Jumping out of their skins
The Age
Friday July 24, 2009
Sir Pentire and Hasta Manana are fighting fit, even if their trainer isn't, writes Andrew Eddy. IT IS often said that jumps horses are tough and if that is true, then surely so are their trainers. Proof of both came easily at Carrum beach yesterday morning.In the water, reported to be around 18 degrees but still appearing icy, were noted jumpers Sir Pentire and Hasta Manana and stationed on the beach was their trainer, Robbie Laing. It was unusual that Laing was not in the water aboard one of his horses, but this morning he opted for dry land."I've just got out of bed and I'm not supposed to be here," he said as he watched the horses power through the surf. "I've got low-grade pneumonia and asthma and have got to go off and get chest X-rays this morning. But I thought I'd come and see how they were."They were superb if condition was what he was looking for. Sir Pentire and Hasta Manana will run in tomorrow's $200,000 Hiskens Steeplechase at Moonee Valley and both are at their physical peak. And so they should be.Yesterday morning the pair worked slowly over three kilometres at Cranbourne before their trip to the beach, where they surged through the surf between Carrum and Seaford. "Some mornings they really churn it up on this beach but they had a hard day yesterday and so it's pretty casual this morning," Laing said.Wednesday morning began with a 4 o'clock workout for both horses, followed by a 2800-metre steeplechase school at Mornington on a track rated a heavy 10. "They both were very good," Laing noted."Sir Pentire gathered his opposition in with a half-mile (800 metres) to go and won easily by a length. It was the best he's gone since the Grand Annual [Steeple]," Laing said."Hasta Manana only had restricted horses in his trial and he led by 10 [lengths], then 15 and won by 25."Hasta Manana will make his steeplechase debut tomorrow after making his name as a hurdler, but Laing has no concerns that he is ready for the larger obstacles. "In the school yesterday, he jumped brilliantly and put a lot of air between himself and the fences," he said.For Sir Pentire, a Hiskens win would thrust him forward as one of the country's greatest steeplechasers. Only Brightello in 1941 has completed the Grand Annual-Hiskens double. But it is doubtful whether Brightello won the Grand Annual off a two-year break as the remarkable Sir Pentire did in May.But then Sir Pentire has always been a talented horse. "He ran fourth to Helenus in the Vase at Moonee Valley as a three-year-old and he's won over 1500 metres and, of course, won a [VRC] St Leger so he's a pretty smart horse and he goes terrific at Moonee Valley," Laing said.Sir Pentire has run three times on the flat since his Grand Annual heroics, where he came off a two-year break due to serious leg ailments. He jumped 33 fences and ran 5500 metres to win by a widening 11 lengths.Hasta Manana is having his first jumps start for 12 months after also recovering from a series of injuries following his fall in the Lachal Hurdle at Flemington last winter."He came out of it with a dodgy fetlock joint that had spurs and bits of cartilage that had to be removed," Laing said. "But we had him at Ballarat (veterinary clinic) and then they found that he had a hairline crack in his vertebrae, so it was a longer process before we could get him back."Two years ago, Hasta Manana scored in the Australian Hurdle on the same day his stablemate, Mazzacano, won the Australian Steeplechase by 20 lengths and little has changed in the pecking order in Laing's stable."Mazzacano is the perfect jumper. He loves the wet, he stays and jumps so well and he's just so relaxed," Laing said. "He trialled very well again yesterday."Mazzacano, who last month won at his first start in two years after three bowed tendons, will run next in the Crisp Steeplechase at Betfair Park on August 16 before his attempt on the Grand National Steeplechase, also at Betfair Park, two weeks later.So good is he that, next year, Mazzacano could compete in England at the Cheltenham jumps festival or in the Aintree Grand National Steeplechase but Laing is wary of getting too far ahead of himself. "What's the future of jumps racing?" he asked. "It's so hard to plan anything at the moment."Jockey Gavin Bedggood is the lucky man who rides both Sir Pentire and Mazzacano but don't be fooled into thinking that you wouldn't mind his job. He was aboard Sir Pentire while stablehand Lee-Ann Doyle rode Hasta Manana in the freezing surf yesterday. "You don't mind so much when you are riding these sorts of horses," Bedggood said.Bedggood, who missed the Grand Annual win on Sir Pentire because of a dislocated shoulder, said Sir Pentire's Wednesday trial pointed to him running well over the 4050-metre course at Moonee Valley. "He doesn't really like that [heavy] ground but that's the best he's ever trialled for me," he said. "He didn't do much after the Grand Annual and we've just tightened the screws on him in the last two or three weeks and he's just thrived."The new jumps season is a long one, but Laing has all the right ammunition to dominate the forthcoming features races. If he was not already strong enough over both forms of obstacles, Laing is the new trainer of Galleywood Hurdle winner Desert Master, who runs tomorrow at Moonee Valley over 1600 metres on his way to the Grand National Hurdle next month.
© 2009 The Age
