HARRY WHITTINGTON BLOG: Harry Whittington, Grade One-winning trainer and BETDAQ Brand Ambassador looks back on a wonderful few days for the yard as the season comes to an end, including a debut victory for Mister Coffey. Harry also reflects on the season as a whole.
It’s been a really good finish to the season for the yard and to cap it off with two winners this week was fantastic. We’ve had a great couple of days up at Perth with Bigmartre and Captain Tommy running crackers which brought the curtain down on another good year for us. The way the horses have run, particularly in recent weeks, bodes very well for the future.
FANTASTIC FEW DAYS TO CAP OFF SEASON
The drop down in class really suited Bigmartre. We thought he was off a winnable mark and duly obliged in fine style under a superb ride from Page Fuller.
He really thrives on a sharp track like Perth over 2m4f and we just hoped Page would get a real tune out of him, like she had done with Vinnie Lewis a few weeks ago. It was the first time all season he hadn’t made a mistake which just shows he’s a horse very much still in love with the game.
When conditions are right for him, he’s a force to be reckoned with and it was great for us all as he’s a real yard favourite. We’re looking forward to plenty more good days with him.
Prior to that, Captain Tommy ran an absolute cracker to finish second in the Listed hurdle. He’s got a fantastic attitude and is just so genuine. He really loves racing and just tries and tries.
On the back of two really good efforts, it made sense to try him at this level, so to run the way he did was amazing.
I’d thought of him as a summer jumper, but what he’s shown us in his three runs suggests he’s a fair way better than that. We’ll treat him like a good horse, give him a good holiday and bring him back in the autumn where we could also go chasing with him.
Earlier in the week, I was hopeful Mister Coffey would show on the track what he has shown us at home and he did in very impressive fashion.
We’ve always thought he was talented, so to do it in the way he did was a real thrill. Gavin [Sheehan] gave him a beautiful ride as they weren’t going quick enough so he let him go off in front and he strode clear in the style of a really good horse.
He’ll be put up for sale now, but he’s got a massive future and what’s so exciting about him is how much improvement physically there is to come. He’s a big, raw horse with loads of scope to mature and strengthen up, so expect bigger and better things next season.
SEASON’S THOUGHTS
We’ve had a very good end to the season and the way some of my horses have run in Graded races is very encouraging. On the whole, it’s been a bit in-and-out with plenty of change, but I’m very hopeful we can improve the statistics for next season.
There are some really fabulous horses in the yard to go to war with next year as well as plenty of younger horses, who with a summer on their back, should improve again and it’s very exciting to know we have all those to look forward to.
It’s been a season with plenty of highlights, but if I had to pick one, it would be Saint Calvados’ win at Naas in the Grade Three. To go over to Ireland and to beat Footpad in the style we did was a real thrill.
