Lord Reims suffers travel ordeal

Press, 29 April 1988, Page 28

Lord Reims suffers travel ordeal

I pa Wellington The Adelaide Cup topweight, Lord Reims, was recovering in Geelong on Wednesday after an 11-hour travelling trip from Auckland. What should have been a straight-forward flight to Melbourne turned into a prolonged and anxious journey for Takanini trainer, Cliff Fenwick, and the Caulfield Cup hero on Monday night. /‘Things were a bit hairy,” said a tired Fenwick in Geelong on Wednesday evening. (“For a start we got to Auckland Airport too early and then the plane was delayed. "Then came this report that there was fog in Melbourne. Sb' the pilot said we need to take extra fuel in case we can’t land in Melbourne and have to divert to Sydney.

"That meant that some horses had to be offloaded to compensate weightwise for the extra fuel on board,” Fenwick added.

There was no threat to Lord Reims and his travelling companions, Bravero and Ghillie, but the unfortunates included yearlings bought at Karaka last Friday. The plane eventually took off four hours late, and when they arrived in Melbourne, Fenwick was dumbfounded. "There were the Melbourne lights. They hadn't seen fog for months, God knows where, the report came from,” he said. By the time they arrived at Don Campbell’s Geelong stables, 11 hours had passed since they left Takanini. Fenwick said the horses travelled "fairly well” considering the hold-ups. “They were tired, but perked up a little today,” he said on Wednesday.

Fenwick and his trio will move on today to Adelaide where Lord Reims will begin his Adelaide Cup preparation in the West End Stakes (2400 m on May 7.

Lord Reims has been given the topweight of 55.5 kg in the Adelaide Cup on May 16.

"I think he’s struck a reasonable weight," Fenwick said. “I don’t think they could have given him anything less.”