The horse that reignited Rielly

After being forced out of her training base at Caulfield, and having a number of promising horses change stables, Gemma Rielly was doing it tough.

But during what was a difficult period, there was one thing that got the young trainer through, her beloved gelding Claidheamh Mor, or ‘Gibson’ as he’s more commonly known at home.

“He’s restored my faith a little bit, I had La Belle Jude retire and then I had a number of other handy fillies that left the stable, then Caulfield shut so I was a little bit down, I knew I always had Gibson there in the paddock maturing,” Rielly said.

“He’s sort of revived me a little bit and brought the passion back. He’s shown up for me and I’m really glad that he’s got my back.”

After winning at Class 2 (2000m) level at Mornington last month, now the impressive three-year-old gets his chance to impress on the biggest stage, in Saturday’s Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) at Morphettville.

“You always have these plans with horses and the prep will go on, they’ll go to the paddock and things just don’t work out, but this prep everything’s just been coming up Gibson,” Rielly said.

“He’s on the right path and we’ve got him to the goal we needed him to get to, it’s been the plan all along.

“Gibson’s a real character, he’s always causing trouble, he’s not an easy horse, he’s high energy, and he’s always up to some sort of mischief.”

Claidheamh Mor drew barrier 18 in Tuesday morning’s Derby draw, but Rielly hopes the race pattern could nullify the tricky gate.

“I’m glad he got a run, barrier 18 makes it interesting but there’s a few other speed horses that have got really wide gates as well,” Rielly said.

“It’s in the breeding, it’s in the dam side and he’s obviously by Dundeel, he’s bred to do it, he’s an out and out stayer.

“We just really wanted to get him to a Derby in his three-year-old year so we’re just happy to be there.”

An army of owners is expected to make the trip across the border to Adelaide, to watch the

Claidheamh Mor has opened a $31 chance to win the SA Derby with Sportsbet.