Even before he saw a racecourse, things did not go well for Jack Daniel.
A colt foaled in 2018, Jack Daniel broke a foot early on … then developed an eye infection which had the worst possible consequence with the eye having to be removed. This was all before the son of Equiano was broken in.
Trainer Declan Carroll’s middle name must be ‘perseverance’ though, because he stuck to his goal of getting the now broken foot recovered, one-eyed Jack Daniel to the track and his patience was rewarded because Carroll did get Jack Daniel to the races.
Not that the first experience there was a good one either.
On June 25, the 33 000 euros purchase was due to make his debut, but he was withdrawn after refusing to entre the starting stalls and Carroll was placed on notice that Jack Daniel could not race again until passing a starting stalls test.
If he was undeterred before, this minor hiccup was certainly not going to put Carroll off.
Jack Daniel duly ticked off that steward’s requirement and lined up for a 1400m Maiden at Redcar in the UK at a starting price of $26 on August 5.
This time he went into the gates and charged home to score an upset win by 1.25 lengths.
“That win has given us a lot a pleasure,” Carroll told the Racing Post. “He’s a big horse who has always shown ability. He’s a work in progress, but it’s good he’s done the business.
“I’d imagine he’ll come on from this. We like him a lot. He’s got a good temperament and was still quite green, so we think there’s a bit of improvement to come.”
