Trainer in no rush to bring promising hurdler Baby Mix back to the track
Baby Mix will remain on the sidelines until trainer Tom George feels he has regained his old sparkle.
Last Updated: 05/12/12 10:27am
Baby Mix will remain on the sidelines until trainer Tom George feels he has regained his old sparkle.
The four-year-old French import has showed no fire in both his starts so far this term, despite having looked a smart prospect last season.
He was a leading fancy for the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, having won the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial and the Adonis Hurdle, but was only ninth behind Countrywide Flame.
"He wasn't quite right after Wincanton," said the Slad-based handler.
"We're not totally happy with him. There's nothing drastically wrong with him, but he just hasn't been sparkling so we've been giving him a bit of an easy time.
"He's cantering away and we're just waiting for him to blossom. We're just tinkering along with him and not doing anything dramatically.
"He's just ticking along until he shows his old sparkle again. He's just not sparkling either at home or at the races. We're letting him come along and when we're happy with him we'll run him again.
"We thought he had just matured over the summer and had grown up. He had been a lot more relaxed at home.
"I think he's just not feeling on top of the world and he's not at the top of his game at the moment."