A country galloper, Blazing Sword, has brought trainer Tim Fitzsimmons and a group of his old school friends together for an exciting ride.
This ride is heading towards the VRC Oaks meeting at Flemington on Thursday, where Blazing Sword is set to compete in the $500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final (1600m).
Fitzsimmons acquired Blazing Sword for $19,000 after the gelding had raced seven times in NSW for Annabel and Rob Archibald, with the initial aim of racing him privately.
Over 19 starts with his new trainer, Blazing Sword has accumulated five wins, three seconds, and three thirds, boosting his prize money earnings to almost $175,000.
“I wanted to keep him myself, but the bloke who does my website, he said, ‘I’ll sell some of the horse,'” Fitzsimmons revealed. “He rings me up one day and said, ‘I can sell nearly all of this’. I said how much is left and he said, ’17 per cent.’ “I said stop selling, but it’s been good because a lot of the owners in him are old schoolmates and it’s taken them on a ride. “They all went to Albury when he ran third in the Cup, and they carried on like it had won, and they all went to Corowa when it won the Corowa Cup. “He’s been a fun horse.”
Fitzsimmons mentioned that adding to the enjoyment, most of the owners of the gelding are VRC members and will be in attendance on Thursday.
He noted that they had owned horses previously but had experienced limited success.
“They’ve had horses, but they’ve never had horses that have won more than one race and they’re that excited they’re heading to Oaks Day with a runner,” Fitzsimmons commented.
While the ownership group is delighted to have a runner on Oaks Day, Blazing Sword faces a significant hurdle from the widest draw in the capacity 16-horse field, which also includes four emergencies.
The gelding will be ridden by Blake Shinn, who will be tasked with navigating the wide barrier.
“It’s quite an even race although the last heat (won by Bel Mezyaan) at Bendigo was the highest rated race,” Fitzsimmons observed. “They’ll probably be the first two favourites, but the thing with them is they have to back up in seven days.”
Check out the latest racing odds at Australian betting sites for this competitive race.