Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Swagger Man has always shown abundant ability, but his career has been beset by recurring hoof problems which have given his trainer Ryan Bell many headaches over the past couple of years.
The five-year-old won at two of his 12 starts in New Zealand and his troublesome hooves have resulted in only another 20 starts since he arrived in WA in August 2022.
“From day one after getting off the plane from New Zealand he has been affected by quarter cracks and hoof wall separation,” said Bell. “It’s not his fault. The ability is there but we are never going to get to his full potential because his feet keep collapsing.
“He wears various styles of bar shoes; whatever makes him comfortable at the time. I stand him in clay all the time and he is now the most comfortable he’s ever been. But it is a constant battle with him; it’s not just his front feet, it’s all four feet.
“When I first got him, I started him in a Derby prelude and declared him, predicting he would lead and win. However, he went awful, and when I got home that night, I picked up one of his feet and the whole wall of his foot fell out.”
Bell restricts Swagger Man’s work on the training track to a minimum to protect his sore feet. “We have a sixty by forty metre arena at home, and we ride him for 30 minutes every day in the deep river sand arena and keep him off the track as much as we can,” said Bell.
Swagger Man was the $2 favourite in the 2130m Odin Consulting Services Pace at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he started from barrier three and was beaten for early speed by the polemarker Soho Confidential ($9.50) and Major Freeway ($3.30).
Aiden De Campo cleverly was able to angle Swagger Man across from being out three wide to gain the one-out, two-back position, with Soho Confidential setting the pace from Major Freeway in the breeze, Get Ya Bets On ($7) behind the leader and Disco Under Fire ($15) enjoying the one-out, one-back trail.
De Campo started a three-wide move 650m from home and Swagger Man sprinted strongly to burst to the front 300m later and then career away to win by three lengths from Major Freeway, with Get Ya Bets On a close-up third.