Mourinho Bidding To Make Comeback
Trainer Peter Gelagotis had a smile on his face at Cranbourne on Monday. Not only did stable favourite Mourinho safely (and quickly) complete an 800 metres jump out in about 46 seconds but he was also able to report enthusiastically about stable sprint stars Malaguerra (Magnus) and Illustrious Lad (I Am Invincible).
Mourinho hasn’t raced since February last year when third to Bow Creek (Shamardal) in the Peter Young Stakes (Gr 2, 1800m) which he’d won the year before. A second tendon injury in the same leg, shortly after the Caulfield run, ruled him out of the following month’s Australian Cup (Gr 1, 2000m).
“It was the same leg but higher up and he just tweaked it second time around. It was a minor strain, not a tear and we ‘rehabbed’ him in the stable. He didn’t have any time off through that process and he’d have been right to go last spring if he hadn’t picked up a hoof abscess.
“It was only then that we gave him a break from the stable. He had six weeks in the paddock from the end of October to the start of December and he’s come back really well. He looks great and I was pleased with his trial. That was his first (trial) but I doubt he’ll need another one. His weight’s spot on and I don’t want to take the edge off him for the first-up run at 1200 metres. The old boy’s back and I’m excited,” said Gelagotis.
That first up run will be in the Australia Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) at Moonee Valley on 27 January – a race he won fresh in 2015. Mourinho also won the P B Lawrence Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) first up that year.
Mourinho was sidelined from April 2011 until September 2012 with his previous tendon injury but returned to win in that comeback preparation and, of course, graduated to Group One success in the 2015 Underwood Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m).
Gelagotis will again make the 80 minute trek from Moe to Cranbourne next Monday morning when his most recent Group One winner Malaguerra will have his first trial of the campaign. Malaguerra won the Darley Classic (registered as VRC Classic) (Gr 1, 1200m) in the spring before, as Gelagotis puts it ‘barrier one killed him’ when beaten one length into fifth place behind Takedown (Stratum) in the Winterbottom Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) in Western Australia.
“He’s going well. He had three weeks in the paddock, after Perth, and put on 20 kilos so we couldn’t leave him any longer. He’s such a good horse. He had some back issues but they’re all good now. He’s sound and his temperament’s better probably because he’s feeling better. He used to want to savage you but he doesn’t do that any more. You can work with him now. He’s strong of the mind, this horse,” said Gelagotis.
Malaguerra is also likely to run first-up in the Australia Stakes and the proceed to the C F Orr Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) on 11 February and the Futurity Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) on 25 February. That’s a similar path to Mourinho but it can’t be helped according to the trainer.
“If everything goes to plan we’d then look at the Australian Cup with Mourinho while Malaguerra would be freshened for Sydney and the T J Smith and possibly the All Aged Stakes… that could mean another stable clash with the T J (Smith) also on the cards for Illustrious Lad,” said Gelagotis.
Gelagotis said that Illustrious Lad was likely to resume in the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) at Flemington on 18 February.
“That might seem ambitious but he’s won twice and run second at his past three down the straight course and plenty of ratings guys tell me he’s not far behind Malaguerra. He’s won nine races this horse and really done no work doing it. We’ve been able to place him very well I think. To this stage, he’s been one of those horses where you just open the calendar and the right races for him have stared you in the face.
“I think he’s a serious horse and it’s time to find out. He was very good in the spring. He won two of four and was hampered by the riderless horse when Keen Array beat him at Caulfield and then we rode him too close when Lucky Hussler just got him in the Heffernan (Stakes) at Sandown,” he said.
The Gelagotis’ trio have won 31 races between them so it’s understandable that the Gippsland trainer is excited about their autumn prospects.
MICHAEL HIBBS
Steve reports on Cranbourne trainer Michael Hibbs’s decision to diversify by establishing his own bloodstock agency.
Hibbs’ Peregrine Bloodstock launches this week as he ventures to the Magic Millions sales in a bid to establish his fledgling business which he believes can provide value add, on two fronts, above that offered by many existing services.
The Cranbourne horseman, best known for his Group race success with Minson (Honour And Glory) and Volitant (Flying Spur), plans to continue training but says his bloodstock business will now be his primary focus.
And while he concedes that an increasingly tough environment in the training ranks, now dominated by the leviathan stables, played a part in his decision it was more precipitated by his passion for bloodstock and pedigrees and the belief that he has two major strings to his bow.
“The first, of course, is that I can analyse any prospective purchase from a trainer’s point of view which I think is critical. You want to buy a horse first and foremost that will get to the races.
“And the second is that I had a recent “lightbulb moment” in regards to pedigree analysis. I believe there’s something more to the traditional methods which have been used and I’ve collated years of data to determine what works and what doesn’t work,” he said.
Hibbs, the one time policeman, was understandably coy about revealing the precise details of his light bulb discovery. “That’s something I look forward to sharing with clients. However, determining the statistical likelihood of a horse becoming a stakes-winner is certainly part of it.
“And, with my method, I am confident that I will put the odds well and truly in the client’s favour with our yearling selections. I’m sure I can provide an edge that few, if any, have yet to come across and I guarantee that you will come out, at the very least, with a more informed purchase,” he said.
Hibbs has more than thirty years experience in the racing industry and says he looks forward to representing his own clients and those from any source including other trainers.
“Trainers like Robbie Laing have already expressed an interest in using my services. I can save trainers a lot of time and I’m not at all interested in poaching clients or horses. Training will be secondary for me and, in any case, I would stand by the good reputation I believe I’ve built in the industry,” he said.