By Cornelius Lysaght
BBC racing correspondent |
Trainer Jim Bolger and his team, based 1,000 feet up on the border of Counties Kilkenny and Carlow, are preparing for the biggest weekend of their racing lives when aiming champion colt Teofilo and champion filly Finsceal Beo at a rare Classic double.
They contest the 2000 Guineas and 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
I found the ex-accountant Bolger, who is 66 on Christmas Day, cool and calm despite a sometimes-dramatic build-up to trying to fill his stocking early.
He talks about his Triple Crown hopes for Teofilo, who was named after a famous Cuban boxer, plus the chances of the colt mating with his star filly in the future...
 | TEOFILO - THE HORSE Born: 9 Feb 2004 Age: Three Races: 5 wins from 5 Prize money: �350,000 Trainer: Jim Bolger. He also bred the horse, which is owned by his wife Races: 5 wins from 5 |
Q: We heard about Teofilo's setback in training, what can you tell us about that? A: He wasn't quite comfortable at the trot on Monday evening [12 days before the race] and we decided at that stage that we would go the 'careful route', and we'd leave him swimming for a week, with walking exercise only.
He seems now to be in very good form, moving very well. I was totally satisfied before we had the hiccup that he was fit and ready to go, and because of his swimming, we are totally happy with the work we have been able to get into him.
Q: What was the exact nature of the problem?
A: We are not 100% certain, but as far as we can see, it's an over-extension injury because his soreness seemed to be at the back of his knee on his off-fore. The soreness was relieved after a couple of days, and at that stage he was trotting sound, and has been since.
Q: How has he progressed from the age of two to three?
A: Everything couldn't have gone better, apart from a few days he missed in February with a foot bruise, and then the recent hiccup, but that aside it couldn't have been a smoother passage through the winter. He was very fresh at times which kept us all on our toes, but we were totally happy with the way that he wintered.
Q: Are you any less confident now than you were before the hiccup?
A: With a niggling injury, we might get a recurrence, or that it could be the start of something more serious. But apart from that I don't have any worries whatsoever about him.
 Finsceal Beo is Bolger's favourite for the 1000 Guineas |
Q: Finsceal Beo is looking terrific... A: Yes, she's had no problems, and everything has gone very, very well for her. We've been able to let her out [in a field] on alternate days with a pony, with just light exercise in between, and that seems to have kept her very happy.
Q: Back to Teofilo, and the 2000 Guineas is a mile, but then he will probably go further in the maybe the Derby, what are your thoughts on his optimum distance?
A: I'll be amazed if he doesn't get a mile-and-a-half. He has such a relaxed way of racing, and his pedigree would suggest he will get a mile-and-a-half, so I'm very optimistic the Derby distance would be well within his compass. He shows a marvellous turn of foot that I am hoping to see at whichever distance.
Q: And if all went well, is there a chance you have a tilt at the (historic but increasingly unfashionable) Triple Crown (Guineas-Derby-St Leger treble) last won by the great Nijinsky in 1971?
A: I would be game to give it a go, as fashion wouldn't influence me, though it would be a big wrench not being able to go for the [Irish] Champion Stakes at Leopardstown or the Arc de Triomphe, but I think I'd give the Triple Crown a turn.
I was there for Nijinsky, and have always thought since that maybe some trainers should have given it a go to see if it could be done again.
Q: At what point did you have an inkling Teofilo was special?
A: Well, we were beginning to like him at around about this time last year. We were always taken by him from the time he was a foal, he was pretty well developed. He had no setbacks during his younger days, and was always well able to hold his own with the rest of the herd, so you'd be struck with the way he'd strut around the paddock and sort of push other horses out of the way, without bullying them.
| TEOFILO - THE BOXER Name: Teofilo Stevenson Born: Cuba March 1952 Age: 55 Career: Famed amateur boxer who refused to turn pro Olympics: Triple heavyweight champion - 1972, 1976, 1980 |
Q: So the name Teofilo [after the Cuban boxer Teofilo Stevenson] came up at that point?
A: Yes, he packed a good punch. You have to be careful with a name like that [giving it to an inappropriate horse], but it occurred to me because although I wasn't a huge boxing fan, my father was, and we used to listen to him on the radio in his fights.
I called him Teo-filo out of ignorance rather than anything else, but I have heard him referred to as Tee-off-olo, but he's Teo-filo to us.
Q: What's it been like having two such talented horses, both well fancied for their Guineas, in the stable at the same time?
A: There's an extra buzz in the stable. We haven't had a real standout horse like these two probably since [1992 Irish Derby winner] St Jovite, so it's very special. Teofilo was a better two-year-old than St Jovite, and I haven't seen anything to suggest that he will not progress from there, and he's got every chance to prove himself a better three-year-old.
Q: You have obviously watched all the Guineas 'trial' races with great interest - what have you made of them?
A: Probably curiosity would be a better word than interest. I was very impressed by the Greenham winner at Newbury [2000 Guineas third/fourth favourite Major Cadeaux]. I thought he was very positive, and he was obviously very well trained on the day and could be a formidable opponent for any horse if he strips a little fitter and is well on 2000 Guineas day.
Q: And the race's second favourite Adagio, winner of the Craven Stakes?
A: I thought he was a little bit tardy to pick up, but when he did, he did it very nicely, and [trainer] Michael Stoute seems very, very happy with him, and that should be a signal for anybody.
Q: What about fillies' trials, for the 1000 Guineas?
A: [long pause] I didn't see any filly since last October that I would want to buy or train other than Finsceal Beo. And I suspect that if there is to be any serious competition for her, it will come from Ireland.
Q: You sound more confident about her prospects than Teofilo's.
A: I wouldn't say I was more confident about her, but I would say that the competition for the filly looks less.
Q: How would you describe the personalities of Teofilo and Finsceal Beo?
A: They'd be very alike. They both have very, very good temperaments, they're both very, very sound horses, they take an above average amount of work to get them fully fit, and they are very good athletes, though Finsceal Beo would not have quite the same swagger as the colt.
Q. With the future in mind, they sound like a marriage made in heaven.
A. That's decided already. When this is all over they will have a liaison, and she will not to have to get onto an aeroplane to get covered [mated] because he will have his stud career in Ireland.
Q. Even if there was a big offer to go abroad?
A. He will stand in Ireland, and anyone would have to bring their mares, their harem, with them to Ireland.
Q. Guineas weekend could be an extraordinary one for you and your stable. You are sitting here very cool and calm, but deep down how excited are you?
A. Well, the only time I get really excited is when I go to the All-Ireland hurling final if my [home] county [Wexford] is involved, that really gets me going. As regards the excitement in racing, I like to steer a level path. I never get low, and I like to think that I don't get carried away either, but I enjoy it immensely. I love racing, I love the competition and I love the people that I compete with, to a person they are very, very generous people, in spirit and in personality.
Q. On Friday night, you will be a bit nervous though?
A. No, I will do a bit of pruning, a bit of digging or a little bit of walking the land, looking at the yearlings, and (smiles) I'll be just slightly concerned that my fellow competitors might be walking their boxes [characteristic of nervous horses]. But I will not be.
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