It was the Australian feed that derailed Bill Pomare's Melbourne Cup dreams, the Rotorua trainer reckons.
This time last year, he watched from his home in Hamurana as his pride and joy, Ocean Billy, thundered out of the gates at Melbourne's Flemington Racecourse.
The race did not go as hoped,with Ocean Billy finishing last in the field of 23, but Pomare remained hopeful the 2021 Auckland Cup winner would have another shot at "the ultimate" race.
He told the Rotorua Daily Post yesterday Ocean Billy had not adjusted to the feed in Australia and had not been in shape to perform at his best in Melbourne.
Ocean Billy was ninth in the city's Caulfield Cup before his tail-end finish in the Melbourne Cup.
Pomare said he agreed to keep Ocean Billy in Australia after the race, sending him to Sydney to work with caretaker trainer Chris Waller to prepare for autumn racing.
Ocean Billy and jockey Johnathan Parkes race away with the Gr.1 Barfoot and Thompson Auckland Cup in 2021. Photo / Trish Dunell
In February, the horse was being readied for the Sydney Cup when disaster struck.
Pomare said Waller called him with the news Ocean Billy had blown a tendon - an injury that would put a lengthy pause on the horse's racing career.
He had finished third in a 1000m trial just the week before.
Pomare said once the initial "shock" wore off, they began making plans for the horse to come home to Rotorua and rehabilitate, with the goal of racing again.
"Things like this can happen ... it's about making the best out of it."
He said Ocean Billy, who he co-owns with wife Suzi Pomare, arrived home in April and had been making good progress.
"He has settled in well and is eating up."
Bill Pomare on Melbourne Cup day last year. Photo / Andrew Warner
Recently, he has been training in a "water-walker" in Cambridge.
Pomare said walking against a current around the circular track filled with chilled water was good for the horse's injured tendon and general conditioning.
He said after the water training was done, a vet would scan the tendon and if it was back to 100 per cent, he would push forward with a return to racing.
He was aiming to race Ocean Billy in the Avondale Cup in February and the Auckland Cup in March.
Ocean Billy was seven years old but Pomare said some horses were still racing at age 10 and there was "no reason" why Ocean Billy could not race at the top level again.
"I do hope it gets to the point where he will have another shot at the Melbourne Cup."
With Covid-19 lockdown risks that stopped him from travelling with the horse in 2021 now gone, he said if they did get a second shot, he would go to Australia and spend "24/7" helping Ocean Billy adjust.
Pomare said he was excited to watch the 2022 Lexus Melbourne Cup today.
"I feel it will be good, there are no Covid restrictions so it will be a full crowd."
