Henry Dwyer is halfway through a travel itinerary that would make most rivals jealous.
Dwyer has been to Royal Ascot, enjoyed a buck’s party in Spain and heads to the south of France this week with a group of friends in the lead up to a wedding.
But the Caulfield trainer will miss the exchanging of the vows because he is flying to Brisbane on Friday in preparation for the last Group 1 of the season.
Dwyer has Precious Gem running in Saturday’s Tatts Tiara.
“It was always in the plans to go to the wedding in France on the Friday, but now that I’ve got Precious Gem running, I’ll come back early,” Dwyer said from London last week.
“You wouldn’t generally dash back from holiday for a Geelong maiden, so it is a new experience for me.”
Precious Gem has been remarkable pick-up for Dwyer’s blossoming career.
Until she joined his stables six months ago, she had never won a Stakes race.
That changed quickly. She won the Anniversary Vase at Caulfield in April and next the Group 1 Sangster Stakes at Morphettville last month.
She was then sold as a prospective brood mare at the Gold Coast Magic Millions sales to the China Horse Club for more than $800,000.
This Saturday will be the mare’s last race before being retired to stud. Blake Shinn will take the ride.
Dwyer said he wouldn’t swap Precious Gem for any other horse heading into the Tatts Tiara.
He said her sixth in the Stradbroke Handicap was an ideal lead-up run, considering he felt she was slightly underdone.
“Tim (Clark) said she went great and thought she was going to run into third, but she just peaked in the last 50m which we was reflective of what we thought,” Dwyer said.
“She was the first mare home and beat Azkadellia pretty comfortably.”
Dwyer said Precious Gem had spent the past week in Queensland at Washpool Lodge, resting in a paddock and doing morning stints on a water walker.
“We thought we might send her up there to get a bit of sun on her back, that’s how we’ve trained her all along just freshen her up, freshen her up, freshen her up and she seems to be racing well like that,” he said.
So will there be a tinge of sadness come Saturday night losing a mare that landed the trainer his second Group 1?
“I don’t think you can be sad about it when you inherit a mare like that and only had her for a short time,” Dwyer said.
“We were lucky to get her in the first place.
“It would be the ultimate result to win one Group 1 for the old owners and one for the new owners. It’s a good possibility.”
Article from Herald Sun