No barrier too tough for Rock You

Craig Brennan
Thursday, May 27, 2010


Patience and a lot of hard work has gone into getting talented three-year-old Rock You ready for his racecourse reappearance on Sunday.

It will be nearly seven months since we last saw Rock You on the racecourse, but those regulars at the barrier trials will have seen plenty of him in action over the past few months.

The Cliff Brown-trained three-year-old has proven a handful at the barriers, but he seems to have mended his ways and is ready to resume racing, which he will do in the final event of 12 races on Sunday, the $55,000 Class 4 Stakes over 1200m.

Rock You winning on debut under Ric McMahon.

After scoring a strong debut win last September, Rock You was thrown in at the deep-end when he lined-up against four opponents in the Stewards’ Cup on November 1.

Last year the Stewards’ Cup was run for the three-year-olds over 1400m and Rock You, after playing up at the start and then over-racing, finished more than 26 lengths from the winner Better Than Ever.

It was Rock You’s barrier antics that day which resulted in the three-year-old having such a long time between races.

Rock You has been to the barriers – officially – no less than 13 times which also doesn’t include the amount of hours spent on him at the practice starting stalls.

Brown presented Rock You six times to the 400m jumpouts on a Wednesday morning after he failed to get his “ticket” at the 1000m trials on a Tuesday or Thursday morning.

After seven more attempts at the 1000m trials, Rock You was finally passed to make his reappearance on the racecourse back on April 27.

“It has been a long time coming,” said Brown. “A lot of work has gone into getting him back to the races.

“Touch wood, no make that the biggest Canadian pine-tree you can find, that everything will be OK on Sunday.

“It was a big relief to be finally able to enter him again for a race. The second relief will be when the barriers open on Sunday and he jumps with the field.”

Brown said Rock You had tested his patience and that he had tried many different tactics to get the gelding back to the races.

“A lot of different trainers offered a lot of advise which we took on board, but I must say Bruce Marsh was a big help,” said Brown.

“I’m just glad to have him back to the races as he is a horse that has ability.”

Owner Jayven See said it was imperative for all owners in Singapore to be aware of how well their yearling purchases have been educated before they arrive in Singapore.

“This horse has been a very naughty boy,” said See. “He was not mature enough and was lacking in experience last time.

“I think this has been a good lesson and that all owners should be well aware of what education their horses have gone through before getting here.”

See said he was not looking too far ahead with Rock You and said the horse-racing industry can be heart-breaking at times.

“If he goes into the barriers without any problems and runs a decent race then I’ll be happy,” said See.

“Other than that it will be just one race at a time with him. I’ve had a few horses go amiss lately, so in horse racing it is sometimes best not to plan too far ahead.”

See said his smart galloper Revolte, a former Singapore Guineas winner and trained by Michael Clements, had gone for another spell following his return to racing after a 13 month break due to injury.

Revolte was sidelined with a sesamoid injury before his return in March, but has since incurred some soft tissue injuries to his forelegs and rather than press on it was decided to give the gelding a six month spell in Malaysia before starting on another campaign.





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