Maybe milk thistle has contributed to the revitalisation of Knife’s Edge, which is a top contender in the Country Classic at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Knife’s Edge adheres to the Damon Runyon advice of always listening to a tip if a story goes with it.
Knife’s Edge wins with his ears pricked at the starting price of $26 in the Highway Handicap at Newcastle on The Hunter day.Credit:Getty
Runyon, the American equivalent to Banjo Paterson, specialised in the punt – albeit mainly craps but also the horses.
“But it must be a first-class story,” Runyon advised Hot Horse Herbie, who told tall tales but didn’t produce dividends like Runyon’s Guys And Dolls in print, on stage and in celluloid.
Mind you, Runyon would have been comfortable with The Doc, The Jeweller and The Chemist. In the early 1970s, Dubbo was their Broadway.
At the time, Dr Geoff Chapman dabbled in racehorses as a hobby and part-owned Lord Ben, which was prepared by Tommy Smith when he won the 1972 Canterbury Guineas. The Doc then went to town and became a major force and group one racehorse trainer operating from Lord Ben Lodge.
Peter Carolan had a jewellery outlet, and Lindon O’Donnell was a chemist with an on-course bookmaking sideline.
Many a coup was orchestrated by the group, which was described by The Jeweller as the “Rat Pack”. None, though, would have topped Knife’s Edge when he scored at Newcastle recently. Yes, the gelding started at $25.
“Just ask Glenn Munsie,” The Jeweller decreed about the settling. Munsie is the TAB’s answers man on betting activity.
Very much hands-on where the family horses are concerned, The Jeweller is the father of James Carolan, who is a part-owner of Knife’s Edge – a Victorian discard “picked up for around $15,000”.
The Jeweller raced King Rex, which won a Ramornie at Grafton in 2005 amongst other open sprints, including city races. King Rex is still going strong and well-tended in a back paddock, and Knife’s Edge carries the same colours.
James Carolan races Knife’s Edge in partnership with Luke Morgan, the renowned Tamworth horse-breaker who tuned the gelding when he came north. But Morgan’s equine education commitments were such that he didn’t have the necessary time to put in to training Knife’s Edge.
Thus the six-year-old went to Gary Lunn at Dubbo, where the swimming facilities have contributed to his current wellbeing. So too has the strong involvement of The Jeweller, who takes Knife’s Edge out most afternoons to get the best milk thistles – described as weed by some but as a very beneficial herb by others.
Knife’s Edge is in “career-best form”, blurbs Best Bets. Perhaps the good surfaces have played a role, but the swimming takes me back to when The Doc hung out his training shingle in town.
I met him chasing a photo shoot of Lord Ben swimming in the Parramatta River. The Doc said he would accompany the horse into the water which, for sludge, compared with the Thames in London. Due to medical evaluation, The Doc was a late scratching but The Chemist – in a wetsuit with the protection of a diving bell – accompanied Lord Ben into the murk. Both survived.
Knife’s Edge gets it better at Gary Lunn’s swimming hole. Even after recent rain it looked more like an Olympic pool than the Parramatta River.
Alas, The Chemist is long gone, but The Doc now resides in Queensland and no doubt will be taking considerable interest in today’s $150,000 Rosehill feature for bush horses – another race that emphasises the spread of wealth in the booming industry.
However, the major event on the eastern seaboard is the $750,00 Zipping Classic at Caulfield. Is there a tip with a tale? Well, Sound is chasing his third Zipping straight after what appears an ideal preparation; but he’s 10.
Look at Kukeracha. The story? Kukeracha humped 59.5kg at Newcastle last start when second to King Frankel, which was given a picnic in front with 51.5kg.
Settle with Knife’s Edge.
“It’s been a great year for milk thistle,” The Jeweller reckons, a point that would have been stressed by Hot Horse Herbie.
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