Alligator Blood and Latrell Mitchell could be test cases as to whether getting the best out of equine athletes is more demanding than coaching rugby league superstars.
Could racehorse trainers adapt to football while rugby league masterminds apply their skill in getting the best out of thoroughbreds?
Alligator Blood takes out the Stradbroke at Eagle Farm in June.Credit:Michael McInally
For the exercise, I reckon Gai Waterhouse would handle Mitchell, who is a key if somewhat erratic spearhead of the mighty Rabbits in Sunday’s sudden-death clash with the Roosters.
Yes, I realise there is a Rooster (son-in-law Luke Ricketson) in the Waterhouse woodpile, but regardless the Tulloch Lodge professionalism, bone and muscle conditioning plus brain power would be applied.
Being a punter with great tactical nous, Phil Gould could apply it to Alligator Blood for his clash with I’m Thunderstruck in today’s main feature, the group 1 Makybe Diva at Flemington, as well as hoodoo-breaking with Golden Slipper winner Fireburn in the group 2 Run To the Rose at Rosehill Gardens. Considering Gould’s current plight with the Bulldogs, they should be snacks.
Perhaps gender will come into Waterhouse being a motivational role with a footballer, but there was a time I remember well when a female being a racehorse trainer was rare and a “champion” like Lady Gai was a pipe dream instigated by something other than the normal nutrient.
Sure, football coaches have dabbled with racehorses. George Piggins – backbone of the Mighty Rabbits – trained winners, and Gould spent time with him as a player who passed on tactical advice.
Also, there was a time when Gould was regarded as a confidant of trainer Jack Denham, which made dealing with recalcitrant footballers child’s play.
Of course, every jockey has benefitted from being under the Waterhouse wing. Consider Tim Clarke going down south for the Waterhouse-Adrian Bott prepared Alligator Blood.
Last Saturday, the official race caller justifiably described Clarke as “Australia’s best front-running rider in the country”. Waterhouse drills her saddle pupils to get out of the barrier and go fast and hard.
Maybe she could see the benefit of a tongue tie for Mitchell, whose sweet hands and potential rate with best I’ve seen wearing the red and green that goes back to Clive Churchill in the 1950s.
But the Waterhouse policy of coming out of the gates hard and hitting the line could be applied when taking a ball from an opposition kick rather than throwing long, looping passes from a standing start, which prompts heart attacks with dinosaurs watching from afar.
Mitchell is the key. Cameron Murray and Campbell Graham are weight-for-age performers supported by a pack of workhorses. Tom Burgess needs little help, although Waterhouse has had a knack with rampaging bulls from the United Kingdom: remember Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente?
With Gould, Alligator Blood could be more strategy. The Makybe Diva lacks a pacemaker. Certainly Tulloch Lodge types go forward, but that’s not Alligator Blood’s usual role. Stewards should be informed of any change. Tell them nothing. Keep the opposition guessing. Would he have divulged any of the State Of Origin ploys? Let Clarke do what he does best. Pick up the fine if necessary.
Fireburn, though, could be more demanding for the astute football brain. In the 16 years, the Run To The Rose hasn’t been won by a filly, and 17 have tried. But Fireburn benchmarks well above the opposition.
But Gould doesn’t shy away from mission impossible. Maybe he could apply some of the Denham wisdom or possibly the horse sense of the outstanding AFL coach, Denis Pagan, who notched the Victoria Derby with Johnny Get Angry (2020).
Next week, we’ll investigate how a coach called “Horse” could improve a George Main contender, while Joe Pride will divulge his secret of eternal youth with equine old-timers. Not that Buddy needs any help.
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