Weight of success forces Periduki to quit

TRAINER Mick Whittle has blamed an unfair weights system in racing for forcing his hand to retire champion racehorse Periduki on Saturday.

Periduki

TRAINER Mick Whittle has blamed an unfair weights system in racing for forcing his hand to retire champion racehorse Periduki on Saturday.

Speaking to the NT News exclusively from Strathalbyn last night, Whittle said Periduki had been forced to carry big weights because of an outdated points system.

"Sometimes he has carried bigger weights than horses that have won Group races," Whittle said.

Under the system, horses are graded on the number of wins. The more wins, the more points and the bigger the weight. The nine-year-old gelding, the most successful racehorse to come from Alice Springs, was officially retired after finishing last of 10 at Morphetville last Saturday.

"It is a sad day for everyone who has followed him. He has been a good horse," Whittle said.

Periduki, who was first trained by Whittle's daughter Lisa Lefoe in Alice Springs, had a career record of 24 wins and 15 placings from 84 starts.

"He is one of the best horses I have trained, not only for my sake but also my daughter," Whittle added.

"He was not an easy horse to handle. You could describe him as a winning ratbag," he chuckled.

Periduki is currently in the paddock at Whittle's with another horse the trainer has just retired, Jewel King, whose career ended at Oakbank last week.

"I am hoping to find him a home somewhere in the Northern Territory, where he can roam around," Whittle said.

Periduki retires on a high, having won Alice Springs' premier sprint this year, the Pioneer Sprint, in sensational fashion. The veteran, carrying a hefty 61.5kg, was second last before he launched a fierce run down the outside of the home straight to beat Outstandingly by a neck and claim the biggest victory of his career.

The win was even sweeter with owner, Greg Stewart, a major sponsor of the race through his company, Holdfast Insurance.

Periduki also won the Pioneer Sprint in 2008, the only three-year-old to achieve the feat, and was runner-up to Jade City in the Palmerston Sprint, Darwin's biggest sprint event, the same year.Periduki won his first six starts as a two-year-old and 13 of his 24 race wins came in South Australia, which included the 2010 Listed Matrice Stakes at Morphettville.

Bought in 2006 from the Alice Springs Red Centre Yearling Sale for just $6000, Periduki won over $674,000 in prize money.

Sport, Recreation and Racing Minister Matt Conlan paid tribute to Periduki's fairytale rise to fame.

"Periduki's rags to riches story is one that all Territorians, and particularly Central Australians, can be extremely proud of," he said.

"This is an incredible achievement for any race horse, let alone one from such humble beginnings in the Red Centre."