‘Forrest Gump’ now favourite
I WISH I Win could be racing’s new Superman if he wins his first Group 1 on Saturday, but it wasn’t that long ago he was being compared to Forrest Gump.
Just like the iconic movie character, the boom Kiwi was born with a leg so bad it was almost pointing at right angles, leaving Waikato Stud boss Mark Chittick in disbelief.
His older full brother would go on to sell for $1.4m a few months later, but Chittick knew the son of Savabeel, out of one of his prized mares, would not be destined for the sales ring.
Instead, the breeding giants would keep him and embark on a series of natural remedies instead of intrusive surgery.
“We knew the full brother was going to be a top liner at the sales, so when this one was born I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry,” Chittick said.
“We like rearing our horses as naturally as possible, so when you get a horse like that, it is how he has been made. At the end of the day, he is a bit like Forrest Gump.”
The leg would slowly come good and I Wish I Win headed to trainer Jamie Richards to begin his racing career, where it quickly became evident he had well above average ability.
“The most incredible thing to us was that he won his first race as a two-year-old, it’s not like we had to wait for ages with him,” Chittick said. “I actually sent Jamie Richards a photo of his legs when he was a foal after his first win and he couldn’t believe it.
“I’m buggered if I know but when you watch the last 100m of a race in slow motion, there are horses that you know that stand and walk straight, but when they are under pressure late in a race, their legs are going in all directions.
“Then there are horses that you know are not straight walkers, like him, but when they are galloping in the last 100m the legs are going pretty well straight.”
Following his Australian debut last month, Chittick received “sizeable” offers to finally sell I Wish I Win, but the miracle foal means too much to ever sell now.
“There was no way I could sell him as a yearling, but he has become a sentimental horse to all of us here on the farm now,” he said.
As for his hopes in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes on Saturday, Chittick says sky could be the limit for the $3.50 favourite.