MOST trainers will tell you (if asked) that the key ingredient to being a successful racehorse is consistency, so needless to say Spreyton trainer Mark Ganderton puts his five-year-old gelding King’s Spirit in that category.
King’s Spirit delivered another brilliant performance at Spreyton last Sunday to register his third win for Ganderton from only seven starts and the gelded son of Bel Esprit has also notched four minor placings.
“When a horse can earn a cheque every time he goes around then he or she is a bit special,” Ganderton said.
“I am still not saying King’s Spirit is a good horse but when you produce the gods like he has since we’ve had him, you just wish you could fill your stable up with horse’s that try like he does every time he goes around,” he said.
King’s Spirit went into last Sunday’s assignment fresh from a two-month break.
With Brendon McCoull aboard, the gelding settled off the speed and when he was asked to finish off he let down brilliantly and strolled past his rivals at the business end of the 1000-metre class four handicap with consummate ease.
King’s Spirit was purchased by Ganderton in Melbourne at an Inglis sale for going horses on his way to South Australia where he was to race his handy mare Wanaea.
When Ganderton arrived at the Inglis sale the Bel Esprit gelding had already gone through the sale ring and been sold for $9000.
But when the horse could not undergo a scoping procedure because it had had a wind operation the purchasers opted out of the sale.
King’s Spirit was put back through the ring and Ganderton bought him for $7ooo.
“It was probably a bit of a risk buying a horse with a known wind problem but the intention was to have him undergo another operation,” Ganderton said.
“But we were told that the operation could not be redone so we have had to carefully manage the horse and so far it has been very successful,” he said.
Ganderton believes King’s Spirit is a genuine 1400-metre horse but for the time being he is erring on the side of caution and restricting him to shorter sprint distances.
“We have purposefully kept him to 1000 metres so the wind problem doesn’t come into play.”
“I was a bit toey about how he’d go first-up but Brendon (McCoull) said he felt really good.”
“He basically won with the hand brake on,” he said.
By Peter Staples.