“The partnership made in heaven”, as bookmaker and turf devotee Rob Waterhouse has tagged the training phenomenon of wife Gai and Adrian Bott, could provide a buffer with Hoo Ya Mal against the renewed international influence in the $5 million Caulfield Cup on Saturday.
Following a recent sortie abroad with Gai, Rob is now more enthusiastic about Royal Ascot than Royal Randwick – the turf on which the family has flourished and been a major attraction for decades.
Hoo Ya Mal (yellow and white silks) runs second to Montefilia in the Hill Stakes at Rosehill on October 2.Credit: Getty
However, the recent run of Gai and Adrian, who was so good while they were away, has activated him on the benefit of a top CEO taking on a “smart young person” in the business.
The Tulloch Lodge team has five last-start winners in the first five Caulfield races today before the main event with Hoo Ya Mal and Goldman – the latter once a top contender but is moving lately like he has lost a leg.
Gai is in Melbourne more than Sydney at big meetings these days, and her expertise again came to the fore with the runaway victory of Alligator Blood in the Might And Power Stakes at Caulfield last Saturday.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott have their stable flying.Credit: Getty
Ratings guru Dan O’Sullivan assessed Alligator Blood at 104, which was the same as Gold Trip for his Turnbull Stakes win but just headed by Think About It (105) following The Everest and Fangirl’s 105.7 in the King Charles III Stakes.
English Derby runner-up Hoo Ya Mal is ready for a new peak today having been tuned by three starts after a spell, but the four-year-old gelding faces opposition of from norther hemisphere-trained horses absent from the Caulfield Cup (2400m) for the last three years, most notably Breakup from Japan, where they produce teak-hard stayers.
Japan has had two winners from 10 starters in the Caulfield Cup – the dominant but ill-fated Admire Rakti and Mer De Glace – plus two placings. Breakup is trainer by Tatsuya Yoshioka and will be ridden by Damian Lane.
Britain’s highly talented West Wind Blows is trained by Simon and Ed Crisford and has the experience of a recent Australian event, but he will be navigated by Jamie Spencer – more comfortable at Royal Ascot than Caulfield.
The other two raiders, Okita Soushi and Valiant King, are trained by Ireland’s Joseph O’Brien and come into the untapped potential category.
But the locals, headed by Gold Trip (out to take his Flemington acceleration to Caulfield) and Without A Fight, are strong.
Without A Fight has Mark Zahra, who is the regular rider of Gold Trip, which now has Ben Melham in the hot seat.
Zahra was booked for Without A Fight while connections dilly-dallied over a Caulfield Cup start for Gold Trip, which was second under him in the corresponding event last year before the pair combined in the Melbourne Cup.
Gold Trip can be tardy at the barrier but Hoo Ya Mal, with Tim Clark up, has the tactical speed to get the run of the race. Of course, jump and run is the Tulloch Lodge catchcry.
At Randwick, The Three Hundred is favourite to continue the stable’s triumphs in two-year-old events this season in the Kirkham Plate.
“They produced the trifecta in the Randwick Breeders Plate,” Rob proclaimed. “Has that ever been done before?”
Arriving back from Royal Ascot, Rob is disillusioned with racecourse bookmaking here.
“We are a 19th century business in the 21st century,” he stressed. “The Royal Ascot attendance was smaller than Randwick last Saturday but had 68 rails bookmakers, 128 in the paddock, 44 in the Leger and 24 on the Flat.
“The mentality of the young here doesn’t lean towards bookmakers. They would much rather buy a $150 bottle of champagne than have a $5 bet with the bookmaker.
“The club see themselves being caterers, selling lunches and champagne; people go to party, bands after the last race. In England, they enjoy racing, enjoy having a bet.”
Leading Sydney bookmaker David Dwyer, on the other hand, tweeted that Everest day was “huge”.
Do you get the impression Rob didn’t join the Sweet Caroline singalong at Randwick last Saturday?
