The Magic Millions Cup, long touted as Alligator Blood’s grand final for the summer, is off the table following the news that the once all-conquering, five-year-old son of All Too Hard has already left the stable of trainer Billy Healey, who he raced for on Saturday in Brisbane, and has arrived at the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable in Sydney.
The trials and tribulations of the Australian Guineas winner over the last twelve months, since he was diagnosed with a kissing spine problem and underwent corrective surgery for that issue, have been well documented.
Initially, upon recovery he was due to go directly to the Waterhouse/Bott yard but, after being impressed by the work and attitude of trainer Billy Healey, who had Alligator Blood in his care during his build-up to a return to racing, connections changed their minds and left Alligator Blood with Healey … for whom he has now had an unplaced, three race campaign.
Now they have changed their minds again, reverting to the original plan … albeit some five months later than previously scheduled, with the game-plan for Alligator Blood now effectively being put on hold until the Waterhouse/Bott stable have given their assessment of the horse at this time.
Seemingly in anticipation of some expected criticism, in a video posted on social media, part-owner Allan Endresz was at pains to stress that, in any decisions taking by the Alligator Blood ownership group, the welfare of the horse comes first … and that this decision was strictly in keeping with that policy.
Opinion has already been voiced as to whether it is wise for Alligator Blood to continue racing after his recent performances. In all three starts for Billy Healey, Alligator Blood carried the steadying burden of 61kg and was giving plenty of weight to his opposition … not the easiest thing to do when slowly building up to peak fitness after a long, injury enforced layoff … but, to many, there was still something missing.
He did not appear to be the horse of old, and why would you expect him to be after what he has gone through and his lack of race action over a fair period of time.
Both Endresz and Healey addressed these concerns in the video and, apart from the weight drag, they put forward a possible reason for the lack of vitality that Alligator Blood has shown in the home straight since returning.
“Baylee (Nothdurft) indicated that he thought Alligator Blood was absolutely going to explode coming through the 300m mark on Saturday, but his, Alligator Blood’s, mindset wasn’t there,” said Endresz.
“Physically he is in incredible shape,” offered Endresz. “It can come back to the amount of pain he would have been through in that earlier process with that kissing spine … and just where that has left him mentally and where he is at in terms of his mindset. Has that pain barrier issue been embedded into him and, if so, can it be changed?
“It is probably more in his headspace at the moment … and confidence is key to any horse,” suggested Healey.
“Where he is at exactly right now is a bit difficult to say which is probably why it is a good time for him to head down to Gai and Adrian. They’ll probably get more of a guide as to where he is at going forward. They both very experienced and if they can get him back some confidence that will be a big play his role going forward. There was always a factor of him going down there and probably the best time to do it is now.
“He is in great condition. There are no faults there. Physically he is as sound as a three-year-old.
“I’ve been speaking to Billy (Healey) on a number of occasions,” confirmed Adrian Bott, “and we always left this open as a potential plan … you know, have a few runs early in the campaign in Queensland to resume and, with the circumstances there, I guess to now try and get away from the big weights now he has had that foundation.
“He has arrived at our stable in magnificent order and he has come down with a clean bill of health.
“He may not get back to the sort of form we all want to see. That is a large possibility … so we got to keep an open mind to that as a realistic possibility … but he deserves that opportunity to have a chance in a different environment.
“Hopefully, collectively, we can get a good outcome,” concluded Bott.
And the last word from Endresz?
“Look, there are always a lot of critics out there … but we always have the horse’s welfare as number one. That’s why we have taken an enormous amount of time with Alligator Blood and spent a lot of money. It’s not about winning. It is about giving the horse the opportunity to comeback.
“If he is telling us that is not going to happen, we’ll know soon enough. The guide, as Billy has said to us, is let’s leave it up to Gai and Adrian to get to that point. It will be for them to make that determination … and that’s a fair call.
“We’re not silly. We have always set the agenda that a retirement for Al would be at Living Legends.
“We’ve made those arrangements and, when we reach that point in time, that will happen.”
