Vodka tonic rewarded trainer David Dunne's patience

From playing football with Curraha and the Meath minors to training horses close to Tayto Park, David Dunne is accustomed to using his ingenuity to find the winning formula and he applied the magic last week at Fairyhouse with his lightly-raced veteran Vodka Society.

His friends had often questioned why he was still persevering with the 12-year-old which had never previously won a race, but, in his own words, Dunne was determined to “get to the bottom of him.”

There was a perfect tonic for the trainer on Tuesday of last week when Vodka Society virtually trotted to victory for jockey Sean O'Keeffe after trotting five kilometres to the track with his trainer on board.

Getting the best out of the 12-year-old was the challenge as Vodka Society is a bad traveller and would usually fret away his chances in the horsebox on the way to the track.

“He used to lose his races in the horsebox," stated Dunne.

Since a first track outing at Huntingdon in March 2017 where the trainer’s brother Robbie was on board, Vodka Society never troubled the judge and consistently finished down the field or didn't even manage to finish.

But Dunne saw a definite improvement when he opted to trot Vodka Society to Fairyhouse for a handicap chase in early October.

"We trotted him to the track for the first time in October and I knew it worked, but we had to make a few changes as he was there longer than he should have been," explained Dunne.

Last week Dunne altered the preparations slightly and initially drove to Fairyhouse to complete the 'paperwork' and then drove home again to fetch the horse he described as "claustrophobic with an aversion to other thoroughbreds and horseboxes."

“We trotted him to the track, we had an escort on the way over with a car in front and a car behind for safety reasons," explained Dunne.

“I arrived two minutes before the deadline, an hour before the scheduled race, he was the checked a little bit away from all the other horses, had a pick of grass and was relaxed.

"I kind of knew then that if it was going to be any day that he would win, then it was going to be last week," he added.

Vodka Society eventually got a chance to show his ability and with jockey Sean O'Keeffe settling his partner early on and staying wide throughout the 12-year-old trotted up for a memorable first win.

“Hopefully, he had a good experience and the next time he goes in a horsebox he won’t be worrying.

"He hasn’t got many miles on the clock and is a good mover, he could go on for a few more years yet,” added the trainer who already this year has sent out big-priced winners with Department Of War (100/1) and Ballycastle Girl (80/1) on the mark at Down Royal and Kilbeggan while Navan jockey Danny Hand partnered Important Message to victory in a good hurdle race at Gowran last month.

However, no winner is likely to give Dunne more satisfaction than Vodka Society which could bid to make it two-in-a-row at Fairyhouse this Friday.