On Track - Spring 2020 Edition

15 “It’s really exciting to see him produce performances like this so early in his career. ‘’There’s been a lot of hype around him, people are expecting things like this so it’s really exciting to see him go out there and get it done.” What makes Russian Camelot’s achievements even more special is his age. He will be scored as a four-year-old in the racebook at The Valley when he contests the Ladbrokes Cox Plate. But the reality is that he is six months younger than his Australasian counterparts because he was bred and initially raised in the northern hemisphere, meaning that up to now he has been racing his own age cohort at level weights when he was significantly younger. So how did he come to be in this country at all? How did the son of Camelot, who won the English 2000 Guineas and Irish and English Derbies during his own three- year-old career, wind up with O’Brien at his Barwon Heads base rather than with someone like John Gosden or Roger Varian at Newmarket? Step forward owner John Wheeler, an adventurous 70-year-old retired businessman who likes to dream big and is not afraid to think outside the square. He has owned horses for the past 25 years and enjoyed some success but was not sure that the tried and tested recipe employed by most Australian owners looking for Cup horses these days was the right way to go. ‘’I have owned horses for a long time, and in that period I bought two tried stayers from overseas. Both won races, but both broke down for different reasons. ‘’They were already halfway or more through their racing life, usually aged about five before they get here, so there is a limited period in which you can see them run and hope for them to perform for you. ‘’I have a couple of trainers (O’Brien and Jason Warren at Mornington) and I spoke to each of them, just sounded them out and said there has to be a better way than this. ‘’Danny O’Brien was the one who said he had been thinking about it - going to Europe to source horses at a younger age - as well. The staying stock in Australia and NZ is not as good as it used to be, or perhaps putting it slightly more diplomatically, the competition is better because we have these imports. ‘’Another important consideration was that the tried horses were getting dearer. The Europeans were not stupid and realised they were in good demand in Australia if they were not top class in Europe. ‘’Danny said to me why don’t we go to Newmarket and see if we can’t get staying types but bring them straight out as yearlings.’’ The plot was hatched, and UK bloodstock agent Jeremy Brummitt was also seconded to be part of the raiding party. ‘’I underwrote Danny’s idea for 200,000 guineas and said we either buy one horse or two. ‘’We bought two. One was by Camelot, another was by Champs Elysees. It turned out that one can gallop and the other can’t. ‘’I wouldn’t be making any claim to being extra smart. In fact, our agent Jeremy Brummitt selected the horses for us.’’ Not that it is as straightforward as it sounds. ‘’In selecting horses, you always face the same dilemma. They can all look good - they wouldn’t be at the premium sale if they didn’t have that potential. ‘’Jeremy has a good eye. We told him two things; he had the budget, we said it’s not 207,000 guineas, it’s anything up to 200,000, that’s the limit. ‘’He recommended three, two of which we bid up and bought, one of which we bid on but didn’t get because it went for significantly more than the budget. ‘’Danny is a very disciplined buyer. He buys many horses which are in price brackets for different types of buyers. ‘’The trainers have to have that discipline, and it doesn’t do me any harm because I tend to be a little bit undisciplined. My hand starts to get St Vitus Dance. ‘’It was relatively straightforward. Jeremy bid on both, he had them wind tested, they lunge them and give them a good wind test beside doing all the usual vet things, then they are on a plane, land, into quarantine and into the stable. ‘’Russian Camelot has turned out to be exceptional, and pretty much from the time Danny did anything with him he said this is a really, really good horse. ‘’ RUSSIAN CAMELOT DESTINED TO BE KING OF THE CASTLE