Waylade Back From The Brink
20 September, 2018
Harness
It would have come as no surprise if Waylade had run his last race on December 23, 2016.
The gelding was beaten 12m by Major Reality in a 2536m race at Gloucester Park.
Following that run he bowed a tendon and the racing career of the then six-year-old looked as good as over.
Trainer Gary Hall Snr made the decision to retire Waylade, who had shown he was capable of performing at the highest level winning the McInerney Ford Classic as a four-year-old.
That’s where Caris Hamilton-Smith, who works at the Hall Snr stable, decided to take a chance with Waylade.
Hamilton-Smith said it was a significant risk bringing Waylade back into work, given Hall Snr had tried on multiple occasions previously to bring him out of retirement.
“He bowed a tendon under his pastern,” she said.
“Generally the lower on the leg the injury, the harder it is to get them back.
“I asked Senior if I could bring him back into work and he actually offered me the horse.
“He looked like a superstar two or three years ago and was one of the favourites for the Inter Dominion, so I was more than happy to take a chance on him.”
Now an eight-year-old, the culmination of Hamilton-Smith’s work on the veteran pacer comes tomorrow night in the Group 2 Navy Cup (2130m) at Gloucester Park.
Hamilton-Smith said she was extremely careful in bringing Waylade back to a condition which he could race.
“It was probably 14 or 15 weeks of work bringing him back, which is probably longer than normal for most other horses,” she said.
“There was a lot of hoping he would come up, given Senior had tried to bring him up three or four times before.
“Senior has been looking over my shoulder a lot during that time.”
Waylade heads in as a $34 chance with TABtouch for tomorrow night’s feature, where he has barrier one for reinsman Michael Ferguson.
Unsurprisingly, it is Chicago Bull who has a stranglehold on the market as a $1.14 chance and his appearance in the race means a fairy tale winning return for Waylade is unlikely.
Hamilton-Smith said although a win could be out of the question, she is confident Waylade will present as well as she can have him at Gloucester Park.
“He looks really good and his legs are perfect,” she said.
“It’s been a relatively smooth ride for him given where he was coming from.
“He’s probably lacking a few runs for what he needs to win a race like tomorrow night, but he’s only going to get better with racing.
“Ideally we will hold up from barrier one, but we are probably all racing for second behind Chicago Bull.”
The task of bringing a veteran pacer back to the races is one Hamilton-Smith has already done this year.
In March, she had another former Hall Snr pacer Besotted have his first start in her name.
It was a successful comeback for Besotted, who won twice in his comeback preparation.
Hamilton-Smith, who worked for Peter Anderson for seven years, said she would like to have a similar training establishment to Hall Snr.
“I’m coming up on working three years for the Hall stable,” she said.
“At this stage I have four in work, given I’m working full time I’m focusing on quality not quantity.
“Ideally, long term, I would like to have a setup similar to Senior’s.”
Hamilton-Smith said she was very thankful to Hall Snr for the opportunity to train Waylade in between her regular duties as a stablehand.
The Navy Cup gets underway at 7.24 tomorrow night.
Tim Walker