Rob Heathcote warns Rothfire will be scratched if Queensland tracks are too firm
Rob Heathcote says Queensland’s tracks have often been too firm and he won’t risk the welfare of his champion sprinter Rothfire during the summer carnival.
Rob Heathcote says he would consider scratching Queensland racing legend Rothfire from any summer carnival tracks that are rated a Good 3 or firmer and says this consideration is solely based on the welfare of the horse.
Multiple Group 1-winning trainer Heathcote feels the Brisbane summer tracks have at times been too firm and believes it is common sense, depending on weather, to aim to start race day morning on a Soft 5 racing surface at this hot time of year.
He has already scratched Prince Of Boom and Ser Joh on race day from tracks he feels have been too firm, including on one day where Eagle Farm was upgraded to a rare Firm 2 rating.
Group 1 winner Rothfire, who won the $2m Sydney Stakes at Randwick on Everest day (a Good 4 rating), had a jumpout at Deagon on Tuesday.
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Heathcote intends to deploy the eight-year-old marvel on a first-up mission in the $200,000 Listed Lough Neagh Stakes (1300m) at Eagle Farm on December 20.
But he will have no hesitation pulling Rothfire out if he believes the track is too firm.
“I hope they produce a Soft 5 on Saturday week,” Heathcote told Racenet.
“At the end of the day, a Good 3 is too firm for most horses.
“Rothfire has raced previously on firm tracks and not raced up to his best and with his past injury issues, the wellbeing of the horse comes first.
“There were some horses in races last Saturday (at Doomben) that failed and their jockeys comments in the stewards’ report said their horse may not have been suited to the firm track.
“For me, it’s an animal welfare issue specific to each individual horse in my care.
“Some horses go well on firm tracks, others with previous soundness issues may not?”
There is a Racing Queensland local rule that states stewards may declare a horse that is scratched due to the condition of the track “ineligible to start on a track of similar condition” in the future.
Regardless, Heathcote insisted he won’t run Rothfire on a Good 3 surface.
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“Track curators do have a tough gig, especially when the weather is unpredictable as we have seen in recent times,” Heathcote said.
“If showers are forecast and they water the track, and showers come, they are damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
“I do get that.
“But if the weather forecast is fine all week, they know what’s coming, and in my mind they should water the track to start the day on a Soft 5 surface and if it improves to a Good 4 then that’s fine.
“I will scratch Rothfire if it’s too firm.
“I just believe that some of the summer tracks so far in Queensland have been too firm.
“I don’t believe it is by design, more just the circumstances.
“I scratched Ser Joh from a Firm 2 track to try to look after him and then he won the next start.
“He is a big heavy horse and a firm track is too risky.
“I know if I had run him on that Firm 2, I would have been patching him up for a month.
“There will be some other trainers out there saying, ‘Heathcote is a whinger’.
“I don’t care, I just worry about the welfare of my horses.”
Originally published as Rob Heathcote warns Rothfire will be scratched if Queensland tracks are too firm
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