Thirty-three starts, no wins, no seconds and, look away now, no third-place finishes either.
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To say Ophaeo Rose is currently the worst horse still looking to break her maiden anywhere in NSW is probably the definition of harsh but fair.
To his credit, it’s not a tag Rylstone trainer Greg Hook is shirking either, but he says his six-year-old stayer isn’t quite as bad as her ghastly record, or benchmark, suggests.
“The whole trouble with racing where I am is there’s no long distance races. She’s a 2200-metre horse,” Hook said.
“She’s been going to Cessnock, Newcastle, Scone and she’s up against stiff competition but she’s getting a run.
“The other side of it is, when a 2000m race pops up here, in our area, she’ll be nominated but probably balloted out of it because 30 other horses are in the same boat.
“There’s just not the races for her here. We’ll keep giving her a run though, she’s growing in confidence.”
And, remarkably, so too is Hook.
Starting at $151 in her last race on Muswellbrook Gold Cup day, Ophaeo Rose ran eighth in a hot field that included up-and-coming mile runner Coonawarra from the Gai Waterhouse stable.
Coonawarra blitzed the field that day to win four lengths.
No one, including Hook at Ophaeo Rose, stood a chance, but that race was also over 1700m.
For a better glimpse into Ophaeo Rose’s promise, Hook says you have to look at the genuine distance races – those 2000m and further.
There you’ll find a glimmer of hope – the same glimmer Hook sees regularly.
Perhaps the mare’s best effort came at Beaumont Newcastle in September this year, Hook’s charger running fourth by a length in a bunch finish over 2100m.
“It was like she’d won that day,” he laughed.
“She’s run a couple of fourths. A lot of it is confidence too, and that’s the same for a lot of athletes in sport as well.
“In the last five months she’s developed more. Whether she’ll get the chance, with the way the benchmark system works, I don’t know.
“One day I’m hoping, though. She’s maturing.”
And, despite the unlikeliest member of his small stable generating somewhat of an online following thanks to her terrible record, Hook is urging the mare’s avid fan base to tread with caution.
“She could run another 30 times and not place in any of those too,” he laughed.
“If they want to follow her, go for it. There’s a few others in the stable going better.
“You never know though. That’s the beauty of it. I’ll give her every chance.”