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Alligator Blood is fortitude personified for his owners. He is a beacon of hope for his fans. And his journey to immortality has only just begun.
Trainer David Vandyke is keen for his stable champion to race in the A$7.5million Golden Eagle, with the A$15million as his lead-up race.
“The Everest is a good lead up race for the Golden Eagle, Sunlight ran tenth in the Everest then ran second in the Eagle,’’ he said.
Of course, Vandyke has a Plan B already chalked out in the form of the A$500,000 Silver Eagle for 4YOs in case the slot in The Everest does not materialize.
Vandyke’s journey started with a short meeting with Alligator Blood’s owners during which they watched his training methods.
The trainer has been faced with a series of challenges with the COVID restrictions. None of which seem to faze him.
Alligator Blood is on track for the Doomben on September 12. “The problem is that they have is that they have put the weight scale up due to COVID-19,” said the Vandyke.
“However, if that doesn't work out then he will go down to Queensland and if we have problems there then we can always look for other races in Sydney.”
Of greater concern to Vandyke than where he may or may not run later in the spring, though, is ensuring Alligator Blood is relaxed and able to ‘get cover’.
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“He had a string in his bow before we went to Melbourne where he could get cover and switch off and we haven’t seen that for a long time. I want to see it again before we get to the races.If this horse is going to get longevity we need to see him being able to relax, get cover and travel sweetly,” said the trainer in another interview.
He sounded relieved about the slow return to normalcy in Australia after challenges faced because of COVID19, “There are obviously restrictions. There have been changes to the (racing) program and a reduction of prize money but we are very lucky that there's been no sign of corvid-19 at the stables or among the people we know.”
Alligator Blood like his fans and the attention he gets at the races, “He gets a little excited at the races. He is quite a sensitive horse and he appreciates interaction with people.”
“Alligator Blood is a strong personality.”
“We have another horse – Wolfman owned by the same ownership group. He has also won quite impressively last year and I would like him to go down to Sydney for some of the other main races,” said the trainer proudly.