Well we are finally here. After a 36 hour trip from the stables in Newmarket to landing at Tullamarine, Sea King and I, together with our fellow travellers, arrived safely. The trip itself was uneventful and all horses travelled well and seemed in good condition when we were inspected at the airport. A few hours later, we were settled into our home for the next month or so at Werribee.
Once we settled in, we were given a good feed, some electrolytes and introduced to the Melbourne water. Our grooms, who I will introduce a little later, were delighted with our condition, as was the boss when the news reached him back in Newmarket.
The stables themselves are superb. Although the barns are small, holding only 6 or so horses, there is plenty of natural light and wide aisles for grooms to work.
On Monday, we were introduced to the track with a quiet walk. It’s very different from home where we are used to training along a 1600m straight stretch of grass. The longest straight stretch here is about 400m, so our new work regime will take a little bit of getting used to. Afterward we had a lovely pick of grass within our compound.
All in all, we are off to a great start and I am looking forward to doing some strong canters later in the week.
¬ Docklands
Photos shown courtesy of Vince Caligiuri at the Werribee Quarantine Facility.
