Supa Valu Kalbarri Cup 25th Oct 2003

Winning the Kalbarri Cup over 1400m in 1:23:35

The field

11 Oct 2003

Always goes well over the sprint.

11 Oct 2003

Flashing home for a close second

Tapdog in the news...Feb 7th 2003

We set the Dog for longer races, and had to race him in the listed detonator stakes. The local paper put a little article about it and also a photo with Glen on board. See the news here.

4yo

Think this was Ivo Fry in the saddle in Oct 2003

In the News, Nov 18 2002

Tapdog’s trainer casts eye towards Perth start

By NOEL McCULLOCH

GERALDTON Cup winner Tapdog made a triumphant return to racing when he narrowly won the 1300m Northcoast Holding Sprint at Utakarra on Saturday.

Tapdog trainer Clive Lauritsen plans to race the five-year old gelding once more in Geraldton before taking him to Perth for an assault on some staying races.

"We'll start him once more here and then see how things go," Lauritsen said.

"We don't have a specific plan for him yet but he wouldn't win any short races in Perth. He only just scraped in on the weekend and that was when he was fresh so he'd need a longer distance in Perth.

"We need to get him solid up here before heading down."

Tapdog, who opened at 4/6 drifted in betting to start 5/4 favourite ahead of Tammarman (7/4-2) was in fifth position behind Barclay's Gold, as the field sorted themselves out.

Approaching the 800m Backburner had worked his way to the front from Colorado River, Family Pleasure, Barclay's Gold, Iron Buffalo and Mr Scatman with Tapdog camped on the rails in a compact field.

Tapdog reveals his full ability

Quoted from Geraldton Guardian. Photo courtesy of Michael Farrell

Tapdog reveals his full ability

By NOEL McCULLOCH

IT WAS a fairytale come true for connections when local four-year-old Tapdog won yesterday's $25,000 Geraldton Swan Draught Gold Cup.

Having only his seventh race start, Tapdog was the medium of heavy support on course, that saw his price tumble from an opening quote of 5/2 to start a warm 7/4 favourite in the premier event.

Jockey Chris Usher had Tapdog in a prominent position as the field went past the winning post for the first time, where A Dude had worked his way to the front.

A Dude still had charge as the field approached the 1000m with Tapdog tucked away in third position and last year's winner Sir Donald, following his every move.

With only six or seven lengths covering the field, other favoured runners - Silver Sim, Fujiama, Boa Force and Sky's Will - were close enough to play a part in what was developing into a sprint home.

The Geraldton Gold Cup...a champ emerges

After the stirring win over 1600m we had the 4yo lined up for his first start in Open company and a crack at the Geraldton Cup over 2100m. It was an exciting 2 weeks preparation, and the butterflies were building up as the big day drew near.

We drew barrier 7, which was not the worst but we would have preferred one closer to the inside. We had the local runners covered, but the handicapper had done thrown us a wobbly with the city winner Sir Donald who had one the cup the year before. We shook our heads when the weights came out and wondered at why they had taken such an illogical stance for such an important local event. They gave him 55kg and coming off an Ascot win as a lead-up, just 2kg above Tapdog who was coming through from a cls 5 win. We figured he was 2kg under weighted.
All we could do was hope he had the class to rise above the disadvantage. Clive had him picture perfect as he always did. We decided to have a good bet on him and I recall my sister Suzanne telling me by phone before the race that he was a certainty. The up and coming 4yo, with no weight on his back and coming through big victories from his last 2 races. Well, we backed him that way and then crossed fingers until we would find out. I was on my way back from watching the US Masters in Augusta, and we'd worked out that I'd be about 2 hours from landing back into Paris. As always, I was listening in via dad's telephone. What an excitement! I could barely here the race but can still recall dad's comments as they rounded the corner. Dog had jumped well and settled into a lovely position just off the pace again. He was traveling very well coming to the corner and Chris moved on him early so he swept to the lead with Sir Donald mounting his challenge. As they rounded i heard dad say "the bloody two kilos" and could only guess (I sitting in seat 4B, dead silence around me, not a sole awake on the flight) that Sir Donald had loomed over top....but NO! The Dog dug deep and fought out for a brilliant win.

It brought up his 4th win, 3 on the trot and a Cup race in only his 7th race start. We were over the moon, and this was my most thrilling moment in racing.

In the News, Apr 12 2002

TRAINER Clive Lauritsen with Tapdog. The four-year-old has been in scintillating form this season but is as yet untried at the Cup distance. (Photo by Angie Simms).

Solid preparation should benefit Fujiama

SUNDAY'S Geraldton Swan Draught Gold Cup is one of the most open in year's.

What makes the race more interesting is that in the field of 13 runners only five have started over the Cup distance of 2100m - the other eight being unknown qualities.

Last year's winner, the Garry Delane trained Sir Donald has had three starts over the distance for two wins. At his last start, Sir Donald carried 54kg when a narrow winner over Indigo King at Ascot on March 30 in a tight three way finish.

Sir Donald is nicely drawn in barrier two and will be ridden by Daniel Staek, who rode the eight-year-old gelding to his Ascot victory.

If Sir Donald's form can be used as a gauge for the Cup, then the Andrew Voigt trained Fujiama must come in calculations.

Fujiama started in the same race at Ascot and finished third, less than a neck behind Sir Donald. That run would have rounded the seven-year-old gelding's Cup preparation off nicely.

Win # 3 over 1600m and on the way to the cup!

By this stage we had our eyes towards the Geraldton Gold Cup coming up in a few weeks, so we stepped our new champ over the 1600m in a class 5. Although we did not know how well he would handle the trip, Clive had him in tip-top shape. He jumped well, positioned just off the leaders and then before the turn made his move. It gave us goose bumps when he just pulled away. He started an even money favourite and won like one. He became the talk of the town as he'd now won 2 in a row and looked more and more like a stayer with each race.

Results here.

2nd Win. 1400m Class 3

We stepped him up in class and distance and he blitzed the field winning by 3 1/2 lengths with Robbie Quartermaine back on board. I think Chris Usher was suspended at the time. With the time of 1:22:47 we were beginning to wonder if he had the class and speed to head to the city. We decided to stay in Gero for this campaign, and have a crack at the city in the next one.

Results here.

1300m on 22nd Feb 2002.

After a little break we lined dog up for a 1300m class D race where he drew barrier 8. He ran 2nd and suffered a bit of buffering in running. We were happy with the race and pressed on with his campaign. Results here.

First Win!

We drew gate 12 in his next start and figured that it would be a tough ask to get up from such a wide start. Well, he proved us wrong and got up to win running away with Chris Usher. He started at 3/1 and we enjoyed a small bet. I listened in again over the phone and was whooping for joy from a hotel in Sth London. These were the days before Lou Checker started putting his photo's on site and RWWA did not have them either. So no pics from this memorable day. My first race winner and dad and I must have talked for hours in the days following. Results here.

First race start. 1100m Maiden at Geraldton

The Dog had a spell after that first trial and came back in top form. His first race came up and drew a great deal of excitement amongst us all. He drew gate 11, and ran a slashing 3rd by a head with Chris Usher on board. He did everything right in the run and gave us a glimpse that he would be a handy type.

I was in London visiting friends Connie and Nic, with my mate Chris. I woke up early and listened in over the telephone via dad. This was to become the norm in his early career as racing radio had not gone to air. The results are here.

First Trial

After his first prep, we put the Dog into his first trial at Ascot. The only thing we wanted was that he behaved himself. Well he did, walked straight into the stalls with Robbert Quartermaine on board. It was a good show of behaviour. He ran 8th by 10 1/4 lengths and that trial field was nothing to write home about. There were 9 starters, and excluding Tapdog they have raced 121 times for just 6 wins, and only 3 of the 9 had a win!

Yearlings out in the paddock

Clive and Dad flew over to the Scone yearling sales to pick up our first batch of babies. Dad had always wanted to have a crack at picking out his own breeding lines and decided Scone was the place to go. Clive is the master at legs and he traveled with dad. The first year they picked out 3 babies, who were to go on and be named Tapdog, Hurrying Home, and Commanche. Here they are in the paddock in the first year back.