Paul Adlington is pleased he ignored the advice of his track rider several years ago not to purchase progeny of Mongolian Khan, with that decision leading to victory with his son History Maker (NZ) (Mongolian Khan) at Te Aroha on Wednesday.
“I was leading a horse through, that one of my track riders was riding, to the tie-ups at Cambridge and this horse was going off in the tie-ups,” Adlington said. “He said to me ‘don’t you ever buy a Mongolian Khan, they are all mad’.
“I went on to gavelhouse when Windsor Park had the big dispersal of Inner Mongolian Rider Horse horses, and I bought two of them, just to piss him off.”
One of those horses was History Maker who showed a lot of promise for Adlington early on, but a series of unfortunate events forced him to take a patient approach with the now five-year-old, and that was rewarded when he broke through for his maiden win in the Donaghys B-Boost Maiden (2200m).
“He was a magnificent looking two-year-old and when I bought him, we had Derby aspirations. He was bred to stay and his mother won over 2100m,” Adlington said.
“After his second trial he was scratchy as hell and my vet said we better x-ray him to make sure everything was fine. He had bruising in both of his knees, so that was the Derby out of the door.
“The vet said we could inject his knees and I would probably get four or five races out of him, but that will be it, or turn him out for six months and race him for the rest of your life, and that sounded like a better plan.
“He had six months off and then he was back in work for about six months, we were ticking along thinking everything was sweet and Matt Cartwright rode him in a trial at Cambridge and he looked spot on, but he pulled up distressed and it turned out he had a bacterial infection, so that was another six months out.”
History Maker made his debut in July and posted two placings before securing his breakthrough win this week, with Adlington expecting to see plenty of improvement from the gelding after he jumped tardily away.
“It was marvellous,” he said. “It’s a shame he is starting to be a bit of an idiot coming out of the barriers. In all of his barrier trials he has jumped really well, but in his last three starts he has come out a bit sideways.
“He wants to give them a head-start for some reason. He was pulling a bit and wanted to get on with the job, so Courtney (Barnes, jockey) said get on with the job, and he did.”
It was Adlington’s fifth win as a trainer, and he is enjoying devoting more time to his passion after retiring from a career as a builder.
Adlington has had a lifelong passion for racing, with his passion for the sport beginning in his formative years when assisting at a local stable in South Auckland.
“I was about 12-years-old and my next-door neighbour’s father used to go down to Takanini track,” Adlington said. “A trainer was looking for people to help out, so I tagged along and really loved it. I had aspirations of becoming a jockey, but being six foot three it was never going to happen, so I became a qualified builder.”
While he spent several years away from racing, his love for horses never waned and he returned to the sport 20 years ago to commence his own training journey.
“I have always loved horses and got out of it when I got married and had kids. I went into full-time building and now that I am retired, I decided it’s no good to leave it all to the kids, I might as well spend some of it,” he quipped.
“I have been training off and on for 20-odd years now, I haven’t had a horse all of the time, just when I get the urge and something pops up and I want to have a crack.”
Adlington said History Maker has pulled up well from his maiden victory, and he will enjoy some downtime in the paddock before being set on a path towards the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers Championship Final (2400m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
“He will be out in the paddock now for a week, munching on grass and being happy,” Adlington said. “He looked a million dollars this morning, he didn’t look like he had even been to the races.
“The long-term plan right from the start was the Dunstan Stayers at Ellerslie on Boxing Day. It’s either one or two runs between now and then, I will just see what happens.”
Adlington said History Maker, and his other Mongolian Khan purchase, Graham Francis (NZ) (Mongolian Khan), are both lovely animals, and he expects a bright future on the track for the pair of them.
“He is a lovely animal, they both are, they have beautiful temperaments,” Adlington said.
“They are out most of the time, they only come in when it is really wet. It is a totally different environment to having them boxed 24/7. They are relaxed all the time and they are beautiful rides.
“The other fella, Graham Francis, has turned into a lovely animal. He has just come back from a long break, and he will win a race or two over Christmas I would say.”