Alligator Blood, who had a jump-out in-between races at the Sunshine Coast yesterday, could not have produced a better performance in that particular context as he continues on the comeback trail to race fitness.
Jockey Jimmy Orman had the Group 1 winner travelling well within himself throughout, yet he still recorded 32.52 seconds for the final 600m.
Alligator Blood last raced in the $7.5 million Golden Eagle last October where he uncharacteristically finished down the field.
He was subsequently diagnosed with a back problem and duly underwent an operation for a ‘kissing spine’ … which according to one definition, ‘occurs when vertebrae in the spine are too close together, rather than being spaced apart as in a healthy spine’ which in turn ‘results in touching or overlapping of two or more of the bony projections at the top of each vertebrae.’
After the Golden Eagle trainer David Vandyke, who had plotted Alligator Blood’s path to nine wins from fifteen starts up until that time, and the ownership group parted company with the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott training partnership named as Alligator Blood’s new stable.
Prior to the horse relocating to those new surroundings, Alligator Blood has been in the care of trainer Billy Healey at the Sunshine Coast and it was Healey, who has clearly being doing a good job with the All Too Hard gelding, who saddled him up for his jump out yesterday.
“We’ve just slowly built him up … at the track and at the beach,” said Healey. ‘He’s come up really well, probably better than I would ever have imagined for a horse that has been off for so long off.
“He hadn’t had a jump-out before yesterday … he was only out to have an easy time … but the way he sprinted, I wouldn’t have thought he would do that. I was really surprised.
“He was happy before the jump-out. He was very quiet and relaxed. He travelled beautifully throughout and to quicken up and come back in 32,52 with no riding was pretty good. Jimmy (Orman) was full of praise for him.
“He’ll have another trial up here in about two weeks and, if he stays up here or he goes to Sydney … I’m not sure what will happen yet.
“He’ll have a good number of options when he is ready … here, in Sydney and in Melbourne … but, he will have another trail first. After that the connections will have to sit down and decide where he will go next,
“He is due to go to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott but, as I say, whether he has a run up here first or not … I’m not sure,” concluded Healey.
