Ballydoyle Honey and our family are taking a short break after what has been a busy few weeks.
The family are off to Portugal for a week, Honey will get three to four weeks on her bed after running so well in the Oaks final.
At one stage I wasn’t sure she was going to catch her sister who is a very strong bitch in her own right. I could even enjoy a few seconds of thinking ‘well one or the other should win it from now’
But coming off the last bend, I thought Honey was just close enough to get up and so it proved.
As I have said before, we have been so blessed to have had some of the best bitches seen in Ireland in recent years, but what Honey has achieved, I am sure the other owners would understand, if I her described her as the best bitch I have trained.
She isn’t supressed and could come in season at any stage but if she holds out, the Irish Derby has to be our next target.
I don’t think she will take a lot of getting fit, she uses herself pretty well in the paddock.
All that followed just 24 hours after Rural Hawaii winning the Race Of Champions at Tralee.
He was returned at 6-1 but as I said in this column last week, he is a better dog than his form showed.
I thought he was a bit unlucky in the Kirby Memorial when he was beaten by a very good run from Brendan Matthews dog in the final.
Then he went in the Produce Stakes and was spiked during the heats. He is a dog that needs loads of galloping to keep him fit and calm and we weren’t able to give him that.
In fact, I even decided not to run him in the Produce Consolation, because it meant I could get more done for Tralee.
Sidarian Vega, who finished fifth in the competition, is now in a similar position and I will probably get a few unofficial trials into him to get him back to full fitness.
Hawaii will be off to Shelbourne for a 550 puppy event sponsored by P J Fahy.
Work will continue on the dogs while we are away. If all goes to plan, we will have Amazing Dude and another promising young arrival from Cork, available for the National Sprint.
