Anxious galloper Tuff Tu Mus wins seventh city race in row at Eagle Farm
It's as rare as hen's teeth that a horse wins seven metropolitan races in a row.
And especially one who is as quirky as David Vandyke's gelding Tuff Tu Mus who has battled anxiety to the extent that his trainer often brings him to the races even when he's not racing.
It might have been a low-key, off-season city meeting at Eagle Farm but the continued emergence of Tuff Tu Mus threw up a feel-good story.
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Tuff Tu Mus means 'bloody tough' in Bislama, the national language of Vanuatu where his owner John Fordham, who hails from small town Croppa Creek near Moree in northern NSW, runs a kava factory.
The five-year-old gelding is not only as tough as his name suggests, but also has more than his fair share of enigmatic ability.
Starting at $1.70 in a BM90 Handicap as he stretched out over 1815m for the first time, jockey Ryan Maloney sent Tuff Tu Mus to the lead in the Eagle Farm straight and he did enough to hold on.
He didn't beat any worldbeaters and the manner of his win wasn't dynamic – but he clocked up his latest triumph in a seven-race winning streak which dates back to October last year.
Tuff Tu Mus has now won seven from nine but Vandyke revealed the quirky galloper had been to the races much more than the race book indicates.
He often travels to the races on race day but stays in the stalls, just to help get him more used to the process and ease his highly-strung nature.
'He has got that underlying anxiety in him,' Vandyke said.
'He has had nine starts, but he has probably been to the races 25 times.
'He was here last Saturday even though he didn't race, we bring him all the time.
'My staff have absolutely cuddled him and looked after him, it's been a real team effort.'
Trainer David Vandyke. Picture: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography.
Vandyke said he had never had a horse wins seven consecutive city races before, although he had his now retired galloper Weona Smartone win eight in a row.
'Alligator Blood got beaten in the Caulfield Guineas (in 2019) but he won five consecutive races before that, and five after it,' Vandyke said.
'It takes a decent horse to put together a good winning streak.
'Tuff Tu Mus will go for a deserved spell now, but I think he has a nice future.
'There is an 1800m race on Gold Coast Magic Millions day which could be nice for him, which is why I wanted to test him over that distance today.'
Champion trainer Tony Gollan finished the day with a bang when ex-Godolphin galloper Pereille saluted at short odds when being one of the best placed horses in Australia, scoring the Class Six Plate (1200m).
Meanwhile, Ben Thompson rode his first winner since returning from Hong Kong when Rex Lipp-trained Redzoust ($17) got the chocolates in the BM70 Handicap (1400m).
Originally published as Anxious galloper Tuff Tu Mus wins seventh city race in row at Eagle Farm
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