Quirky Kiwi who grew up
Weir’s weird little wonder was worth the effort
DARREN Weir wondered what all the fuss was about.
In the lead-up to Humidor’s first race under his care — the John Dillon Stakes at Caulfield on Australia Day this year — the champion trainer famous for giving his horses the benefit of the doubt was prepared to do the same with the former Kiwi galloper he had as his next Melbourne Cup horse.
Before buying 50 per cent of the horse for a sizeable, undisclosed sum for clients after last year’s Spring Carnival, Weir had heard about the catalogue of quirks Humidor had displayed since he was a foal.
The gelding was an untapped talent, but deep within him burnt a temperament that could see him “fizz up” on race days, jumping at shadows without the slightest warnings, as well as a tendency to lay in during races.
But for all the warnings, Humidor was on his best behaviour in his first few months in the Weir stable. He thrived in his beach work at Warrnambool and relished the overall preparation without a hint of any issues.
“He was a nice little horse who seemed to do everything right — until we took him to the races,” Weir said.
“We didn’t see any antics at home, but when we got him to the races [at Caulfield] he played up at the track and played up in the mounting yard.
“He got himself that excited, he nearly dumped Damian [Lane] and half-bolted going to the barrier. Then at the 500m mark [of the race] he seemed to be dropping out and I remember thinking, ‘We’re in trouble here’.”
What happened next convinced Weir that whatever peculiar traits Humidor might have, he definitely was worth the effort.
Tailed off and seemingly under hard riding, the horse swiftly clicked into gear as he clung to the Caulfield rail. He stormed home along the inside to finish a slashing fourth, less than a length from the winner, Grande Rosso. A few more bounds and he might have won.
“That was the day we thought we have got a pretty serious horse and we knew we had to start working on those little problems,” Weir said.
Tomorrow Weir’s project horse will start as one of the leading contenders in the Melbourne Cup, having run the best mare in the world, Winx, to a long-neck in an extraordinary Cox Plate.
Weir hoped Humidor would relax in the running and hit the line well. What he hadn’t anticipated was how close they would come to being partypoopers for what had been billed as Winx’s coronation as the Queen of Moonee Valley.
The addition of blinkers helped, replacing the bubble cheekers gear change from the Caulfield Cup. In that race, Humidor was hunted forward, much to Weir’s chagrin, which wasn’t a part of the plan and may have been part of his undoing. He finished fifth.
“He still hasn’t been straightened out completely, but as he has matured, he has got better,” Weir said of the horse who could provide him with a second Melbourne Cup, after the boilover win of Prince of Penzance two years ago.
“He laid in in the Makybe Diva [which he won by three lengths], he laid in in the Australian Cup [which he also won], and he laid in a bit in the Cox Plate.
“Who cares about the laying in? Some people say he could go better [if he doesn’t], but I am not too worried. How much better could he have gone in the races like the Makybe Diva?”
No one knows what first sparked Humidor’s quirks. But the brothers who bred him, John Carter and his 1991 Rugby World Cup All Black sibling Mark, maintain something must have gone amiss in a paddock when he was young.
On one occasion, Humidor was so headstrong that he refused to go into the mounting yardy and instead tried to make hish way out on to the track.
“We worked it out, he needs tot have one of the clerks of the course with him,” Carter said. “In his first race for Darren, he didn’t send him out with the clerk and he ended up bolting.”
Humidor won four of nine startss in New Zealand before earning a trip to Australia for last year’s Cantala Stakes. He camec from last and flashed home for ninth. That performance put him on the radar of top trainers, including Weir.
“He eventually became better at the races and better to ride,” Weir said. “He is not a nasty horse, he just gets himself so worked up sometimes without a reason.”
Weir is more concerned about Humidor getting the 3200m Cup trip than the quirks he and his team have worked hard to iron out. “I’ve got a few guys, the Kelly brothers, who do my pedigrees,” he said.
“They aren’t saying he won’t run two miles, but have suggested his pedigree is not a problem from 2000m to 2400m.
“I reckon you forget the pedigree and train the horse. From my point of view, every race he has run, he has finished off. Having said that, 3200m is a different story, and I respect the Kelly brothers.”