Veteran Conners still a Force to be reckoned with
Warwick Farm trainer targeting $500,000 Inglis Nursery with cheap Classic filly
Clarry Conners still loves the racing game as much as ever, but the veteran Sydney trainer laments how the sport has evolved, particularly the sheer size and industrial scale which has become the norm for Australia’s largest and most dominant stables.
Despite not having the budget nor the numbers to compete on a regular basis with Sydney’s leading trainers, the Warwick Farm horseman continues to demonstrate why he has survived the cut-and-thrust of racing in the nation’s toughest jurisdiction.
On Saturday, Conners could again attempt to defy the odds with his two-year-old Shocking Force (Air Force Blue) in the $500,000 Inglis Nursery (RL, 1000m) at Randwick, a race in which the filly could take on $1 million colt Acrobat (Fastnet Rock) and filly Ashema (I Am Invincible), who had an $800,000 reserve at this year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
“I have also got her in at Kembla on the same day, so I will try and weigh up where we head. It will depend on what barrier draw we get,” Conners said yesterday.
“She had a trial the other day (on the Warwick Farm Pro Ride track last Thursday) and she did it easily when they ran very fast time.
“She ran second, beaten a head, so if your horse is going all right you have to give them a run to see what they are capable of.”
A relative cheapie from the Inglis Classic sale for Conners at $30,000 – about a third of the auction average – Shocking Force was bred by Neil Osborne at Mane Lodge. She is out of Little Shocker (Shocking), a half-sister to the stakes-placed Capital Commander (Commands) and two-year-old stakes-placed filly Little Favours (Falvelon).
Conners stepped Shocking Force out at the official two-year-old barrier trial session at Randwick on September 21 where she finished fourth to Vaccine (Not A Single Doubt) before the filly was sent for a short spell.
“She’s not very big and she’d had enough. I had this race in mind, so I couldn’t keep her going. I gave her a bit of a break for a few weeks and here we are,” Conners said.
“At the sales, I just thought she was a speedy–looking filly and she’s by a new sire who is a very well-performed horse overseas.
“I liked the horse as an individual and she wasn’t dear, so that is how we ended up with her.”
Jay Ford has been booked to ride Shocking Force if Conners does elect to run her in the Inglis Nursery, a rich sales-restricted two-year-old race.
Late last year, Conners sold his Victory Lodge complex near Warwick Farm and moved his horses into stables occupied by his trainer-son Marc. The move has coincided with a change of fortunes for Conners Sr, who has prepared 12 winners from his past 50 runners.
He said: “I am with my son Marc and I think he’s had a big influence on where the stable’s going. We spend a bit more time together, but I also have more time to plan where horses should be racing.
“Placing horses where they’ve got the best advantages is a bit of a trick, so I have got more time to do that and Marc spends more time at the stables.”
Conners has trained four winners of the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m), an Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) and Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner, in addition to claiming a host of feature races in Melbourne during an illustrious career.
However, he does not like the current racing landscape even though prize-money in NSW is at record levels.
“As trainers who have been around for a little while, we all say we’ve seen the best of it,” he said.
“It’s very hard now the way the races are structured. A lot of us don’t like the benchmark rating system.
“My interpretation of it is that it’s a glorified name for handicappers because they still handicap them on what they think. Joe Blow has got a different idea compared to what Fred does.
“It’s also a numbers game. You’ve got to have 100 or more horses in work to have as many runners as possible, so people know that you are there and so that you get your name in the paper.
“That’s what it’s all about now, having plenty of runners, and just keep sending them around.”
If he had children wanting to become trainers in the current environment he would discourage them from doing so.
“I didn’t encourage my boys (Marc and Heath) to do it, either. I tried to get them to do something else but they both liked the horses,” said Conners, who also believes the huge prize-money for races such as The Everest (1200m) and Golden Eagle (1500m) is inflated and unnecessary.
“They were brought up with them, so that’s what you end up doing. Heath’s given it up now and he’s working for a pre-mixed feed company in Melbourne. He works there and is doing very well at it.
“He was smart and got out early.”