It was a third placing but somehow it felt like a win and positive signs that there is a new sheriff in town, with Sheriff’s Stars’ eye-catching effort on debut at Kembla Grange on Saturday.
I’m not too sure how many shades of green there are, but Sheriff’s Star raced as “green” as any young horse does on debut (a sign of immaturity) but still managed to motor home once he flattened out over the final stages.
FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL
The first day out at a race meeting is not to be underestimated on a young colt who just turned three at the beginning of this month.
Everything was new for Sheriff’s Star.
There was the big float trip from Rosehill to Kembla, the unfamiliar tie-up stalls, pretty fillies parading by, the hustle and bustle of the parade ring, the PA system blaring, not to mention the helter-skelter of the race.
Trainer Richard Freedman had stressed in his pre-race report “not to expect too much, this horse is a long way from being a finished product and is extremely green and learning how to be a racehorse we just want him to settle and hopefully hit the line”Richard said.
He hit the line alright.
SMILES ALL AROUND
It’s easy to say just let the horse settle at the back and hit the line but they still have to “hit the line”.
Strangely enough while only a third at Kembla it felt like a win and the ownership group along with jockey Alysha Collett were all smiles post-race.
“Very pleasing result, he is still putting all the pieces together.
“From that barrier I just decided to ride him where he was happy, he eventually got himself into a rhythm, at the top of the straight it took him a little time to balance up when he started to swoop up on them at the top of the corner.
“He’s still floating, he’s still learning his craft and he was having a good look at the horse inside of us but I really loved that last one hundred metres when he attacked the line. He should be going close next time” Alysha said.
FREEDMAN ‘STOKED’
He can be a hard man to please sometimes but veteran trainer Richard Freedman was “stoked with the run”. That means delighted in surfing lingo.
“He’s still very green and he still does quite a few things wrong, like get his head up early which we’ve been trying to sort out for some time now, but it’s getting better. Then he decided to behave and get into a rhythm but by then he was off the back of the field.
“On the corner he lost his action for a while and then got it back, then he balked at the horse inside him, but once he worked out what the game was he started to stretch out really well and started to make ground well, so very promising.
There was no loafing in the straight with the final 600m run in 33.44 seconds.
“He ran home his last 600m in a really good time.
“If he learns from that next start he’ll be very hard to beat.”
“If he learns from the next start he’ll be very hard to beat.” Trainer Richard Freedman
WHATS NEXT
Richard and Will would ideally love to stick to the big tracks and there could be an opportunity to go to a 1300m Maiden at Scone on August 30 which carries a $100,000 bonus if you are an Inglis graduate like Sheriff’s Star.
So stay tuned and the Tycoons have another nice horse.