's name until Hellier gets his licence, she's entered for the first race at 2.20 next Wednesday, 23 May, at Ayr. I'm going to have to bolt off my post for a bit to watch it as I'm working at Lingfield, but I hope she puts in a nice debut. Hellier says she will not be knocked about, this race is to give her a happy introduction to racing, so don't expect to see the whip flailing (a jockey hasn't been decided yet) and her under stress. He says he likes to give his horses time to get into their work, and keep them going fit and well for a few years.

I told Hellier that while at Songy's, she was put out with lots of cows and calves, and he asked whether we were sure we'd actually sold him a horse! I said that if she spied any cows at Ayr, she might take off with the jockey to join them, so watch out. He sounded a nice guy with a GSOH, so it sounds like she's being realistically and well cared-for.

Crazyhorse, you asked to know when she would run, so here we are - only five days away from launch!
 
Bruce Hellier was a very respected jockey and trainer over here, a proper horseman, even though I sometimes wondered whether people did understand him to the full - and I do NOT mean that literally. He trained more than 800 winners over here, and was especially successfull with some cheap(ish) and unfashionable bred horses from the Doncaster Sales. He was very good jump-jockey here as well, when jumping still was a good sport.

I really think Carnival Dream is in good hands and I have all fingers crossed that she will do well for him and for you lot.

Always wanted to tell you: we went to visit Chevely Park when over for the Guineas, and saw all their stallions. Carnival Dancer came stroming out of the woodwork, screaming to the other stallions (they were not impressed) prompting me to say:" Well, he acts as if he ownes the place" - and our guide replied " Gosh, He could not be more wrong!" Apparently he is not very popluar at the moment, another reason why Carnival Dream must do well!
 
Cheveley Park is owned by PIVOTAL, who probably decides who gets a job and who gets fired! He was SUCH a poser! :D It's always a gamble using a first-year stallion, I guess. CD is nicely-made, although so is REACH THE WIND, which I told Mr Hellier. She's still, even at her advanced age, very strong and has excellent conformation, sound as a pound, and with a marvellous temperament. You're not wrong, tetley, it will be very exciting to see another one launched, preferably with a rather more hopeful start than the first!
 
Well I liked Carnival Dancer too and actually think his spirit, if passed on to foals may just do the trick and get him some winners. He has a lot of presence and is not scared of anything - even the totally magnificent Pivotal!

Good luck Songy and Kri.
 
Yes, best of luck Krizon and Songsheet and well done to Crazyhorse for her superb detective work!! :clap:
 
She is running in the first in Ayr today - 2:20 your time !!!

Will watch on computer and have fingers crossed she has a good introduction!
 
Does it surprise you Kri? They really really really did hit gold when he produced Megahertz, Golden Apples etc from his first couple of crops. Turned him into a proper goldmine - which is now reflected by his stud fee. Think it was around £5,000 in 2002 and well it's now £70k+ I believe.
 
PIVOTAL is now at the bargain basement price of £85,000 - £20,000 more than last season - IS! We worked out that his 120 mares brings in ten million a year to Cheveley. Nice work if you can get it!

Crazy - very pleased with that. She looked great, nice and strong but without being too chunky, like Mum and Dad. By the time they'd farted and fiddled around putting horses into and then out of the stalls, one of them had thrown himself onto his back and had to be pulled out and withdrawn, I thought she'd be fast asleep! Not sure I like the shadow roll AND blinkers! - but at least it concentrated her mind. Royston gave her one tiny tap to keep her interested, but she's had a lovely introduction, and was willing to push through between other horses. Considering the race went off a good 6 minutes late, that there was thrashing and crashing about, she kept her head and, as the only filly among the boys, I do think she showed good promise. And - check out her sale price against all those chunky five-figure boys! Bargain! :D
 
Well, it seemed to concentrate her mind and she certainly didn't worry about pushing up between two horses. Perhaps he feels that gives them early confidence, rather than being given a very soft start and taken wide to avoid any hurly-burly in the field? I can see some sense in that, now that I think about it! Too often horses can get to three and still not be focussing on the job they're supposed to do. Plonking the blinkers on later in life might do the job, but opportunities have been missed by then to instil early confidence.

Dom, she was a very in-yer-face foal! At just a few days old, I visited her, and she came straight away from her Mum to the stable door, examined her visitors and the stable dogs with keen interest, and never stopped being inquisitive and forward. She is totally different to her highly-strung half-sister WORLDWIND, who Julie recalls as a shy, rather twitchy foal. Their Mum (REACH THE WIND) is a very strongly-made, relaxed mare, and although 'Bonny' (CD) was always interested in everything around her, she was also very relaxed and easygoing about new impressions. The prize-winning 'Bouncer', the little white bull who's just been to the shows with Julie, was her boyfriend - she was very adaptable to new friends and scenery! CD seems to have inherited her Mum's good front and I was so pleased to see how nicely-rounded Bruce has got her - WORLDWIND had deep poverty lines and was terribly run-up behind. You could never put the two together and guess they were related.
 
I couldn't resist to call Bruce again! I've assured him I won't be a pest, but wanted to say that I thought she ran a good race and to thank him for giving her a nice start. He says he uses the blinkers quite a lot on his horses because he feels it quietens them down, which helps them to concentrate. More than anything, to keep them focussed and relaxed. Considering the schemozzle with DUKE OF TOURAINE throwing himself onto his back in the stalls, and the race going off some six minutes late (great for debut babies, not!), I said I thought she'd done well not to have fallen asleep by then. He said she was caught a little flat-footed when they upped the pace, but finished strongly and ate up her dinner very well. She's come out of her race just fine and he thinks they'll have a lot of fun with her in future.

That's it now. I'm like a granny with her grand-daughter in her first day of school and if I don't stop myself, I'll be sending her knitted rugs and Barbie foals to play with.
 
I'm just bloody amazed she wasn't last - 6f being an unlikely trip for her to shine at. Just hope she enjoyed her intro and didn't pick up sore shins etc. It will be interesting to see if she can improve over a longer trip.
 
@ Kri; just walked dog and thought about CD and thought of sending Bruce a msg; but then thought you would have most surely got in touch with him already :D - See, I can read you like a book :)

But no doubt I would have been the same. Think the RP commentry is a bit misleading as well, this "no extra last 2f " - I had the feeling she did run on at the end, but its hard to judge on a small computer screen with no sound.
 
No extra because to be honest, she wasn't asked for any more, Cat. I think Royston felt she'd shown very willing and had done enough for a first time. Oh, Julie, I forgot that bit - Bruce does indeed think it might be 7f next time out, while I said there was no reason her pedigree wouldn't take her even a bit further. (Trying to sound like I have a clue!) Cat, you are gifted indeed with psychic powers - I'll have to be careful what I think about now! :D
 
Jon, behave already - Barbie foals??? Sounds like she'd prefer an Action Man to play with!!!

Seriously though, personally I can't agree that blinkers on a two year old, least of all a debutant, helps to relax them. If anything, it'll do the opposite to relaxing them! Blinkers/visors can be a useful tool but I personally don't like to see any artificial aids, least of all blinds, on young horses. If anything it would tend to wind them up un-necessarily or make them back off. I can't for the life of me see how blinkers can be used on a baby to relax them or give them confidence.
 
Well, he's used them successfully in Germany, Shadz, so who am I to say they shouldn't be used? She wasn't at all wound up, unlike DUKE OF TOURAINE (blinkerless) who turned turtle in the stalls. How can blinkers get horses more worked up when they're designed specifically to focus them and prevent them getting distracted by peripheral nonsense, and arsing about?
 
I suppose in one way they can get them worked up as the first day racing can be stressful enough without being able to see whats going on around them, or if theres a loud noise behind their vision is impared, so it could make them even more jumpy. But, as you say, for some of them if they're used to working in them it can be like a comfort blanket.

We had one 2yo who started being funny about going on the gallops, so one work morning after chucking 3 people off, and touching the sand of the gallop with one hoof the boss said to chuck a pair of blinds on him and he went up like a lamb (Can't remember if he wor them racing, will have to check). That is the only one i can recall being worn so early, and that was only cos he was a bit of a twat, no offence to your horse but i can't see the point of them on a quiet, straight-forward animal

Just checked, no he didn't wear them until his 6th run then t was either blinkrs, visors or cheekpieces on all runs after that.
 
So, how were his first six unaided runs, versus those with various contraptions on, LE? Did his focus improve, was he quieter, better-behaved, etc.?
 
I can't comment whether he was quieter or more well behaved as i'd left by then, he wasn't a nasty horse at all, he just had a fright one day and that was it!

His first run although green was pretty good (4th behind a horse that ran in the Derby) he never fulfilled that and was always down the field. First run in blinkers he was 3rd but that was a very poor seller, and never closer after that. Basically he was a shitcan of a horse!
 
It may have worked for him in the past Jon, but in my personal opinion that can't have been much more than fluke. I've seen many, many horses fitted with blinds both at home and on the track - first time and on repeat occasions - and the overriding reaction tends to be to get wound up. As soon as you stick the blinds on the horse can only see in front of it so its vision is vastly impaired - this tends to gee them up, ergo why they tend to be fitted with blinds in the first place. The other major reaction is to bolt; horses being not vastly intelligent seem to think that if they bolt they can somehow get away from the blinds. This is also another theory behind the fitting of blinds aside from sharpening them up by stopping them from looking at everything else - it can also make them try to bolt away from their effect.

In fact also a common practice in racing is to fit the blinds first time at home at the bottom of the gallops before screaming sweet murder and setting about the horse with a stick - forever more will they associate blinds with this. This can help by waking a horse up before a race!
 
Back
Top