“I suppose you saw my moan on TV last night did you?”
Months of frustration came to the surface for Julie Bateson as she recalled a merited win for Gonzo in the Ladbrokes Gold Cup Final at Monmore on Saturday night. The well backed 9-2 chance produced comfortably the fastest sectional of the entire competition on the way to a well deserved victory. (video and result sheet below)
Julie said: “I think there were quite a few shrewd punters on him. He had gone to the bend with Jessiej last week and been hampered. I was surprised to see the middle seed taken off Hiya Boyo so wasn’t so surprised when there was trouble at the first bend. I expected Gonzo to get past the five, though it took a bit longer than I was expecting. I thought that of all the finalists, he was the one most open to improvement.”
The clue to the Lancaster based trainer’s frustration comes in the last statement; it was only Gonzo’s sixth race since January. In fact all of her seven runners are desperate for racing.
She said: “It has been so frustrating, as an unattached trainer to get races for these dogs. I have four dogs here who I simply can’t get races for. They are too young to run in competitions and with no minor opens, there is nowhere to run them.
“I struggled to get trials after lockdown but thought it was all sorted when I was told I would be allowed to run in graded races at Belle Vue. I trialled the dogs and then the track was shut down a few days later.
“I have tried Sheffield, Newcastle and Monmore but they can’t accommodate me. It is incredible. I noticed one A1 this week where one kennel had three dogs in the race. Why won’t they let us take part? We were told at the end of lock down that every effort would be made to look after unattached trainers. Well that isn’t true. I’ve spoken to my stipendiary steward and asked racing managers to pass messages onto the people making the decisions but I never get a call back.
“We are not a gambling kennel, I don’t want a contract or trainer bonuses, I would be happy to run just for prize money. My biggest worry is that Kenny (Glen) will simply lose his patience and send the dogs back to Ireland. How many more owners and trainers in our position will simply give up?”
Julie Bateson (right) and her sister Diane Smith lift the Gold Cup after Gonzo’s win Photo: © Steve Nash
