KARASI SLAYS THE DRAGON TO JUMP TO TITLE DEFENCE
Victorian owned horses have long been competitive on the international scene. But now we can lay claim to having the best jumper in the world after Karasi defended his title in the Nakayama Grand Jump on Easter Saturday 2006..
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It's an incredible story the Karasi story.
Born in Ireland in 1995; sold to Australia in 1998 to win a Melbourne Cup; running fourth in the 2001 Melbourne Cup; sold as a jumper in 2003; tops $1 million in prize money when winning the 2005 Nakayama Grand Jump in Japan as a 10 year old; breaks $2 million when winning the 2006 Nakayama Grand Jump as an 11 year old.
It is certainly not a typical racing story. Quite the opposite. But that does not stop Karasi's part owner, Pearse Morgan, from retelling a story that will go down in racing folklore.
As he says "I love telling the story to anyone who will listen." And with the new, gigantic proportions the tale has taken on in the last year, who can blame him?
The Karasi Story.....
Morgan and champion jumps trainer, Eric Musgrove, were at a football match in 2003 when trainer David Hall rang to say he was selling a horse who would make a jumper. Morgan, who has been an Owners' Gold Card holder since 1 January, remembers writing the name ‘Karasi' on his record.
The only other jumper Hall had sold to Musgrove was Hibernian Prince, the dual Grand Annual winner at Warrnambool, so his record was impeccable. Musgrove and Morgan had to be interested.
"Eric rode him the next day Morgan recalls." "And brought him home".
It was a long road to Nakayama though.
Karasi had his first run over the hurdles (the old fashion type) at Mornington in August 2003 and finished a modest third.
"He struggled with jumping and lost two lengths at every hurdle," laments Morgan. "When he was bought as a jumper, all I could think was 'how will I get my money back out of him?'"
Who better to reassure Morgan than Musgrove.
Eric said "I'll teach him to jump."
True to his word, Musgrove had Karasi winning his next two hurdle starts, both in Adelaide.
It was now time to start making bigger plans. After finishing third in the Lavazza Long Black, the Melbourne Cup consolation race on Cup Day 2003, it was time to target the 2004 jumps season. In addition to an unlucky seventh in an Adelaide Cup, his season yielded four wins from seven starts over the hurdles. But is was his close up third in the Hiskens Steeplechase, his first start over the fences, that defined his destiny.
"He wins in another 20 metres," Morgan remembers. "But I looked at handicapper (who, at the time, was part of the selection panel for Australia's representative in the 2005 Nakayama Grand Jump) and knew he'd earned his ticket to Japan."
Fast forward 20 months and the plans of winning the Nakayama Grand Jump had come to fruition. Not once, but twice.
In his last run in Australia before heading to Japan, Karasi ran fifth, beaten less than a length, in a 2400m flat race at Sandown. Morgan recalls how confident jockey Peter Mertens was after riding him that day.
Pete said "I can't believe how good this horse feels at 11. He'll win again."
Morgan, however, was not as confident. He knew his horse could jump. He knew his horse could stay. But what he didn't know was whether his horse could beat the Japanese champion, TM Dragon. In his lead up race, Karasi ran second, beaten three lengths in the Pegasus (a race he ran third in last year). While this augured well for his preparation, Morgan was skeptical.
"The horse that beat him by three lengths was beaten 11 lengths by TM Dragon on Christmas Eve," he surmised. "So TM Dragon had 14 lengths on us."
As owners and punters know, form like that is not always so logical. The tempo of the race is also a major factor, and in this race they do tend to go at the speed of an Oakleigh Plate. But as Morgan explained, this would only play in to Karasi's hands.
"The faster they go, the better he likes it."
And so it happened that Karasi staved off the TM Dragon challenge in the home straight of Nakayama to win his second consecutive Grand Jump by about a neck.
"He must have been 10 lengths better than last year to beat TM Dragon – he is a superstar," Morgan gloats. "We slayed the dragon!"
"So much credit needs to go to Eric Musgrove and Brett Scott," Morgan explains. "Not only with getting the horse to Japan, but to win it. They developed a strategy, implemented it, and did it."
He was also quick to point out the dedication from Belinda Simpson, Karasi's strapper and travel companion.
The Karasi story is nothing short of amazing. His achievements are nothing short of incredible..
"It's just an extraordinary journey; being in the right place at the right time.;"
So, can he make it three in a row?
"Who knows?" Morgan said, "if TM Dragon is in the race, he'll be very hard to beat".
It may sound pessimistic but 12 months ago Morgan didn't expect to have two Grand Jump trophies in his cabinet. Even the week before the race this year he thought they would struggle to beat TM Dragon. But who would be foolish enough to write off the would be 12 year old.
