A country galloper named Blazing Sword has provided a unique journey for trainer Tim Fitzsimmons and a group of his old school friends.
This journey is set to continue at Flemington on Thursday for the VRC Oaks meeting, where Blazing Sword is slated to compete in the $500,000 Melbourne Cup Carnival Country Final over 1600 metres.
Fitzsimmons initially acquired Blazing Sword for $19,000 after the gelding had completed seven starts in New South Wales for Annabel and Rob Archibald, with the intention of keeping him for personal racing.
Over his 19 starts under his new trainer, Blazing Sword has secured five victories, along with three second-place finishes and three thirds, accumulating nearly $175,000 in prize money.
“I wanted to keep him myself, but the bloke who does my website, he said, ‘I’ll sell some of the horse,'” Fitzsimmons recounted. “He rings me up one day and said, ‘I can sell nearly all of this’. I said how much is left and he said, ’17 per cent.’ “I said stop selling, but it’s been good because a lot of the owners in him are old schoolmates and it’s taken them on a ride. “They all went to Albury when he ran third in the Cup, and they carried on like it had won, and they all went to Corowa when it won the Corowa Cup. “He’s been a fun horse.”
Adding to the enjoyment for Blazing Sword’s connections, Fitzsimmons noted that the majority of the gelding’s owners are VRC members and will be present on Thursday.
He mentioned that while they have owned horses before, wins have been infrequent.
“They’ve had horses, but they’ve never had horses that have won more than one race and they’re that excited they’re heading to Oaks Day with a runner,” Fitzsimmons stated.
Despite the group’s enthusiasm for having a runner on Oaks Day, Blazing Sword faces a significant challenge from the widest barrier in the full field of 16 runners, plus four emergencies.
Blake Shinn is scheduled to ride the gelding and will have the task of overcoming the disadvantageous draw.
“It’s quite an even race although the last heat (won by Bel Mezyaan) at Bendigo was the highest rated race,” Fitzsimmons commented. “They’ll probably be the first two favourites, but the thing with them is they have to back up in seven days.”
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