It really is quite amazing that a horse that last ran nearly a month ago and who will not race again for at least the next four to six months is garnering headlines on a daily basis.
Of course, the drama involved in trainer David Vandyke dismissing Alligator Blood from his stable caught everybody’s attention with almost every man and his dog having an opinion on the subject which, for some unknown reason, seemingly had to be expressed with a strong emphasis on taking sides.
That was yesterday.
Today … another day, another Alligator Blood story … this time with the breaking news that the ownership group have wasted little time in placing Alligator Blood in another stable, finding him a new home with Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse at Tulloch Lodge.
Any chapter of the Alligator Blood story … old or new … now almost always seems to polarise people wherever they are placed in the industry.
Prior to the Tulloch Lodge announcement, Michael Hawkes suggested he would need to have answers to a few questions before considering taking Alligator Blood on board at Team Hawkes. By way of contrast the Bott/Waterhouse yard … who have secured the gig for now … responded by saying they were ‘honoured’ to take on the role as Alligator Blood’s trainer, no questions asked.
And, again, every man and his dog have come out to have their say.
Do me a favour.
The horse is due to go under the knife within days for an operation for a kissing spine problem and it is impossible to even begin to try to gauge his future racing prospects at this time.
As to whether the ownership group and the Bott / Waterhouse training partnership will gel well together or whether that training partnership is the best fit for a ‘when fit’ Alligator Blood moving forward … all of that is totally irrelevant at this time.
When, hopefully, Alligator Blood is fully recovered and being primed for his comeback outing all those months from now … those arguments, and what happens next, will take on real significance.
For now, it is just full of hot air.
