Gai Waterhouse has announced today that she has made the decision to retire
UK import Glencadam Gold.
GLENCADAM GOLD winning the Gr1 Metropolitan
The Group 1 winning gelding will now spend his post-racetrack days as a riding horse at Tessa Richardson’s property. Tessa is Gai’s pony rider / Clerk of the Course and she also takes care of another Gai favourite -
Julienas.
Glencadam Gold and Julienas were on the first plane over from Europe when Gai embraced the idea of overseas stayers and both did an outstanding job for their connections.
A few in England were left scratching their heads when the
Lady Trainer fired in a bid for the gelding
Glencadam Gold at the Tattersalls Sales in England.
After all, this gelding was just fairly performed and he certainly was not by a fashionable sire.
Gai’s husband Robbie is a master at form analysis and he saw something in the facts and figures to encourage Gai.
Gai liked what she saw when she inspected him. So with a strong bid, the gelding was on his way to
Tulloch Lodge, and once he lobbed, he never looked back.
It took the best part of a year from the time
Glencadam Gold arrived to the time he first raced under Gai’s banner, but he needed this time, like all the Europeans do.
Two things –
1. The turf is a lot harder in Australia and it takes much more effort to get my imported horses’ feet right. I like them to have a short toe and it takes a little time to get all this done.
2. It takes time to get a European horses’ head around the fact that it is now in down town Sydney. Yes there are a lot more people in England than in Australia, but about 25% of all Australians live within 20km of where Glencadam Gold was now calling home. Randwick is a lot louder, a little more condensed and much more crowded than the surroundings the gelding was used to.
Some horses can adapt relatively quickly, while it takes others many weeks and months to get settled. Glencadam Gold adapted pretty quickly and by the middle of winter he was ready to trial.
Gai trialled the gelding twice against some good horses and some of his fellow imports and he showed immediately that he was a stayer in the making. By mid-August 2012 Glencadam Gold was ready to run, and run he did.
He won a good Wednesday race at Canterbury over 1550m.
Two weeks later the gelding won the Listed Premier Cup at Rosehill, then two weeks after that the gelding won the Group 2 Newcastle Gold Cup.
A fortnight after that Glencadam Gold was a Group 1 winner after leading the field a merry dance in the Metropolitan Handicap.
This was
Gai’s 8th win in the Metropolitan and probably her most satisfying.
In England they said this gelding was no good; when he landed in Australia they said he was no good; when he won a mid-week race they said he might be a struggling mid-week handicapper but
within four starts in Australia he had won a Group 1, a Group 3 and a Listed event.
A few weeks later the gelding ran a terrific race in the Melbourne Cup finishing 6th behind Lloyd Williams good stallion
Green Moon and of course Gai’s own racetrack star
Fiorente.
A lot of people might not consider 6th place in a Melbourne Cup a worthy result on a resume however the truth is, prizemoney for 6th in the race that stops a nation is worth more than the first prize cheque for winning the Group 2 Newcastle Gold Cup!
Glencadam Gold and Julienas will make great riding horses as they are the most wonderful geldings.
GLENCADAM GOLD & GAI
According to Gai they are both gentle, sweet and both have done their connections and the Lady Trainer very proud.
Gai decided to retire Glencadam rather than persist with a career over the sticks.
However Gai did say … “the gelding sure could jump”.
He bolted in twice at the jumps trials and was all set for a new challenge but he had done his job; like all of us, he was getting older, his feet were not quite right so Gai decided to leave him to Tessa who will treat him like royalty.
Well done Gai !