Interpret (5/1) - 3pt win - Basically, having spotted that this particular horse is making his debut today, I have to back him.
A few years ago a friend of mine was working for a bloodstock expert in America where he was given the task of cruising the lesser sales for low grade handicap types for syndicates. He wasn't spotting classic winners but he enjoyed his job and he still got a great degree of pleasure when the horses he had selected went on to win money for their connections. Anyway, one day he gets a phone call from his boss and he's excited, he tells him that a horse is due to go through the sales ring at Saratoga which has everyone talking and the general feeling among the experts is that this horse could be the golden ticket. Obviously my friend wasn't experienced enough to make that kind of assessment but his boss invited him to tag along for the ride and what a ride it proved to be.
The buzz horse that day was Interpret, a Distorted Humour colt out of a Interprete mare. He was a half brother to the incredible Invasor who was a Breeders Cup and Dubai Cup winner (beaten once in 12 starts), together with a triple crown winner in South America and a Dam who was a half sister to a Group 1 winner in Argentina. The horse was an incredible specimen, well built, appeared to have an impeccable temperament and his action was a thing of beauty. Having observed the horse all of the experts agreed that this horse was one for the history books and what ensued was a bidding frenzy. Having seen his boss pull-out of the bidding war at the heady price of $500,000 he watched in awe as 3 agents continued to bid until the horse was eventually sold to the master of the sales John Ferguson for $900,000.
With their tails between their legs they left Saratoga that day feeling like they had just missed out on purchasing the next all american superstar but the reality couldn't have been further from the truth. Following that day in August everything fell apart for Interpret and at the age of 4 he finally makes his race course debut on the Tapeta at Meydan, in a lowish grade maiden, over 7f and he's wearing a visor! Despite that, I still feel I owe a duty to back him and if he's half the horse which my friend and the other agents saw at the sales all those years ago, then he should still be more then capable of demolishing his opposition today. I will maintain the faith until he proves me wrong and at the moment I'm taking comfort in the fact that he remains a colt and his connections have persevered with him.
No matter what happens today, this horse sums up the difficulties trainers, owners and agents experience when trying to purchase the next superstar. Okay, the horse still has time to become a winner but he will never be the horses that his connections believed he could be. I have to take this opportunity to congratulate his owners though, who have stuck by him through the dark times when it would have been so easy just to offload him to a lesser yard. I for one, hope he wins today and goes on to have a successful campaign in Dubai this winter but like so many things in this wonderful sport, most outcomes will be decided by the racing Gods but the trials and tribulations of racing are what makes this such an enthralling sport.
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