All Too Hard - Good Luck or Good Management

Either Neil Werrett is the luckiest owner in Australian racing or he is a very astute horseman.

Perhaps there is an element of truth to both statements as Werrett just happens to be a major part-owner in two of the nation’s most exciting racehorses, world champion sprinter Black Caviar and her younger brother, emerging superstar All Too Hard.

Werrett is also a master of understatement after making the following comment: "The next couple of Saturdays are going to be quite extraordinary." The quietly-spoken, respected owner was in Japan on business during the week when interviewed by The Daily Telegraph but is making sure he is back in Australia this morning to make a beeline for Caulfield tomorrow and All Too Hard’s return to racing in the Group 1 $400,000 C.F.Orr Stakes (1400m).

Then at Flemington in eight days time, Black Caviar makes her comeback to racing in the Group 1 $500,000 Lightning Stakes (1000m).

Werrett and his syndicate of friends purchased Black Caviar as a yearling for $210,000 and have celebrated a memorable four years as the great mare remains unbeaten after 22 starts.

But he missed out on the opportunity of buying into All Too Hard as a yearling, only to be part of the Vinery Stud syndicate that secured the colt from previous owner Nathan Tinkler in a $25 million package deal late last year.

Werrett bid up to $1 million for Black Caviar’s half-brother at the Sydney Easter Sales two years ago but Hall of Fame trainer John Hawkes, bidding on behalf of Tinkler, upped the ante for with an ultimately successful $1.025 million call.

"We had a good shot at it, we went well beyond our budget," Werrett said at the time.

"It became very tense and there is a lot of emotion attached to this horse." But nearly two years later and All Too Hard is finally racing for Werrett in the Vinery Stud colours at Caulfield tomorrow.

All Too Hard has developed into an outstanding galloper in his own right, winning the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas and finishing a close second to Ocean Park in the Cox Plate last spring.

The emerging superstar is early favourite to become the first threeyear- old since the Hawkes-trained Yell in 2003 to win the Orr Stakes.

"Now we have got All Too Hard, we are very excited about what is going to happen in the Orr Stakes and beyond," Werrett said.

After the purchase of All Too Hard was completed, Werrett and Vinery Stud moved quickly to confirm the colt would remain in the stables of John Hawkes, who trains in partnership with his sons Wayne and Michael.

"John is one of the best trainers in the world," Werrett enthused.

"Everyone at Vinery holds John in the very highest regard and there was never even a thought of taking the colt off him.

"He is a Hall of Fame trainer and has prepared champions like Octagonal and Lonhro so he knows how to do it." Arguably few trainers in Australian turf history can boast Hawkes’s record of developing so many top racehorses into leading stallions.

The champion trainer has a deserved reputation as a "stallionmaker" with the likes of Octagonal and his sons Lonhro and Niello, Over, Strategic, Commands, Domesday, Dane Shadow, Clang, Viscount, Align, Arena, Dracula, Tenor, Dodge, Justice Prevails and Real Saga.

Hawkes, who trains the colt in partnership with his sons Wayne and Michael, said All Too Hard developed further during his summer spell and has returned an even more imposing specimen.

"He is a bigger, stronger colt, he’s a bit more muscled up now," Hawkes said.

"His attitude is still very good, no problems there, and because he is lightly raced, I hope the best is ahead of him although you never really know until they get back on the track." Hawkes is bullish about All Too Hard’s potential this year but true to his mantra he is not looking beyond the Orr Stakes tomorrow.

"There is no real aim at the moment," the Hall of Famer said.

"It is just about the Orr Stakes and then we will take it one step at a time.

"The Australian Guineas is in the back of our minds but the owners are really good people, they have the horse’s best interests at heart and we are just taking it race by race for now." There has been speculation that All Too Hard could follow in the trail blazed by his famous sister Black Caviar and be aimed at England’s famous Royal Ascot carnival in June.

This is new territory for Hawkes who has trained 100 Group 1 winners during his celebrated training career but has rarely ventured onto the international stage.

He has made a couple of unsuccessful forays to Hong Kong for major races but has never even been to Royal Ascot.

His great champion Lonhro was rated the world’s best miler in 2004 and had the temperament and ability to be a force in a race like the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot but he never raced outside of Sydney or Melbourne.

"Royal Ascot has not really been in my thinking or on the radar before," Hawkes said.

"Jack and Bob Ingham never wanted to take Lonhro overseas and I was happy to keep him here to race.

It is very hard to go half way around the world and take on the best.

"But with All Too Hard, I’m not ruling anything in and not ruling anything out.

We will cross that bridge when I come to it." Werrett admitted the opportunity to turn All Too Hard into a potential shuttle stallion means Royal Ascot is a very real option.

"There is a lot of races we can set All Too Hard for — he has the breeding to be able to shuttle when he does got to stud," Werrett said.

"I think that is at this stage he is such a valuable stallion the chances of him racing on next season is probably only 50-50.

"With his breeding, he has to be one of the most exciting stallions in the world.

"For a stallion there are big positives running him overseas.

"If the horse wins the Orr then it is something that we need to consider.

"But what we decided is to wait until after the Orr, see how he races and where he is up to then we will sit down and talk to John (Hawkes) after the race.

"We are going to rely on John a lot, just as we do with Peter Moody, we let him tell us what to do with Black Caviar.

"It will be the same with John – he knows All Too Hard better than anyone."

Story: Ray Thomas Daily Telegraph