Trainer inspects Aust, stables

Press, 26 February 1986, Page 39

Trainer inspects Aust, stables

PA Auckland The jetsetting has begun for the Ellerslie trainer, Frank Ritchie. He has flown to Sydney to locate the best place to stable Bonecrusher during next month’s big campaign. The rushed trip was made hours after Ritchie and Peter Mitchell decided "to put the Tancred back on the agenda." The sAustsoo,ooo Bowater-Scott H. E. Tancred Stakes (w.f.a. 2400 m) is run only a week before Bonecrusher’s main mission, the sAustsoo,ooo A.J.C. Derby (2400 m “I’m trying desperately not to be greedy,” Ritchie said. “But he’s so dominant at weight-for-aage at the moment and he’s so

strong it looks like he could handle week-to-week races now. “He’s come through Saturday’s race incredibly well.” A final decision doesn’t have to be made yet, but it looks more likely that Bonecrusher will not race here again before flying to Sydney on March 17, five days before the Tancred. If Bonecrusher takes the double, he would boost his earnings by sAust6so,ooo ($865,000) to $1.2 million. In Sydney Ritchie will have a good look round Randwick, Warwick Farm and Rosehill. “I’m not really worried which track he stays at, so long as the stable facilities suit the horse. “I’ll be looking at ever-

ything. When you’re going for this sort of money, you want the best you can get “He needs a bit of room during the day. He boxes perfectly at night, but he’s not happy in a box during the day. He weaves so he must have access to an outside yard. “If he goes straight from the track into a box he won’t settle. I’m prepared to walk him but you can’t hang on to him all day in a driveway, you’ve got to have a bit of room outside from time to time. “And it needs to be shaded at the same time — we don’t want him getting burnt alive.” Ritchie will also be looking at one or two spots that would give Bonecrusher acces to a beach. Part of his winning

formula here has been regular fresheners at the seaside. “Last year we had him at Kembla Grange, but that’s a surf beach — and I’m talking about big breakers. He wouldn’t go within 30ft of them, he’d spin back and hit his joints. He’s used to a quiet sand bar.” Before Ritchie left for Australia, he was delighted to hear Infinite Secret had made the field in the $37,500 2ZB Golden Mile at Trentham. The horse would have to win on Saturday to earn a berth alongside Bonecrusher to Sydney, he said. “Even then we might set him for the Easter here instead of the Doncaster,” he said.