OVERREACH sent to the paddock - Has another brilliant 2yo been over cooked ?

11 Sep 13

Has another brilliant 2yo racehorse been over cooked ? Or has it gone amiss ?

Reports in the press stated Waterhouse announced the decision to spell Golden Slipper winner Overreach after her impressive barrier trial win at Randwick on Monday.

OVERREACH - Winning the Golden Slipper Gr1

Waterhouse “officially” advised that the decision was based on “her belief” that the brilliant daughter of Exceed And Excel was "going through a growth spurt".

During the autumn this year, Overreach proved to be the best sprinting two-year-old in the land when she recorded a 1-3/4 length win in the Group 1 Golden Slipper after easy wins in the Group 2 Reisling Stakes and Listed Widden Stakes.

She tasted her only 2013 defeat when she found the 1400m beyond her after her Golden Slipper victory however was still a gallant third to Guelph in the Group 1 Sires’ Produce Stakes.

The announcement and its timing can be best described as perplexing. If the filly was sound, such was the domination of her autumn triumphs that she would be competitive in any spring sprint she encountered.

Admittedly there are limited opportunities in the spring however connections knew that when they returned her into training. So without needing to join the dots, there appears something amiss.

I applaud the decision of George Altomonte the owner / breeder to pull up stumps now without busting his filly.

As an industry we live in hope that we will again see this brilliant filly in the autumn but the rigours of the grinding training regime at Randwick more likely suggests that the sizzling sprinter will not bee seen on the racetrack again.

She has nothing to prove, she has banked a fortune and cannot add much to her commercial value at stud by winning any more Group 1 races because the fact is she’s the Golden Slipper Winner !

So what will the motivation be to race on ? The answer can only be Prizemoney – nothing more.

Common sense would suggest the owner / breeder would not want to risk injury or breakdown (or worse) for a handful of coin. He has a superstar in his paddock with a sensational pedigree. Risk verse Return is simply not there.

So it will be an interesting battle of wills. The trainer will obviously want the horse for the publicity and the 10% however will the owners interests prevail.

It promises to be fascinating to watch how things unfold however OVERREACH deserves the right to be remembered for the Champion she is and not to be risked or have her reputation tarnished. She has too much earning potential in the breeding barn in front of her.