Captain salutes in style
THE win by lightly raced five-year-old Captain Dave at Elwick on Sunday brought back fond memories of one of Tasmania’s most popular thoroughbred breeders David Cochrane who died last year after a long illness.
Cochrane, who was affectionately called Captain Dave by close friends and family, bred the gelding at Bowthorpe Stud at Longford, an establishment he owned and that produced many top-class gallopers over several years. Captain Dave is by one of Bowthorpe’s former resident stallions El Maggiore from their top-producing broodmare Personal Spy.
When it came time to name the horses his owners had to look no further than Cochrane’s nickname.
The gelding failed at his first two starts but at a subsequent trial in Launceston in which he finished a game second, connections were confident he would shine at his next campaign but that coincided with the industry shutdown because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The gelding was placed at his first two starts this time in and on Sunday he delivered what was clearly one of the best performances of the day.
Captain Dave led from a wide gate but once he found the lead apprentice rider Brandon Louis rated him superbly and, in the home, straight, he powered away from his rivals to score by 7-1/2 lengths from Olympic Honour and Captain Morgan.
Captain Dave made his way to trainer Barry Baker when Patricianne Cochrane called Baker and asked him to pick the horse up and start training him.
“We have always been close friends of the Cochranes, so when Patricianne called us and asked for us to take the horse and train him we were happy to comply,” Baker said.
“We broke him in, named him Captain Dave and he progressed nicely but just when we thought we could take him to the races and win, the coronavirus Baker said.
“His first two starts after the shutdown were good and we thought he would probably start a short price favourite on Sunday, but his form was ignored, so everyone got a good price ($6).”
Mrs Cochrane was trackside to see the win and she was understandably emotional after the race.
“I’ve found it very hard to get to the races after David struck,” passed away but seeing this horse win a race has been fantastic,” Mrs Cochrane said.
“The Bakers have done a great job with the horse and hopefully there are more wins to come.”
One of El Maggiore’s better progeny was Spy Wears Prado that is Captain Dave’s full brother.
Spy Wears Prado won 11 and placed 15 times from 47 starts for almost $150,000 in stakes.