A trainer who has his team flying at the moment in Brisbane is Brian Wakefield. His stable are all performing well and he has had a couple of very nice winners in the last few weeks in Frosty and Joint Chiefs.
Frosty (Pictured- Taron Clarke photography) was returning from nearly 18 months off the track, and in a superb training performance Brian was able to get him back a winner first up. Frosty is now a 7 year old, and on that run looks as though there may be more wins in store. I thought it would be worth finding out more on Frosty’s long lay off, so I caught up with Brian today. He told me when the horse went to the Rockhampton Newmarket and broke the track record by half a second the horse just didn’t come back the same and seemed to have jarred up quite bad. “He just wasn’t the same horse afterwards. After a spell he was just about to trial and we found the makings of a stress fracture and a bit of bone change there and some early warning sign, so we aborted that and put him out for three months.” Wakefield said.
Brian went on to say that Frosty had another prep up ready to go but had a farrier incident a week before he was going to trial and he then had to have treatment and was back to square one. The stable have used glue on shoes to help the feet grow and is back to normal now. “He had a good preparation into his first up run and saluted for us which was good. On his day his is a sharp performer and his work leading into it had been good and I thought he would race well but would improve from the run.” Wakefield said.
I also asked if there was a chance that the second up syndrome may come into effect especially off the long break, but Brian said he keeps the horse on the fresh side and has had him at the beach and expects the horse to run well again this week.
Another of the stables stars Joint Chiefs stepped out last Saturday and was very impressive. He settled back and came with his usual strong run to score. In my opinion his last preparation was his best, but that could change this time in work as he looks like he will be a force in anything he runs in and his trainer seemed to agree “He was desperately unlucky in a couple of races in Sydney last time where he didn’t have any luck at all. He has had a long spell and bypassed the carnival. I was going to get him ready for the eyeliner, but he needed a long spell and we’d bring him in at the end of the carnival.” Wakefield said.
I also had a query from a member about an up and comer named Pretty Composed who had her first start last week. Brian said she has always shown potential, but just had a hiccup along the way. Her first trip to the races she was $1.50 favourite and had a mishap in the barriers and was scratched and had a minor injury which seen her have another break. But last week she showed a lot of promise winning well, but she is very green and still has a lot to learn about the game. The stable do have a lot of time for her and she can be a potential ‘black type’ mare with time.
Brian has his stable flying at present and anything he has racing must be respected! Do not be surprised if all three horses mentioned today are all winning again soon, and it will be well deserved as Brian puts a lot of time into his setup and he has some lovely yearlings coming into the stable soon.
Anyone wanting to check out more about Brian and his setup can check out his website at
http://wakefieldracing.com.au/
**Of course we have some members wanting a midweek tip.
And if you are feeling forgiving
With the rail out I think Race 7 No.2 MACHINATION can run well e/w at $11 on Tattsbet.
**Also for those who have not heard yet, the warhorse ZIPPING has been retired. Wouldn’t we all love to have one like him. He earnt over $4.5 million!
