There are horses who have the racing caper figured out before they even make their debuts.
Others, like Saturday’s Midway Handicap (1100m) contender Don Luigi, take a little longer.
The gelding was beaten by a combined total of over 100 lengths in his first two starts – on debut his stirrup strap broke mid-race and he had to be eased down; at his second appearance, he was trapped three-wide and when taken back to find cover, Don Luigi thought that was a signal to pull up.
“I was getting nightmares over that because here I was telling his owners he’s a handy horse,” trainer Kerry Parker recalled.
“Then I stuck blinkers on him and got serious with him, he jumped and led and won at Kembla.
“But from there I caused the trouble because then he was over-racing and he went the other way.
“There were a lot races there where you were pulling your hair out because he was doing a lot wrong and you’re thinking, ‘he should have won that’.
“But he’s getting it together as an older horse now and we’re heading in the right direction.”
Having finally got the gist of what being a racehorse is all about, Don Luigi has developed into a wonderful bread-and-butter campaigner for the stable with six wins and 12 placings from his 37 starts.
He broke new ground when he won first-up at Moruya last start and Parker is hoping that is a reflection of how well the horse has come back as Don Luigi looks to defy a similarly barren second-up record at Rosehill on Saturday.
“I said to Jess (Del Frari) our apprentice to ride him off the speed and I think he’ll be strong late and low and behold, the little fellow was strong enough,” Parker said of the first-up win.
“I’ve always thought he was a Midway horse, but he hasn’t had a lot of luck in them. From a nice barrier (two), he gets his chance to run really well on Saturday.”
