Tie And Mighty
The Age
Wednesday October 15, 2008
FORTUNATELY the tongue tie was on the horse, not the trainer and jockey, so the waiting and chasing horde did not go home disappointed.
Reporters were able to get the words they sought from trainer Ross McDonald and jockey Brad Rawiller at Caulfield yesterday after a troop of television and internet cameramen and newspaper photographers got the vision they wanted of Weekend Hussler's tongue-tied work in the dark.When an athlete, two-legged or four, is a headline act, the publicity builds on sometimes flimsy premises: the latest with the Hussler is all about him racing with his tongue held down by a length of stocking or pantyhose.Media interest is part of the continuing saga of "why the new champion was toppled last start?" and "can he race 400 metres further in the Caulfield Cup on Saturday to regain his heroic status?"The "sexy" element is the stocking and that leaves Margaret McDonald, Ross' wife, bemused - she reckons up to 80% of horses race in tongue ties. That, like the "rock star" greeting Weekend Hussler got before, during and after yesterday's work, is an exaggeration, but many horses do race with their tongues tied to prevent them choking down or (partially) blocking their airways.Tongues have been wagging for 10 days since the winner of seven group 1 races failed in his bid for an eighth when stepping up to 2000 metres in the Turnbull Stakes, and scaremongering lips were licked when rumours spread about the horse having a soft palate or a wind problem.Ross McDonald said they came from "people guessing that don't know". "For a horse that lost all form and can't stay, he's got a bit of press here this morning," was the trainer's opening line.He closed with: "He hasn't got a soft palate, he's got nothing wrong with his airways at all. I can guarantee that." And in between, he said: "We've known that (he has a thin throat) all along. We've had the option of putting it (a tongue tie) on him. We haven't bothered because we haven't needed to."Sometimes a horse can get his tongue back and chop his wind off a bit. We just thought we'd try it on him and he doesn't seem to mind it (during trackwork), so we'll go around with a tongue tie on, just a little one-percenter that might give us a little bit of an edge."Herded back behind the fence outside the course proper and in the dark, media involvement in yesterday's gallop was peripheral at best.They saw Weekend Hussler, with track rider Les Beer up, give usual companion Pacino, with Rawiller riding, a start and a beating over 1600metres, with a strongish final 600metres.They relied on Rawiller summing up the gallop. "Great work .. it was the perfect work .. he wasn't out to set any records, we were just making sure he's ticking over all right."He and McDonald remain believers."There's a lot of infidels. If you're not believers, well, I can't help it," McDonald said.Next chapter in the Weekend Hussler saga comes today when barriers are drawn for the $2.5million Caulfield Cup. Gate four would be perfect, inside 10 is the hope, and outside 10, in Rawiller's words, "We're going to need to do some serious homework".And that wasn't tongue in cheek.
© 2008 The Age
