“Somebody said, ‘who do you think has won it?’ I said, ‘I don’t care cos I know it is one of ours.’ That was even though I had a share in Innfield Trojan and my dad and John Jefferson and had backed him at 100-1 ante post. Thankfully they still got paid out ‘first four’. But I never backed the winner.”
Just weeks after seeing his kennel was destroyed in high winds, Newcastle handler Tom Heilbron was blown away in much happier fashion as Freedom Alibi (T2) caught kennelmate Inffield Trojan (T1) on the winning line to land the £10K ARC Northern Puppy Derby Final.
Tom said: “It was a fabulous night and unlike Towcester (where Anynamewilldo was beaten a short in the Juvenile Classic Final), I didn’t have to worry about the photo.
“It was a really high class final and I knew that the only way we could win it was by leading. To be honest, I thought five and six might do each other and that the race was set-up for Blackhouse Harry. But I phoned my childhood hero Charlie Lister this week and asked for his advice on how to get them out. Charlie was brilliant and it seems to have done the job. Trojan came out through the bars.”
There was another Charlie Lister connection with the winner. Alibi was bred by Mike Pomfret, the same man who reared and originally raced Charlie’s double English Derby winner, Rapid Ranger.
Tom said: “Mike has been very fair with us over time. Alibi was sold unraced as a good grader who might make up into something and he is jointly owned by Mark Dobson who is one of the owners of Freedom Whiskey.
“There is still plenty of improvement to come with him and Innfield Trojan. I’ll be trialing them both at Monmore with the Puppy Derby in mind. I’m not sure that the track will play to Alibi’s strengths. He wants a good stiff four bends but should definitely suit Trojan. Depending how things go for Alibi, we might get an invitation for the Juvenile (at Towcester) which might suit him better.”
Newcastle GM Ian Walton’s predicted Alibi’s chances as “if he was to come away, he would have to be a player” and also a great atmosphere on the night. He wasn’t disappointed with either.
He said: “The crowd was decent, with a decent number in the restaurant. But it was by far the noisiest night in my 15 years at Newcastle, thanks to the Mickys Barrett fans. They were such fabulous sports. I hope they are back again for the Northern Flat in March.”
