Nathan is not expecting Friday to be a special occasion for Special Occasion-but there could be one coming up.
“He is as near as I can get him without having a race so he will only improve with Friday’s run.He has never looked better” Nathan said of the semi- final of the Sires Stakes Series
“He has had the one trial and went good not pushed but then we missed one because of the rain and normally we go into a campaign with two runs. He has a nice gate and should go well but he will come out of it a better horse”
Nathan and Mark had a real battle on their hands with Special Occasion late last season and in the end Nathan just threw up his hands and called it quits.
“We thought a lot of him but his southern campaign was a disaster. He got a virus down there. He just wasn’t getting over it, his coat was off and he didn’t look right. So we decided to give him a full 3 months off and start again.It was a big decision but fortunately the owners backed us”
The start is here and, while his $10 odds reflect partly how his star fell from the heavens over the summer campaign, he is a way better horse than that in Nathan’s thinking.
“He looks a different animal so I am happy now that we gave him that longer break even if we had to pass over some really good races. Hopefully he will run up to what he can do in the next few starts”
The Derby,less than a month away is still a possibility.
“That’s where I am hoping to get him all going well and the way he is training and looking he has a solid chance of making it”
After winning first up in Auckland and running a good third to Jumal coming wide from the rear in a Sires Stakes heat, Special Occasion’s spring fell apart under the virus which affected most of the team based in the south.
A sluggish effort on a damp track in another heat was the warning sign followed by another below peak run next start before fading in the Harness Million with mucus in the trachea again being the cause. It was then the plug was pulled on his preparation and a full return to health became the number one priority.
Special Occasion’s runs at full fitness at two justified the opinion he was little inferior to the best of his age group at that stage and his new found vigour is likely to make him a contender again at short notice -if maybe not on Friday.
Who knows,having missed some plums in the interim he may be considered for a Queensland Derby trip at a later stage. But, one step at a time.
***ARDEN’S MEMORY was the big disappointment for the team last week and so she has been pulled from contention this Friday with a possiblility of a return shortly.
“Bit of a mystery really. We took a blood from her some days before the race and it was perfect and it was still good when we took one post race.So we have just given her an easy week in the hope it was a one off”