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Originally Posted by CSC
You know, I think Prebble said it best. Bullish Luck doesn't owe anyone anything...
as did Silent Witness when it was obvious he wasn't his brilliant self after that fantastic unbeaten streak.
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... and so how appropriate that the stablemates will be re-joined at LL.
From SCMP.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Bullish Luck's future in handicapper's hands
Alan Aitken in Tokyo
Jockey Club handicapper Nigel Gray has the future of stalwart star Bullish Luck in his hands following the nine-year-old's defeat in the Yasuda Kinen on Sunday.
Bullish Luck finished a well-beaten 14th under the unsuitable conditions, though he made history simply by turning up as the only foreign horse to have run three times in the race.
"The wide draw and the loose going were right against him," trainer Tony Cruz said yesterday. "He was wide and using himself too much, too early and it wasn't his sort of ground. He was never confortable."
But the next move at Sports Road will determine if Bullish Luck has run his last race, with compulsory retirement looming when he turns 10 and the clock ticking on just how much more he has the opportunity to give.
Bullish Luck was bred in the northern hemisphere and he turns 10 on January 1.
"I have spoken to Nigel Gray about this and, the way the programming is, there isn't a race for Bullish Luck now until late October or November, and he isn't a horse who can come out and race well straight after a spell now," Cruz said.
"He needs to have a race or two to find his form. If there was programming that allowed him to start a bit earlier then he will keep racing but if the programme stays the way it is, then I think he might be retired," he added.
Bullish Luck's record comprises 24 starts at Group One level alone at home and overseas, winning five and finishing in the first four on 14 occasions, including a Yasuda Kinen victory two years ago and a third in last year's Dubai World Cup, as well as domestic top level victories in the Champions Mile (twice), the Hong Kong Gold Cup and Stewards' Cup, and stake money of more than HK$62 million.
Owner Wong Wing-keung has already made arrangements for Bullish Luck to rejoin his old stablemate, Silent Witness, at Melbourne's Legends park in Australia when the gelding is retired.