Bruno Cannatelli
On Saturday Who Shot Thebarman (NZ) (Yamanin Vital) will run in his fifth Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick in a career that has seen him race over more than 113 kilometres.
Owned by Kiwi dairy farmers, the O'Leary brothers, Who Shot Thebarman was bought sight unseen as a yearling off White Robe Lodge and trainer Chris Waller believes his early beginnings paved the way for a career that will see the rising 10-year-old run in his ninth two-mile marathon.
“He was raised in a place called Mosgiel in Otago,” Waller said.
“It’s down the bottom of the South Island, most Australians wouldn’t cope with the weather down there.
“They breed their horses tough and the product stay tough.”
Who Shot Thebarman has twice finished second in the Sydney Cup, and ran third in the 2014 Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) and won the Gr.1 Auckland Cup (3200m) earlier that year.
“He’s a marvellous old horse,” Waller said.
“Five Sydney Cups now, three Melbourne Cups, he was scratched last year and an Auckland Cup.
“You don’t see a horse with a record like that too often.
“I remember the owners saying to me when they were breaking him in he was the sort of horse that would cop a lot of work, never got tired, sweat or blow.
“Obviously from the outset he’s been a horse with an amazing lung capacity.
“I’ve never trained a two-mile horse like him. He’s as tough as they come.
“Normally they burn out but he’s been remarkable.”
This year Who Shot Thebarman goes into the Sydney Cup off a third placing in the Gr.1 Tancred Stakes (2400m) at weight-for-age.
“He’s going as well as he was last year when he ran second, definitely,” Waller said.
“He’s your old-fashioned Cups horse that will run you a place every year he runs but with the brilliant horses coming through every season and the imports coming over, it gets harder.
“Whether it’s a Sydney Cup or a Melbourne Cup, I don’t think the owners turn up expecting him to win it but they know he’ll run a really good race.”
Waller revealed plans were in place the past few years for Who Shot Thebarman’s post flat racing career but the horse’s amazing modern day resilience means they will never get to know what could have been.
“You know he can jump really well, he’s a fantastic jumper. He’s an absolute legend jumper, he’s brilliant,” he said.
“That was always the plan but he’s just never given us the chance to say your flat career is over and it won’t be happening now.
“He doesn’t need to prove anything.
“He’s just race by race, prep by prep and all being well he’ll be back for another go at the spring. I would say he’ll be aimed towards the Moonee Valley Gold Cup and if he’s going well, you might see him in another Melbourne Cup.
“He’s a horse I’ll never forget, that’s for sure.”
Meanwhile, with Who Shot Thebarman’s career closer to the end than the start, Waller has found the horse’s possible replacement in Patrick Erin (NZ) (Gallant Guru), a horse that lines up in the Sydney Cup with a similar back story.
“He’s from the same farm as Barman,” he said. “He’s the mini Barman.
“He’s won 10 or 11 races, gone through the grades in New Zealand and he too has quite a following.
“His last two runs were better than they might read in the formguide. When you analyse them, geez he’ll stay the two miles and he’s got no weight, he won’t even know he’s got a jockey on his back.
“He’s got a good Sydney Cup profile.”
Who Shot Thebarman is a $16 chance on Saturday while the “mini Barman” Patrick Erin is at $27. -racenet.com.au