Simmonds shopping for East End Tap's replacement
In an exclusive interview with this news agency, Simmonds acknowledged that it would be difficult to get a horse of East End Tap’s calibre and is looking for one that can master the long distance races.
“I am looking at horses every day, but finding that one will take time. We have been doing a lot of research...it takes time,” the horse owner and trainer divulged.
And as much as he wanted to get a horse prepared and ready for the August Festival races on Tortola, Simmonds predicts “more than likely it will be ready for the next Triple Crown”.
Simmonds also owns Broken Home.
Giving an update on East End Tap, the trainer said “he’s doing well enough”.
Simmonds' team suffered a blow on April 27, 2012 at the Clinton E. Phipps race track on St. Thomas, USVI when the seven year-old gelding fractured his Sesamoid bone which is located in the right front leg during the Governor’s Cup race.
And according to Simmonds, even before the race was over, he realised something was wrong with East End Tap. “We had a strategy, and when I saw he was lagging behind I knew he was injured.”
When asked if the injury could have been avoided, the season trainer had explained that “it is something that just happens, but I was hoping it never happened with him”.
East End Tap, over the few months, has done the Virgin Islands proud. His last victory on March 18, 2012 at the Clinton E. Phipps racetrack was a nail biting one when he beat Bud White to win the 3rd leg of the Triple Crown and a $10,000 bonus cheque.
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