Pat’s happy but not getting carried away
EVERYONE keeps telling trainer Pat Webster he has the horse to beat with Happy Clapper in the big one tomorrow – but the trainer has been around too long to get carried away with the hype.
“What will happen, will happen. All we can do is give it our best shot,’’ Webster said.
Happy Clapper is now into $2.90, one of the shortest favourites in many years for the Group 1 $1 million Epsom Handicap (1600m) at Randwick tomorrow.
It would be fitting if Happy Clapper could win because this year Webster is celebrating his 50th anniversary at Randwick, the famous racecourse where he has worked all his professional life.
From his days as a naive teenage apprentice jockey starting his career in 1967 to today, when he is regarded as one of the most respected horsemen in Sydney racing, his five decades of experience has also taught him to take nothing for granted.
“You still have to go out and win it,’’ the trainer said.
“I remember we had Thank god you’ re here as one of the favourites in the Epsom a few years ago (2011).
“He hit his head in the barrier when they jumped. That is what racing can do for you.’’
Webster’s conservatism is understandable but there is also no denying that Happy Clapper is the horse to beat.
With the scratchings of He’s Our Rokki and Embley, he has only 11 rivals.
Happy Clapper goes into the Epsom after winning the Tramway Stakes first-up then beating all but the mighty mare Winx in an epic George Main Stakes two weeks ago.
This is the same formline that Hauraki boasted before winning the Epsom last year.
Webster is cautious as Happy Clapper’s 57kg impost is a big leveller. The only horses to carry 57kg and win the Epsom in the past 25 years have been Filante (1996), Racing To Win (2006) and Winx (2015).
“He does like the mile at Randwick so if the weight doesn’t beat him, he should run well,’’ Webster said.
“When I first saw the weights I thought he was well in but then when I had a look at them and saw some of the others in with 51kg, I started to think a little differently.
“But he is a big horse and he gave Winx 2kg when he ran second to her last start.’’