One of the hardest decisions connections have to make is to geld an impeccably-bred horse. When the sire is Frankel and the dam has already produced two Group 1 winners, the decision to geld is agonising. However, sometimes if you want a racehorse, you simply have no choice.
Such was the position with San Remo when he was acquired from Coolmore late last year. He colt had won one of his nine races over the distance of 2200m and was considered by Coolmore not capable of matching the feats of his siblings. With gelding in mind therefore, OTI took the risk of buying the horse and changing his behavioural habits so that he could perform to his best on the track.
San Remo’s new trainer, Archie Alexander, quickly realised that gelding was necessary and, following the procedure, gave the horse plenty of time for his testosterone to leave his system. His process seems to have paid off, as the four-year-old gelding is now ready for the races. San Remo has now developed into a well-behaved, attractive-looking racehorse who should make his mark in Australia over distances of 2000m plus. He has shown in his trials that he possesses plenty of stamina, albeit that he may lack a turn of foot. As a horse ready to embark on hopefully a long and successful season as a stayer in Australia, he seems a very happy and sound horse for his new partners.
Archie will bring his racing career along slowly, with every intention of the horse reaching great heights in the 2018/19 seasons and beyond.