Tom George seeks optimum performance from Tartak
Training racehorses can be rather like solving a crime. The trick is to put the clues together to figure out the case.
A year ago anything seemed possible for Tartak, one of the previous season’s leading novice chasers, who had won the Grade Two Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree in spring 2009. He returned to Liverpool last October, for the Grade Two Old Roan Chase, but finished last of the eight runners behind Monet’s Garden and Tom George spent the rest of the season trying to make the pieces fit.
Tartak did not win in seven starts but did put in some good runs. He was second to Deep Purple in the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon in December and was prominent for a long way in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, until weakening inside the last mile. But Tartak was back at his best back at Aintree in the Grade One Melling Chase last April.
Then the seven-year-old finished a close fourth to Albertas Run, who reopposes on 15lb worse terms for a little over five lengths. Third that day was Monet’s Garden - now seeking a third Old Roan win - and he has to concede 12lb for only three-quarters of a length.
“The plan is to run Tartak, as two and a half miles around Aintree seems to suit him,” George said. “He has an outstanding chance at the weights but if he comes out as ring rusty as he was when last of eight in the race last year, he won’t win anything.
“He was very stuffy to begin with last season, so we took that into account this year and have tried to get him so that he’s firing earlier. We have done plenty with him so, while there are no guarantees with horses, hopefully he will go there sharper. My horses do tend to improve for a run though.”
With that in mind, Tartak returned to training at George’s Gloucestershire yard earlier than usual this summer to have him as forward as possible for his first run of the season. “He’s summered well, we have had him in since the beginning of July so he’s had plenty of time,” George said. “We’ve given him about six schooling sessions on the grass and the schooling has been excellent, so we are hoping to take on where he left off, rather than where he started last season when he was a bit stop-start.
“The other problem we had last season was trying to work out his optimum [conditions]. We dropped him back to two miles and stepped him up to three miles in the King George, but two-and-a-half on a flat track appears to be his absolute optimum at the moment - Aintree over two-and-a-half seems to be ideal.
“He was unlucky not to win the Peterborough Chase last season when he slipped three from home and finished second to Deep Purple. The only times we actually had him right and were happy with him last season were at Aintree and Huntingdon.
“After Aintree, the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon would again be very high on the list. We might fit something in between, but now we know what his optimum is, we might as well stick to that with him.”
George is just hoping that he has finally cracked the case.
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