‘Underdone’ galloper breaks maiden by 20 lengths

It was only a Gympie maiden, and Haydon’s charge was the even-money favourite, but horses don’t win by half the straight in 1170m races.

“To be honest, I wasn’t confident heading in – I thought he was a touch underdone,” Haydon told Punters.

“His gallop on Tuesday was just okay, it was a pass mark.”

Having his eighth crack at breaking through, coming off a scratchy piece of work in the lead-up, Hurricane Hall was only fair to begin from barrier 10 in the Gympie opener.

Apprentice jockey Gabrielle Semmens kept the favourite wide in the early stages before steadily working around the field to join the leader passing the halfway mark.

“I walked the track the other day and told Gab, ‘let it all happen underneath you, be happy to sit three-deep and then look to get even wider around the 600m’.

“The best ground was four and five-wide, I thought they’d bog down back on the fence.

“I told her, ‘he might be a touch underdone, but he’ll give you what he’s got’,” Haydon said.

What ‘he’s got’ turned out to be a ridiculous maiden win in fast time, running almost 15 lengths faster than the other 1170m race on the card.

Hurricane Hall’s demolition job will be a hard act to follow for 3kg-claimer Semmens.

“Gab used to work for us and we talked her into being a jockey,” said Haydon.

“She’s older than most apprentices and that was her first race ride for us.

“She would’ve ridden the horse as a baby, so it was a great result for her.”

While surprised by the margin, Haydon said Hurricane Hall had displayed glimpses of above-average ability at home.

“He’s shown us that he’s capable of really putting away a maiden field but he’s had a few mental issues along the way.

“He’s just a really immature horse. He can seriously gallop when he wants to but he’s a big kid really.

“I’ve learnt a lesson with him now though not to have him rock-hard fit. I think it’s better to have him on the fresher side,” Haydon said.

Hurricane Hall, by Artie Schiller out of Just One Time, was picked up by Haydon and his partner Marni Kelly for just $800 in an Inglis Digital sale.

“There were a few on there that we liked that we missed out on. He was the last one and we got him cheap.

“He looked like a woolly little goat but he’s furnishing into a real nice type,” Haydon said.

In terms of what lies ahead for the four-year-old, Haydon joked, “I wish they had an Everest on sand.

“We’ll just look for a Class B for him next start.

“He’ll be a good bush horse for us and we might find a couple of wet grass tracks for him along the way because the breed like the sting out.

“I can’t see the bookies putting up much of a price for him next time though, so I think we’ll just be watching him go around there.”