Homer back for bit of fun
DAVID Joice refers to Straight Home as Homer Simpson for his colourful personality but the fiveyear-old gelding boasts a stamina the cartoon character could never reach.
Straight Home will run in the Class 2 Handicap (1400m) at the Gold Coast today in the first run of his third preparation.
His last campaign featured two firsts and three seconds from six runs and Joice said he was confident Straight Home was ready for even more improvement.
“He has had about three to four weeks off and he is looking really good,” the Gold Coast trainer said.
“The 1400m is probably a little short of his best, he is more of a 2000m horse. He is fresh and fit enough to run a big race, though.
“You would expect he would need a couple of races to get going but he could surprise them.”
Joice considers Straight Home the king of his stable and gave an insight into how the box boss operates.
“He is a very colourful character around the stables,” Joice said.
“He has got a lot of attitude and personality. He is a very big horse, he is around 17 hands.
“He knows he has got an advantage on you. When he wants to play he plays.
“The secret has been not doing too much work with him because he does it all himself.
“He is always busy, always doing something in the box. He will stand on his back legs rearing up in the air for no reason, checking out all his neighbours all the time making sure they are all in line.
“He comes out of the box having a squeal and a play.
“Even on the automatic walker he is running around on it, he has to trot around it and stick his head out the side.
“If you worked him too hard he would probably drop away quick so we take it easy on him.
“For a big horse like him you would think he would need a lot of work but he gets hardly any. Hopefully he has matured up with all those runs and a few good runs last prep.”