Catbird Kahn pounces for a Fossil Trail Series win

Alec Elliott and Sandy Whitehead (right) present Catbird Kahn connections Aaron Spradau and Steven Royes with their Fossil Trail win at Corfield (John Whitehead photo)

He may have gotten a late start to the series but Catbird Kahn has successfully picked up the most points in the 2008 Queensland Country Racing Fossil Trail Series rounding out a profitable couple of months for owner-trainer Steven Royes.

Catbird Kahn (G6 Catbird-Mrs Kahn) moved to Royes’ Mount Isa stables in early June and he was quick into work starting in the Richmond Series race on June 14 picking up third place points.

He then continued to collect points at every Fossil Trail Series meeting right up to the end, including two more thirds at Julia Creek and Mount Isa, a second at Prairie and a big win at Corfield.

For Royes though, picking up the Series came only as a second thought.

“I purchased the horse specifically for the Birdsville Cup which is held in the first weekend in September and I got a quick transaction from the Frank Cleary stable for Catbird Kahn to Mount Isa,” said Royes.

“It was a four day trip and he arrived in Mount Isa. He cut up a fair bit but I had a look at him and he recovered very quickly.

“There was a 1400m Class 4 Fossil race in Richmond the following week so I didn’t give him any peace.

“He was in work and he’d actually been beat about five lengths in the Queanbeyan Cup the previous week so I thought well that’d be pretty good form going into a Class 4 Fossil race in Richmond.

“Even though the horse was nowhere near ready, he ate up and just improved so much that I took him down and he actually ran third; it was a good run.”

“I thought to myself at the time the horse just kept improving and doing so well so I thought well I’ll have a go at the Fossil Series, I’ve got to qualify the horse for the Birdsville Cup.

“He came to me as a Class 4 horse and the Birdsville Cup is an Open race.

“I then travelled another seven hours to Stamford and started him in an unsuitable race but picked up a point for the Fossil race.

“He’s been racing every week and the further the races went in the Fossil Series, the further the distance, I knew that’d he just keep getting better because he’d been racing over 2000m down around Queanbeyan, Canberra area.

“The last four races in the Fossil Series were more suited to him than the first three or four and he actually won a race at Corfield over 1400m.

“He’s a horse that likes to get back in the field and get home but there was a small field (in the Mount Isa race over 1700m) and he had to make the pace. He just got run down on the line.

“We were lucky enough to accumulate enough points even though we only won the one race.”

The triumphs of Catbird Kahn grossly contributed to Royes also winning the Trainer Bonus. Stablemates Tax Evasion and It’s Quite Simple also found success in the Series particularly It’s Quite Simple winning at Maxwelton.

Aaron Spradau claimed the Jockey Bonus with rides upon many of Royes’ horses plus a second on the Cheryl Williams-trained Edenline at the Series kick-off meeting at Hughenden on April 27.

“Aaron rides for me,” said Royes. “I just train a few horses. I’ve got three horses in work and my job is in the mines in Mount Isa.

“It’s a small community and we’ve sort of been together for the last five or six years and we were lucky enough to pick the owner, the trainer and the jockey.

“We were a bit surprised actually. The horse usually gets back and gets home but the dirt tracks out here are very dusty and when you’re sort of standing the leaders up six lengths or so coming into the short straights in these little tracks we have out here it’s a big effort to get home and win.

“I said to my jockey Aaron Spradau, ‘we’re going have to try and get a bit closer to them because we drew barrier two in a 10 horse field’ and he said ‘aw mate, he just can’t sprint this horse’.

“Anyway lo and behold he’s up running second and third and as soon as they straightened he just had too much on them. He raced away and was a convincing winner.

“So I think the old horse has got a bit coming. He doesn’t like getting back in the dust and he’s actually racing a bit further forward now.”

The Grant Wiles and John Rudd team gave them all a run for their money with the big grey Remington Steel picking up two consecutive Series wins at Stamford and Julia Creek.

Other Series race winners included Lost in Louisville, Blazing Moa, Kelvain, Conclave and My Fyveight.

Catbird Kahn has certainly seen much of Australia. He started off in Gai Waterhouse’s Randwick stables where he won a Maiden at Kembla Grange. His next two wins were also at Kembla Grange this time in the care of local trainer Gwenda Markwell.

The next stop was with Queanbeyan trainer Frank Cleary where Catbird Kahn found success once at Bathurst.

From 36 starts the current Class 5 gelding has now achieved five wins, five second and five thirds.

Royes was lucky to go with his second thought.

“I don’t know whether I’ll make the Birdsville Cup as he’s still a Class 5 horse. We need a bit of weight to get into the race but you never know, fingers crossed,” he said.

“Catbird Kahn is no super horse but he’s just tough and out here you don’t specifically have to have the best horse in the race.

“They have to be tough because we travel huge amounts of distances. I’ve been travelling 1200 kilometres with this horse for the last three weeks.

“You wouldn’t be able to do with too many horses with what I’ve done with Catbird Kahn.

“I mean if you add the distances up that I’ve travelled with the horse in the last month. He’s probably travelled in the vicinity of 4000 to 5000 kilometres.

“That’s a huge amount of ask for a horse and then get them home and make them eat up and still be mentally and physically happy.

“But he’s just a very tough animal. A perfect horse for the likes of Birdsville because it’s a rough and tough place.

“He’s definitely not up to the Class where he was and that’s why these sort of horse come out to these areas. Good horses aren’t for sale. You either fluke them or they adapt to their surroundings.

“He’ll never ever be a super horse out even in this country but he’s just tough and he’ll give you a lot of fun.”

The 2008 Queensland Country Racing Fossil Trail Series was sponsored by Craiglea Stud, Raheen Stud and Marr’s Furniture Removals which had approximately $385,000 available in prizemoney and bonuses at race meetings conducted in the series.

Owner, trainer and jockey bonus points accrued over the nine race meetings commencing at Hughenden on April 27 and concluding at Mount Isa on August 16 and were allocated in each race as follows: 1st 8 points, 2nd 5 points and 3rd 3 points. All other starters the finished received 1 point.

The most successful horse trainer received $5000, trainer $3000 and the jockey took home $2000.

QUEENSLAND Racing web news: Hollie Roberts – August 21

Final Points