The milkman's dog's Uncle's hairdresser spoke with Noel yesterday evening regards Bingo D'Olivate and got a really good update on where we are and we have our first entries to look forward to.
Let's get the dates out of the way first:
19th October - Kempton
2nd November - either Plumpton or Huntingdon
His preference is Kempton but the race may come a fraction early for the horse so the 2nd November options remain fall back positions if we need them.
He'd like to start him on a flat track as he believes it's the best way to see what the horse is about and to learn how to best place him - Kempton is ideal as its the kind of course that requires speed rather than stamina or durability. If the horse needs a stiffer test (stamina) we have those options down the line. Noel is confident that the horse has plenty of speed but we'll have to see if he can show that in race conditions.
He'll be schooling Bingo this week and doing some 'sharp' work and that work will be the determinant factor in whether we go for the earlier race.
Noel was keen to talk about the objectives as he sees them for this particular race and stressed that its about getting the horse to enjoy himself and learning about him. As you know, he's had one run in France and that particular day he sat out the back of the field and then moved through to finish second towards the end of the race - similar tactics are likely to be employed this time so that Bingo has a positive experience - he won't be battled hardened like some of those juveniles recruited from flat racing. Of course this doesn't mean we won't be trying to win the race but that is at this stage slightly less important than coming out of the race with a something to work with.
He's very positive about the horse... soon enough we'll know what we've got.
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Ed's Translation for the Uninitiated:It's always best to under-promise and over-deliver, rather than the other way round, and so to that end I'd like to supply an entirely non-committal update that does, at the very least, inform you, the owners, that the horse will probably be running at some point soon.
No trainer wants his owners to put the money down first up and be disappointed, but it's important that I include enough encouragement that if he does hack up, you don't think I've tucked you up.
Gl us.
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