HE’S not just an iron man by name!
But after 10 starts in a successful campaign which netted two city wins and five placings, Hawkesbury trainer Ed O’Rourke has decided it’s time for his Iron Man to rest up for a while.
“Iron Man has done a terrific job for us, but he left a little bit of feed overnight after he ran third at Rosehill Gardens last Saturday,” O’Rourke said today.
“He was virtually telling us to pull up stumps, and has gone to the paddock.
“He certainly deserves a nice spell.”
Now a five-year-old whose promising career was interrupted by a wind problem which required an operation – his vocal chords were collapsing and had only 30 per cent breathing capacity – Iron Man was off the scene between September last year and June 19 when he won first-up at Canterbury.
He doubled up with another victory at Rosehill Gardens on July 20.
Iron Man has been placed at four of his last five starts and on two occasions O’Rourke backed him up within a week (Rosehill on November 2 and 9, and again on November 23 at Kembla Grange and last Saturday at Rosehill when third both times).
“Iron Man has a great constitution, and it was pretty much about thinking outside the box and changing whatever we needed to do when necessary to maintain his form,” O’Rourke said.
“The main thing was keeping him happy, but I didn’t do much with him between those two back-up races.”
I’ll check on him in three or four weeks, and we’ll look ahead to the winter when the tracks are softer.”
Iron Man has raced only 18 times for three wins and nine placings, and is eligible for next autumn’s Provincial-Midway Championships.
However, his trainer isn’t tempted to try to qualify him for the 1400m Final at Royal Randwick in April.
“We tried him a couple of times at 1400m and, even though he was runner-up to Willaidow at Rosehill in late September, he didn’t quite manage it,” O’Rourke said.
“Iron Man is at his best around 1200m to 1300m, and that’s what we will focus on next preparation.
“He’s an ultra-consistent horse, and I’m sure has more wins ahead.”
Whilst stable star Iron Man isn’t making waves, O’Rourke is still looking forward to the next few months without him.
“We have a nice team of young horses, and I expect to be winning a few races in the near future.”
. Whilst Iron Man is out of the PMC series, fellow trainer Paul Niceforo hasn’t altogether ruled out another crack with this year’s winner Territory Express.
Like Iron Man, Territory Express is also in the paddock after he stood flatfooted and missed the start by six lengths in the $1m Group 3 The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange on November 23.
It’s been a very frustrating campaign with the gelding for Niceforo, who says he should have turned the gelding out after he ran an unlucky fifth in the $2m Listed Five Diamonds (1800m) at Rosehill on November 9.
“Territory Express should have won a couple of races last campaign,” Niceforo said.
“I tried just about everything to help him get away cleanly, such as using a barrier blanket and even putting him over some jumps.
“I’ve got a couple of other ideas when he comes back into work, but he has to trial to stewards’ satisfaction before he can race again.
“As he has won only four races, he is still eligible for the Provincial-Midway series, so it’s a possibility we might have another go.”
Niceforo has only one horse in training at present; an unraced four-year-old mare named Thumbs Up Babe.
“She will have a jumpout in a few weeks and then be ready to trial,” he said.
Story John Curtis, December 2, 2024
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