25 Apr 2013

Jim Bolger Interview on Dawn Approach

A Baltic winter can often put pay to the best laid plans but not at Jim Bolger’s Beechy Park establishment in County Carlow where his star three-year-old Dawn Approach has emerged from the winter with a ‘trouble free run’ and is ‘much stronger’ than in 2012 when he was crowned European Champion Juvenile. ‘We’re very happy with where we’ve got him and we had no setbacks during the winter. It got down to about minus three or four but we’ve not missed any work with him. He came into his coat about five weeks ago which I thought might bother him but nothing seems to bother him – he’s very well. He’s a stronger horse than last year but he’s always been big – 16’1 as a two-year-old. He put on about 25kg over the winter which is now about 8kg. He’s definitely on a par with the best horses that I’ve had. He switches off very well and it’s possible he gets a mile and a half but we’ll have to wait and see.’ 

We travelled to his recent stable open day to find out more and to see how the hot favourite for the QIPCO 2000 Guineas has wintered and his trainer’s thoughts on the main dangers at Newmarket on Saturday 4th May.