"RUDOLF: THE THINKING HORSE'S HORSE"

With Leon Og's sad demise, we were again on the lookout for a new equine hero. And so upon the recommendation of Dessie himself, we opted to purchase (with more magic beans) another good looking son of Oscar with a strong family tree on his mothers side. This suggested he would relish a longer trip on good ground like a Hot Dog would relish.......well...relish....So step forward Rudolf (named after Mr. Nureyev), the Russian Ballet Dancer, I should add and not the Reindeer (but more of that another time). 

Rudolf or Rudy to his friends and family, will certainly go down in Horsplay Syndicate history as quite the complex thoroughbred. On paper he offered very encouraging credentials to be a success on the racecourse. but as you may have also noticed, horseracing takes place on turf and not paper so his career did not pan out as logic would have it. Impressive on the gallops, Rudolf was often able to work with many of Dessie's leading stable lights while at home. Never one to embellish a horse's ability, Des certainly wasn't shy to voice his opinion that Rudolf did everything in training to suggest he had the talent to have a successful career and saw no reason why he could not make up into a good solid steeplechaser in time. Therefore hopes were high when despite being the yard's second string, Rudolf made his debut at Fairyhouse Racecourse in October 2012!

Rudolf's debut performance was described by the Racing Post as thus, 'Never better than mid-division, no threat before 3 out' . His syndicate really couldn't argue with that assessment nor could his trainer who was possibly more disappointed than his owners! But as we'd seen with each Horsplay Syndicate horse to date, the first run of a horse's career really should always be seen as an educational experience rather than a realistic competitive opportunity. So onwards we travelled to Punchestown Racecourse in Kildare to witness what would turn out to the be unquestioned highlight of Rudolf's racing career. (And if I tell you he is still competing in Point to Points for new owners to this day, you'll probably work out that poor Rudolf never really delivered on his undoubted potential under National Hunt Rules)......

The run in question was fun to watch though as Rudolf picked up very nicely in the home straight and stayed on stoutly for a close finishing 3rd behind subsequent Listed winner Byerley Babe. We left Punchestown full of hope that we'd just witnessed just a glimpse of Rudolf's obvious ability. However that was sadly the one and only occasion we got to see it. A breathing operation came to nothing as we searched for ways to recapture this glimpse but without success and so began 18 months of misplaced hope he'd repeat such endeavours!

As the heading suggests, dear old Rudolf then embarked on a series of underwhelming performances that caused some to scratch their heads and others to scratch the bottom of their piggy banks.

Having been somewhat spoilt by the success of both Trotsky and Leon Og, Rudolf now started to appear in his very own version of GroundHorse Day every time he visited the racecourse. 

Always travelling well and looking a picture in the paddock, a familiar pattern began to emerge upon entering the final stages of his races. Rudolf essentially didn't seem too keen on giving it 100% when requested to by his jockey and in the end disappointing performance after disappointing performance left us looking for buyers who felt they could freshen up Rudolf and let him benefit from a change of scenery and occupation!

And so it was that a private trainer in England took Rudolf off our hands and he now finds himself happily point to pointing in the southwest of England living happily ever after!

Sadly this period also saw the afore mentioned passing of Dessie and after a lengthy syndicate huddle we decided to start  writing a new chapter in the life of the Horsplay Syndicate by saying hello to a certain S.R.B. Crawford based in Larne, Co.Antrim!