Racing: Better late than never for Peggy

Sea King, left, has now won 10 races in total from 37 starts and has stake earnings of more than $176,000.

There is nothing like watching the first horse you have raced go past the winning post well clear of the opposition so it was little wonder Hastings woman Peggy Khan was yelling for joy when Golan Express scored at last Monday's Wairarapa meeting at Tauherenikau.

Khan's cheering could be heard above commentator Tom Wood's description of the final stages of the Agpack RD1 Maiden Sprint as her pride and joy raced away for a 1-1/4 length win. "It was a huge thrill," Khan said this week.

"It's the first horse I've taken to the track and this is her third preparation. She's had different problems, with a shoulder injury and a sprained leg, and it has just taken time."

Golan Express is a rising six-year-old mare by Golan out of Sweet Express and is leased by Khan from the horse's Wairoa breeders, Howard and Kay Jones.

Khan was originally from Wairoa and worked for a time for Howard Jones. She has had experience in breaking in horses and says she broke in the good racemare No Excuse Maggie, owned by the Jones, before the horse went on to win seven races from the Hastings stable of John Bary.

Golan Express is officially trained by Fred Pratt but Khan rides the horse from the stables to the Hastings track and back each morning and also rides the mare in most of her trackwork.

"Fred Pratt has been a big influence on me and I have learned a lot from him," Khan added.

The win by Golan Express wasn't unexpected after the mare had turned in an exceptional debut performance for second over 1200 metres at Hastings on May 22.

On that occasion, she was back last on the home turn and flashed home to get within a long head of the winner La Becane.

Rider Thomas Russell had Golan Express much handier in the running in last Monday's 1000-metre race, sitting just in behind the leaders approaching the home turn. She bounded to the front early in the home straight and dashed clear for a decisive victory.

Golan Express is out of the Exploding Prospect mare Sweet Express, who is now deceased. She only produced two foals, the other being Shan't Get Court, by Bertolini, who recorded two wins, three seconds and two thirds when trained at Hastings by Kelly Burne.

Jump ahead
Top jumper Sea King, bred and part-owned by Central Hawke's Bay woman Sue Harty, brought up his seventh win over hurdles with a strong performance in last Monday's $50,000 K S Browne Hurdle at Ellerslie.

The Shinko King seven-year-old had to lump topweight of 70kg in the 3350-metre event and was hotly challenged by Just Got Home and Big Brownie over the last 300 metres. But he managed to produce that little bit extra to forge ahead and win by half a length from Just Got Home, with third placed Big Brownie a further four lengths behind.

Sea King has now won 10 races in total from 37 starts and Monday's success took his stake earnings to more than $176,000. His wins last winter included the Waikato Hurdles at Te Rapa, Hawke's Bay Hurdles at Hastings and Sydenham Hurdles at Riccarton.

Sea King is out of the Prince of Praise mare Ocean Princess and a half-brother to King Tap, who has been a winner in the South Island. Harty races the horse in partnership with Otaki trainer Rachel Frost and Auckland-based Chris O'Reilly.

Frost trained Sea King as a young horse but transferred him to the Wanganui stable of Kevin Myers to further his education as a jumper.

Blasting off
Thunderbird One, a horse that won five of his first 10 starts but was later barred from racing in New Zealand because of starting issues, made an impressive winning debut in Australia on Thursday of last week.

The Storm Creek five-year-old, now prepared by former New Zealand trainer Francis Finnegan, won a A$40,000 race over 1400 metres at Sale at odds of 13 to 1 on the New Zealand TAB.

It was Thunderbird One's first success since he cruised to a 2-1/4 length victory in an open 1200-metre sprint at Hastings in August of last year. That was his fifth win in a row and he then finished sixth in the Group 3 Merial Metric Mile (1600m) at Awapuni the next month.

Thunderbird One was trained then by the Cambridge partnership of Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman and they had hopes of tackling some of the rich cup races with the horse last spring. But, after finishing third in the Group 3 Sofitel Luxury Hotel Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie in November, he was a late scratching when a heavily supported favourite for the Group 2 Counties Cup (2100m) later that month after refusing to load into the starting stalls.

It wasn't the first time Thunderbird One had been cantankerous on race day. He flipped over backwards in the mounting yard at Hastings one day and was declared a late scratching and was also withdrawn at the start on at least one other occasion when he suddenly went berserk in the barriers.

After his inglorious performance on Counties Cup day, Thunderbird One was ordered to either barrier trial or undergo a jumpout to the satisfaction of stewards before being allowed to race again in New Zealand. He lined up in a barrier trial at Cambridge in the first week of December where he was walked into the gates riderless, without any issue, but then lunged forward and injured a barrier attendant.

Stipendiary steward John Oatham deemed the horse's behaviour not good enough to gain a clearance to race again in New Zealand and so he was sent to Australia to join the Sydney stable of Chris Waller.

Thunderbird One's wayward behaviour was no better in Waller's big stable environment. In fact they couldn't get him to work on the track at all so he was banished to a rehabilitation establishment, just out of Sydney, to try and straighten him out. That lasted just a short time and proved to no avail so he was then sent to Finnegan at Cranbourne.

Finnegan was formerly based at Woodville and had Thunderbird One in his care when the horse was a youngster, before he was transferred to the Baker/Forsman stable.

He says he and his partner, former New Zealand jockey Samantha Bambry, understand the horse and say he is a carbon copy of the top mare Eileen Dubh that they trained, both horses being by the sire Storm Creek.

"Samantha, who rides him daily, and jockey Adam McCabe, who rode him to win last Thursday, are fantastic with him and are really kind to him.

"The horse was in a great place mentally at Sale last week and remained very calm. Adam said he was very relaxed in the run and, despite getting back on a track that had a definite front running bias, he was able to work into the clear and win very easy, carrying at least four kilograms more than most of his rivals."

Finnegan said he will probably give Thunderbird One another race, over a bit more distance, before turning him out for a spell and will then bring him back in the spring.

Dee back home
Former Hastings apprentice Michael Dee resumed race riding at yesterday's Taranaki meeting after returning on Tuesday from a three-week stay in Hong Kong. Dee was awarded an equine scholarship, partly sponsored by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, to travel to Hong Kong where he worked in stables and rode trackwork and in barrier trials. He is now attached to the Wanganui stable of Kevin Myers.

Pheasant flies in
Pheasant, formerly trained at Hastings by Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen, recorded his first win since transferring to the South Island when he took out a $17,5000 Rating 75 race over 1600 metres at last Friday's Canterbury meeting.

The Thorn Park six-year-old is now trained by Brian Gliddon at Prebbleton and his win followed a third over 1600 metres at Timaru on May 16.

Pheasant won one race from the Lowry/Cullen stable, that being a 1340-metre maiden at Wanganui in March 2011.

Destiny end
The former good winter performer Our Destiny has suffered another leg injury and is unlikely to race again.

The Le Destin eight-year-old was back in light work with Hastings stable of Corrina McDougal, who had been gifted a half-share in the horse after the death of his Ashburton co-breeder and owner Ron Smith.

Smith raced Our Destiny in partnership with Hawke's Bay man Peter Grieve and he won them six races and also recorded three seconds and four thirds. Our Destiny relished heavy track conditions and also showed promise as a jumper, his six hurdle starts producing two seconds and a third.