The Bear bidding to deliver Livingstone a career highlight

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It will be a triumph for David over several Goliaths if the former rogue who earned the name of The Bear (Vancouver) can keep his perfect record intact by winning Saturday’s BJ McLachlan Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) for two-year-olds at Eagle Farm.

Long-striding gelding The Bear comprises precisely 25 per cent of the stable of Sharryn Livingstone – trainer, saddlery worker and occasional clerk of the course – who keeps four horses on an acreage in north Brisbane and works them on the nearby Deagon course.

The Bear is a homebred, bred by Shane Dowling – Livingstone’s major client – and Graham Singh, who became friends while sharing ownership of quadruple stakes winner Fell Swoop (Not A Single Doubt), of whom Singh was a part-breeder.

And The Bear will be striving to make it two-from-two in the McLachlan, having scored impressively by 2.3 lengths on debut in a 1000-metres maiden at the Sunshine Coast on November 22, a meeting switched from turf to synthetic due to rain.

The Bear will be up against some of the largest stables in the land.

Ciaron Maher, who has 534 horses on his books – not counting those yet without names – will start Icarian Dream (Blue Point), who on Wednesday was the $3.10 second favourite. She won well at Kensington’s first official trials of the season and on debut at Warwick Farm, ran fourth in the Golden Gift (1100m) and was a last-start second over 1100 metres at Rosehill on November 30.

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, whose ledger counts 393 named horses, will start the filly who debuted to beat Icarian Dream that day, The Playwright (Written By), a $4 hope.

Brisbane behemoth Tony Gollan, with 311 thoroughbreds to his name, will have two runners by super sire I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit). One is debut winner, $1.2 million yearling purchase, and $2.90 favourite Hi Barbie, the first foal of quadruple stakes winner Outback Barbie (Spirit Of Boom). The other is Rosemont Stud’s $800,000 yearling buy Lockyer, a $12 chance who has a second and a fifth from two starts and is a brother to Group 2 winner and the operation’s resident stallion Strasbourg.

Amid all these prospects wanders $34 shot The Bear, whose sire Vancouver (Medaglia D’Oro) is onto his second home at Woodside Park and has 11 stakes winners from 411 runners, and whose dam Jessolaura (Lonhro) finished better than eighth once in seven starts, when third in a Wagga maiden.

Still, while The Bear might present his trainer with not only her first stakes win but her first city victory, Livingstone is not underestimating herself or her horse, who in fact featured in a golden night for the stable when two of its four inhabitants secured its first winning double, with Chakra Boy (Kobayashi) also scoring.

Brisbane’s current wet patch may yet have a say. Eagle Farm was a heavy 9 on Wednesday, though at least clearing skies are forecast up through raceday.

But Livingstone believes The Bear, who has gate two for the boutique stable’s main rider Justin Stanley, will put his best foot forward.

“For his first start, moved to the poly track, we weren’t sure what to think,” Livingstone, who’s in her fourth year of training, told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“And when Justin took him out onto the track he said to me, ‘Don’t expect anything; he’s not a sprinter’. I said, ‘Now don’t you be having that attitude’.

“But although he’s got big gangly legs he’s still working out how to use, and a big long stride, he got up and won well. I think he’s bred to go further, and he certainly looks like he will.

“The 1200 metres will suit him better, and I think he’ll improve on that run, because that’s the sort of horse he is. Every time we teach him something, he thinks about it for a split second, but then he trusts you and he just improves every time.

“I’m hoping he shows us something on the weekend. It’s hard to say, because it’s going to be a heavy track by the look of it, but we drew well so that’s a good start.

“I’m not sure how he’ll handle a heavy at Eagle Farm, but he’s entitled to have a crack at the race. I’m a true believer that in those races the best horse who gets the most luck on the day is the winner.”

An accomplished horsewoman, Livingstone grew up around thoroughbreds thanks to father Ian, who’s still a hobby trainer at Doomben. She also learnt much from riding work at Deagon in the 1990s for Norm “Whopper” Stephens.

Now in her 40s, she’s been a busy woman indeed.

She has worked with apprentice riders and other industry trainees in a Racing Queensland developmental program. Aside from riding her own trackwork and tending her own horses – with help from Taylor and a few other friends – she’s worked at a local saddlery for 15 years.

She dabbles in showjumping when she has the time, and helps out as a clerk of the course at Brisbane tracks when needed, using her son’s 13-year-old grey Ibelieveinmiracles (Bradbury’s Luck), who won four races in the bush.

“He wasn’t super fast but he was grey and he does an awesome job as a clerk’s pony,” she said. “I really enjoy it when I do it, though it is hard work.”

Amidst all this, she’s enjoyed her share of success mixing it with bigger players. Her team’s star is five-year-old gelding Thelwell (Bel Esprit), who’s been thrice stakes-placed. That includes a second in the McLachlan in 2021 behind Maher-trained star Coolangatta (Written Tycoon) and – the stable highlight – third in Eagle Farm’s Champagne Classic (Gr 2, 1200m) the following year.

“I look up to the big trainers and appreciate what they do, but I just run my own race,” she said. “All I want is that my horses come home safely and do their very best.

“The day we ran second to Coolangatta in the McLachlan with Thelwell, you would’ve thought I’d won the race.

“It’s pretty exciting racing against those guys, but I know I’m the underdog with the cheaper horse, so that’s why I just worry about running my own race.”

The Bear is a name that has two roots. At first, when he arrived as an unbroken yearling predictable for unpredictability, Livingstone considered naming him after a cartoon character, Bipolar Bear.

“I think just because of his change of environment, he was a bit funny. Sometimes he’d be OK, then I’d try to give him a treat and he’d want to bite me or kick me. The next day he’d want to be my friend,” she said.

He was then sent to Pete McMahon’s renowned breaking establishment Kolora Lodge, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

“My son had to lasso him so we could put him on the truck,” she said. “But when he came back, he was like a big, soft cuddly teddy bear. They did such a good job at Kolora. So that’s how he got The Bear.”

As a homebred, The Bear isn’t eligible for the rich Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) like some of Saturday’s rivals. He’s nominated for the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), although Livingstone suspects his loping gait will better suit later, Brisbane, targets including the JJ Atkins (Gr 1, 1600m).

If he can land an early highlight in Saturday’s $300,000 feature, his dedicated trainer isn’t sure what she’d do.

“Honestly, it would mean so much to me if he won,” Livingstone said.

“For one thing, the metro win still eludes me. But also, a lot of work goes into getting horses to these sorts of races. To actually win one, especially as a small trainer – I don’t know what I’d do. It’d make for a very happy Christmas, that’s for sure.”

One thing she wouldn’t do is expand her stable.

“I keep it small so I can do it myself,” she said. “I’ve got five on my books but I can only have a maximum of four in work. I’ve only got four boxes, and a four-horse float.”