Super Striders are going around midweek.

Wednesday:
Newcastle R7 That's A Good Idea

Thursday:
Newcastle R7 Danas Best

Our old friend Altius goes around in the same race as That's A Good Idea.
I won't be laying him this time, as he won't be short enough, and if they go at breakneck pace, he can get a crack at them.
If he were short odds (fave or second fave), I'd have a dip as he's good lay value, but he'll be big odds I think.

That's A Good Idea was disappointing - unplaced.

Altius ran somewhere around 7th.
Just doesn't seem to have any stride left at all.

Saturday's Striders (so far).

RANDWICK
R1 PHOTON WILLIE

CAULFIELD
R5 OCTAVIA
R5 FLASH OF DOUBT
R7 GREGERS
R8 PAKAL
R9 PUISSANCE DE LUNE
R9 ATLANTIC JEWEL

Danas Best was unplaced yesterday.

Chris Waller says that he's very happy with Photon Willie, as he's learning to settle and switch off now, not get as fired up during and towards the end of the race, where his head has nearly done him in a couple of times. He's lost a little of his zip, but Chris is happy that he's right and prefers him to be switched off.

RANDWICK
R1 PHOTON WILLIE WON $3.74 BFSP NET ($48,750 prizemoney)

CAULFIELD
R5 OCTAVIA unplaced
R5 FLASH OF DOUBT 3rd ($13,500 prizemoney)
R7 GREGERS WON $5.89 BFSP NET ($105,000 prizemoney)
R8 PAKAL unplaced
R9 PUISSANCE DE LUNE unplaced
R9 ATLANTIC JEWEL 2nd ($72,000 prizemoney)

So far the "stable" has had 36 starts for 9 winners, 6 seconds, 3 thirds and earned $741,550 in prizemoney.
Betting action is minus 6.21 units. 17.25% LOT

Super Striders so far engaged this week:

Saturday
Mornington
R6 SURPASS

Sunday
Caulfield
R2 BONNE NUIT
R8 REBEL DANE

Saturday
Mornington
R6 SURPASS 2nd ($21,600 prizemoney)

Sunday
Caulfield
R2 BONNE NUIT unplaced
R8 REBEL DANE WON $5.67 (BFSP Net) ($240,000 prizemoney)

So far the "stable" has had 39 starts for 10 winners, 7 seconds, 3 thirds and earned $1,003,150 in prizemoney.
25.64% win strike rate.
51.28% place strike rate.
Betting action is -3.54 units. 9.08% LOT


Very happy to pass the Million dollar mark today for the Super Strider Virtual Stable :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOXKDb-__Ls

SUPER STRIDERS: 05/10/2013

RANDWICK
R3 HONORIUS
R9 DANAS BEST

FLEMINGTON
R8 PUISSANCE DE LUNE

RANDWICK
R3 HONORIUS WON $3.66 BFSP (Net) ($75,000 prizemoney)
R9 DANAS BEST unplaced

FLEMINGTON
R8 PUISSANCE DE LUNE 2nd ($90,000 prizemoney)

The Super Strider Stable has had 42 starts for 11 winners, 8 seconds, 3 thirds and earned $1,168,150 in prizemoney.
26.19% win strike rate.
52.38% place strike rate.
Betting action is -2.88 units. 6.86% LOT

Hi all,
Been away for a while for family reasons, but I'm back now.
Been a few runners going around earning the dollars in prizemoney, so time for an update.

Octavia 19th October unplaced
Gregers 25th October 2nd ($39,600 prizemoney)
Henwood 26th October unplaced
Bonne Nuit 11th October unplaced
Flash Of Doubt 12th October unplaced
Flash Of Doubt 23rd October unplaced
Honorius 19th October unplaced
Pakal 13th October WON ($120,000 prizemoney) $4.42
Puissance De Lune 26th October unplaced
Rebel Dane 25th October unplaced
That's A Good Idea 26th October WON ($48,750 prizemoney) $2.95
Atlantic Jewel 12th October WON ($240,000 prizemoney) $1.34

The Super Strider Stable has had 54 starts for 14 winners, 9 seconds, 3 thirds and earned $1,616,500 in prizemoney.
25.93% win strike rate.
48.15% place strike rate.
Betting action is -6.17 units. 11.43% LOT

Some notes of interest:
Atlantic Jewel is retired now, Puissance De Lune is lame after they worked him in the sand dunes and then raced him at the Valley. Sand dunes are great for building muscle, not for stamina, to put a horse over the dunes and then run him on the strathayr and put w-inkers on him so he overraced is nuts. No wonder he is lame, and will probably be retired I'd say. Very poor call by Weir.
Recently been working with a son of Rancho Ruler who is a nutcase, the owners were told he is a rising 6yo, he ain't, Rancho Ruler is 26yo if he's alive, so my best guess is their horse is rising 16yo. This horse is branded but for some stupid reason they branded the last digit of the year, so a horse can be 7, 17 or 27 :eek:

Here's one I've not come across, been working with a TB mare, beautiful stride, could have been the next big thing, never seen a stride so fluid and long. The trainer had bought this horse unbranded and then branded it herself I found out!!! She couldn't register the horse as she had no paperwork??? Totally unbelievable in this day and age. So this mare cannot even be bred from as a race broodmare with any value. But this mare has some blue blood and she would have bred some stunning types. They will be worthless because of her missing identification. Such a shame, a real loss, she has the sweetest temperament and the biggest stride I've seen in the flesh to date. I got to ride her over the training track and when she let down, I felt like Bossy :) Was like riding a cushion of air under a hard hold.
Oh well, what might have been :(

Good to have you back CP. Boy you're right into this "Horse Whisperer" stuff now. Great when an interest/hobby becomes a pastime.

An interest/hobby? Pastime?? The boy has more horse genes in his DNA than Aldiniti.

LG

Thanks RP, great to be back.
I've seen a lot of things during my pastime, some horrible ways horses are treated by people who should know better, and met some really wonderful people who treat their horses like royalty. I've also learned a great deal more than I know, which may help with my punting but probably just help with selecting the right horses to follow.

Funny you should say that LG, my dear old mother actually said "are you sure you weren't a horse in a past life?"
If I was, I probably ran 20 lengths last in a maiden at Echuca ;)

I also recently learned that my great grandfather and his father were horse men. Very surprised, but it was in some family documents.

Looks like yer mum knows her oats, son.

LG

Here's a further update, Henwood was scratched today, but would have been a selection in R10 Flemington.

12th October That's A Good Idea WON $2.33 BFSP net. ($48,750 prizemoney)
16th October Gregers 3rd ($45,000 prizemoney)
2nd November Pakal unplaced

The Super Strider Stable has had 57 starts for 15 winners, 9 seconds, 4 thirds and earned $1,710,250 in prizemoney.
26.32% win strike rate.
49.12% place strike rate.
Betting action is -6.84 units. 12.00% LOT

Super Strider selections for Oaks Day:

Flemington Race 4
Octavia
Flash Of Doubt

Super strider selections Saturday:

Flemington Race 6 Rebel Dane
Flemington Race 9 Henwood

A little bit on the training side...

I have been working with a few thoroughbreds recently and made some suggestions to owners.
I don't like horses being locked up in almost solitary confinement, horses are herd animals, they need interaction for excercise, vitamin D from sunlight and fresh grass, there is no subsitute for natural training. All the supplements in the world are not as good as their natural environment.
Most trainers train the body like a piece of sports equipment, horses are not pieces of equipment, they are thinking feeling animals which also need correct training of their minds.

Many fractures are caused by the lack of natural Vitamin D.
Most digestive problems such as colic are caused by anxiety, and unnatural feeding habits.
Many stable problems such as weaving and windsucking are caused by seperation anxiety, there is no herd.
The horse never knows it's place, in the herd there is a pecking order, the herd has a leader, captains and followers. There is mental comfort in being part of the herd, horses don't look after themselves, the herd looks after itself. Certain horses within the herd take on the role of mother to ANY young horse and provide guidance, protection and discipline.

Most trainers do not allow horses to be horses, so they have no idea how to be horses, there is no yardstick, no play, no fighting. Horses love to play, it is part of their interaction.

The mental and physical excercise a horse gets in a herd is simply immeasurable.

I have two owners that I made some suggestions to.
The horses were turned out with a group of handpicked companions to make up a nice herd. They are out on ten acres with trees and a dam.
They previously had dead eyes, no glint, no sparkle and fought their handlers every time they came out of solitary confinement.
One of them was a kicker and a biter. :eek:

Their trainer who shall remain nameless, said "it's rubbish".
I explained to the owners why I was making the suggestions and how it would benefit their pockets.

So they gave it a go.

I went and visited the horses today, I drove away with a very warm heart.
There they were, galloping in the field, looking after two colts, no rugs on, grazing on lush green grass, playing with a huge ball I'd left for them.
The naughty boy had been temporarily banished from the herd and was under a tree waiting for the signal to be let back in. They all came galloping up to me, eyes bright and full of life, no biting, no kicking. Just a lot of whinnying.

The other side of this is they had built muscle from being part of a herd and their ribs were now covered, not emaciated by three meals of hard feed a day.

I feel a lot of good horses would be a good deal better on the track if treated this way. The anxiety horses carry onto the track is a lot of energy burnt that could be saved for the last 400m of a race.

I should add that these horses were not performing at country level, so the owners had nothing to lose. I'm not allowed near the good horses just yet :(
Hopefully that might change soon.

A good news story CP, thanks for sharing it. I remember building 3 large blocks of stables for trotters. Once occupied, one always had to be careful not to get bitten as you walked past the day yards. You've got to imagine yourself in their circumstances and how it'd affect you.

Thanks RP, although horses do get turned out for spells, very very rarely are they allowed to run with a herd and it made a huge difference.
I have also observed the biting behaviour and windsucking in most racing stables, the time they get away from the stable does not compensate for the seperation anxiety they experience.
Horses need other horses more than people need other people, and look at what happens to people in the lock up for years. By this I mean, like the Green Mile :(

Seems all the Super Striders are having a well deserved holiday, including short strider Altius.

Love my Super Striders :D

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_vhDh5JCDqo?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This is a video of Belle Couture, Black Caviar's little sister.
She did quite well in a jumpout.

There are a couple of very worrying signs however.
In the first part of the video, she keeps backing away from the trainer.
Horses don't really like to walk backwards by preference, they only do it when they feel in danger or fear.
Secondly in the latter part of the video she is pacing her stall and her ears are very laid back indicating she is not happy where she is.
Trainers don't seem to read horse body language very well at all, a lot of her energy is used up with anxiety. It will be interesting to watch her debut race, I'm sure her mental state will impact at a vital stage of her debut.

Belle Couture was narrowly beaten when $1.50 favourite at Bendigo, then was set to run at Geelong on 8th of January, but was scratched and hasn't raced since.
There is much to take away from this as mentioned in the prior post.

Natural horsemanship is slowly trickling, albeit very slowly, into the racing world.
It's no secret that I train many horses using natural horsemanship myself and have seen the impact these methods have made to a horse's psychological welfare. Currently breaking in a 2yo stock horse that was unruly and slow to learn. Taking probably five times the amount of time a general horse breaker would take and advising the client that the horse needs time to be broken has paid dividends. Finally have the horse long reigning and moving forward and stopping purely by voice command. This is with only one two hour session per fortnight.

By using this technique, the horse still has not had a bit in his mouth and is extremely light and soft to rein commands.When we move to the bit, the horse will not fight the commands and will understand the signals, therefore his mouth will remain extremely soft and require the lightest of pressure by the rider.

The point of this, is to demonstrate the mental and physical benefits of natural horsemanship. Looking at head position, body posture, gait, eyes, ears. One can ascertain where the horse is at mentally. More importantly a happy horse does not expend energy pre race, loading, during the race, fighting rider and handlers. This wasted energy can make a huge difference between winning and losing when the margins are so tight.

If Belle Couture's head were in the right place, there's no doubt she would have won at Bendigo. Here is a very short video of her workout at Flemington followed by a look at her prior to breaking in

http://video.news.com.au/v/145557/B...tdyuxXkN_L3jWXA

You might notice, that by comparing her demeanor in both videos there is a marked difference. The breaking in process has made her extremely nervous and anxious.

Many race trainers have rubbished these ideas and stick by time honoured "hard" breaking techniques. However, there are a few owners and trainers that are starting to take notice. Most notable are the Queen, Gai Waterhouse and agent John Foote.

Storm Fabulador was originally trained in Melbourne, but Peter Moody soon advised he wouldn’t make the grade down south and sent him north to Ballina trainer John Everson.
He was sourced by Foote before being broken in by the “horse whisperer” Monty Roberts in California.
After switching trainers, Storm Fabulador won a BM55, a BM52, was only 1.6L away in a Lismore Cup, won a BM69, BM56, BM60, was a neck away in a BM75 and more recently won a Tatt's Club Handicap at Eagle Farm.
The horse required light handling and was better over distance. Something that Moody seemed to miss.
Foote spoke before the run at Eagle Farm:
"I've had Monty Roberts work with him [Storm Fabulador], and he's turned the corner. He's right mentally and weight-wise, he's so well placed today. I will be disappointed if he loses.''

Another example is the Queen's horse Carlton House trained by Gai and our last Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente. Both horses were worked with by Monty Roberts.
Waterhouse admitted she would be similarly non-plussed if Melbourne Cup hero Fiorente does not make a winning return in the Group 2 $220,000 Peter Young Stakes (1800m) at Caulfield. Fiorente was also worked with by Monty before his Melbourne Cup win.
Fiorente won that race as 10/9 Favourite.

Carlton House is still struggling.

The impact of a horse's mental condition and the way he is treated is a paramount part of his success, if he has the physical ability.

Fillies and Mares....

It's generally known that the handicapper usually gives age and or sex weight discounts. Generally it's accepted that this is purely based on perceived strength differences.
However, upon doing some analysis, the weight discount does not even the playing field.
So why is it that mares and fillies under perform and especially when competing against colts and geldings?

Having worked with fillies and mares they are often very nervous and have dual personalities. This can be based on being seasonal or just variation of temperament or attitude.
This would go further to explaining mixed form and form reversals.
Of course there are exceptions to this such as Makybe Diva and Black Caviar, but they are more even tempered or docile.
There are plenty of Youtube videos of Sunline's last race. She was clearly hyped up and mentally not right on her lead up to the barriers.

So the proposal I'm making is that strength has nothing to do with it. A brilliant mare or filly will beat the boys hands down every time providing she has shown consistent form.
Mares or fillies with mixed form or obviously toey or notoriously hard to load should be given significantly greater weight allowance when composing ratings. Unless the mare or filly is significantly good, definitely avoid taking short prices on those with yo yo form.

Took the old man along to see Monty Roberts in a show at the Boondal Entertainment centre a fair while ago. Gee he is a good man with a horse that bloke.
The old man was like a kid in a lolly shop, he lined up and got an autographed book and a photo etc.
Actually the old man was a bit before his time as well as he was breaking in horses using the "Jeffrey Method" as far back as I can recall. That method used kindness and firmness as opposed to cruelty I suppose.
I think a lot of this comes back to the horse itself though. As an example the old man and a mate of his broke in a horse each, the old man using the Jeffrey method and his mate using the old throw them on the ground and put the tackle on them, break their spirit type method.
When they were finished, both horses were roughly the same to handle and ride.

I have heard from a few old timers that it is not actually the breaking in that is most important but the work that is put into them once they are broken. In fact a few of them used to swear by giving a freshly broken horse to a drover for a few months to pour some work into them.
Bit long winded sorry, just got on a roll.

Natural horsemanship wins the day again.
Well done Fiorente ;)

The mind makes the difference in a close finish.

So what's become of Altius, the best bred horse in the barn, with a short stride?
He's been sent to New Zealand to be trained by his part owner Mr T W Cole.
Mr Cole has entered his Group class horse in everything from Maidens to Opens in New Zealand.
Altius ran 2nd of 11 in a NZ maiden.
Then just got home by a nose in his next maiden start
Ran 3rd in a BM65 (beaten 4.3 lengths)
And finally 4th in an Open class race only beaten 0.4 lengths.

All this after GELDING him :eek:

His bloodline is gone, and he's no better for it.
As stated prior, he would have been best kept as an entire, doing striding exercises and going over jumps, now he's just a plodder with great bloodlines :(

Caulfield R4 #13 (b)(g)
Caulfield R5 #12 (b)
Caulfield R6 #4 (g) WON $6.20
Caulfield R7 #2 (b)

Doomben R7 #2 (b) WON $5.50

Morphettville R1 #9 (b)
Morphettville R1 #12 (b)
Morphettville R2 #5 (b) WON $1.60

Randwick R3 #12 (b)
Randwick R5 #10 (b)
Randwick R8 #2 (b)

(b) = blinkers FIRST time
(g) = gelded

Pretty severe gear change

Ascot R1 #3 Fathing Fast (g) 3rd
Sandown Race 1 #1 Dillon Hall (g) 2nd

As we have a day off, here are some selections for tomorrow:

Caulfield
Race 5
17.Boer Gelded
18.Belesron Gelded
20.Excellent Flight Gelded

Oakbank
Race 1
1.Fair Script Gelded
Race 6
12.Waitaha Toa Gelded

Caulfield
Race 5
17.Boer Gelded unplaced
18.Belesron Gelded scratched
20.Excellent Flight Gelded unplaced

Oakbank
Race 1
1.Fair Script Gelded 3rd
Race 6
12.Waitaha Toa Gelded 3rd

A nice place profit today.

Kensington
Race 1
#1
Astro Avalanche (g) Scratched :(

Flemington
R1
#8
Single Days (g)

Gosford
R5
#1
Queenian (g)

Gosford
R6
#4
Goldclip (g)

Belle Couture I had mentioned previously was not happy within herself.
She's fighting against riders and handlers and doesn't look comfortable at all.
She's wearing a crossover noseband these days as has the inclination to over race. After her narrow defeat at Bendigo, she strode out at Caulfield to storm home for a convincing win.
After that performance, I began to question myself, but I think it's more Damien Oliver has found the key to getting her to settle and use the least energy.
Low and behold, she steps out at Flemington and this is what Winks had to say after finishing dead last:
Belle Couture – rider J Winks reported was fractious in the barriers, stumbled on jumping, was slow into stride and failed to travel throughout. A post race veterinary examination failed to reveal any abnormal findings.
Stewards have her on watch, maybe she has to trial.

Being fractious, slow out and stumbling would be it for a leader, but they planned to come home from back in the field, the fact she made zero ground tends to suggest she used up all her nervous energy just prior to the gates opening.

Is this going to be one of those sad stories of a horse with great potential, not being able to exhibit it on track because of lack of understanding.

She has a very long way to go to recoup the fortune they outlayed on her.

Sounds like one for the knackery to me.

Certainly not DD.
The horse has potential, that's the point.

Of great interest to me was the win of BELEEUP yesterday at bolters odds.
No, never had a bet on it at all.
The interest came from the fact that I looked into it's past, I believe it won a trial earlier on and then ran 5th in the country, 4th in the city, and then 5th in the city.
The horse has had very bad hooves looking into it. And John McArdle said the horse has a lot of talent on the training track but is a bolter. Unable to be slowed in a race and at one time had been banned for being difficult to load.

They put on a crossover noseband and whacko 1st at bolters odds.
It's basically a bridle for horses that open their mouth in races and “pull”. A crossover nose band has 2 straps that cross over the front of the nose to from an X. The bottom strap does up under the chin – the other one is half way down the nasal bone. The crossover nose band stops the horse from opening its mouth but also the horse feels pressure the moment he starts to bolt from both the bit and the noseband.

I find it interesting that sometimes there is just no explanation on paper for a form turnaround, and others have little histories that do explain it.
It did blow like the North wind in betting also, so the stable must not have realised the difference this type of gear can do to a horse's performance.