Upper Cut puts in a magnificent leap at one of the fences on his way to his first hurdle win at Hawera last Sunday.
Waipukurau trainer Kirsty Lawrence is thankful she has never been one to 'look a gift horse in the mouth' after a thoroughbred that cost her nothing prevailed against the odds at Trentham last Saturday.
Do Ya, a 5-year-old maiden, was having only her fourth career start when she lined up in the $20,000 Special Conditions 1400 at the Wellington meeting while her opposition included six race winners.
But the little nondescript mare outlasted them all in a slog to the line, coping admirably with the heavy-11 surface to score by three-quarters of a length and return a dividend of $17.20 for a win and $3.70 for a place.
Lawrence acquired Do Ya by pure chance. She was one of several owned by the late Lenny Adin, a Palmerston North owner-breeder who raced a number of horses from the stable of Kevin Gray.
"When Lenny died his estate wanted to get rid of all of his horses. I got a phone call from Carolyn Jolley, who is an equestrian competitor, and she said: "Do Ya know anyone that wants horses."
Lawrence said she was told there were a number of horses running in a paddock and she picked out the Howbaddouwantit-Miss Aquarius mare from a photograph and took her sight unseen.
At about the same time Lawrence had won a raffle prize of a horse transport voucher so the mare was delivered to her for free.
"She ended up being a real gift horse," Lawrence said, adding that she and husband Steve then came up with the unique race name for the horse.
Lawrence gave Do Ya a long slow buildup before she decided to try the horse on the racetrack.
"She has shown a fair bit all the way through but has just needed time," Lawrence said.
"Kane Smith rode her at the Hastings jumpouts a few months ago and said put her aside and she will be better in the winter and so that's what we've done."
Do Ya finished seventh on debut over 1000m at Trentham on April 8 and followed that up with a fourth over 1400m at Woodville three weeks later. She then showed a glimpse of her ability with a fast finishing second over 1400m at Hastings on May 11.
"It was a strong run on a dead-5 track at Hastings but we knew it was going to be a much better field that she was up against at Trentham last Saturday and I said if we could run in the first five I'd be happy."
Lawrence has never trained a big team of horses and Saturday's win was a welcome change of luck.
She is best known as the trainer and part-owner of Intransigent, a horse that won 11 races including the 2014 Hawke's Bay Cup (2200m) and three consecutive victories in the Kiwifruit Cup (2100m) at Tauranga.
Her last training success before Do Ya was when Intransigent won his third Kiwifruit Cup in June 2015, although she has had several minor placings since then.
She only has six horses in work at the moment and Do Ya is the only one that is named, the rest of them being younger unraced horses.
She and her husband Steve have also taken in retired racehorses to look after on their property with the three-time Group 1 winner Sangster currently a paddock mate for Intransigent.
Kirsty and Steve Lawrence race Do Ya in partnership with Steve's Australian-based brother Chris, Gisborne's Dinah Newman and her Rotorua-based sister Christina and Susan Best, who works in the Lawrence stables.
The mare is now likely to return to Trentham on May 10 for a Rating 75 race over 1400m.
Name change for HB Group 1 race
The first Group 1 race of the season, which is run on the Hastings track at the beginning of spring, will have a name change this year.
The 1400m weight-for-age sprint, known as the Makfi Challenge Stakes for the past six years, will become the Tarzino Trophy after sponsorship of the race has been taken over by the Tarzino Syndicate. It will be the feature race on the first day of the Hawke's Bay spring carnival and run on Saturday, September 2.
Tarzino joins Westbury Stud's stallion roster in 2017, a timely addition following Makfi standing his last year at stud in New Zealand in 2016 before his relocation to Japan.
The son of Champion sire Tavistock, Tarzino was a dual Group 1 winner at three winning the Rosehill Guineas over 2000m and the VRC Derby over 2500m and was crowned Australia's Champion 3-year-old colt of the 2015-16 season.
The precocious colt displayed a remarkable turn-of-foot which became a trademark of his career when he ran the final 800m of the Australian Guineas (1600m) in 45.78 seconds but was desperately unlucky and missed his third Group 1 victory by just a bob of the head.
"We are thrilled with the opportunity to have one of Westbury's newest stallions affiliated with the much anticipated race day in Hawke's Bay," commented Westbury Stud's general manager Russell Warwick.
"We have a long-standing history with Hawke's Bay Racing through the running of the Makfi Challenge Stakes and we are delighted to continue that partnership thanks to the Tarzino Syndicate, who have generously taken sponsorship of the season's opening Group 1 feature."
Hawke's Bay Racing CEO Andrew Castles commented: "Hawke's Bay Racing is rapt Westbury Stud and the Tarzino Syndicate have seen the value in partnering with us for the first Group 1 of the season. We will look to build on the relationship forged with Westbury over the past six years as we countdown to the first renewal of this important race under the Tarzino Trophy banner."
The inaugural running of the Tarzino Trophy will see Westbury Stud continue a long and proud association with Hawke's Bay Racing, where both organisations will again partner with the Cancer Society on Tarzino Trophy- Daffodil Race day.
Tarzino stands at $15,000 and is open for bookings now. Contact Westbury's sales manager Dylan Johnson for more information on 027 8978755 or email sales@westburystud.com.
Knockout punch by Upper Cut
Star jumper Upper Cut, part-owned by Waipukurau's Michael Ormsby, notched up a first when taking out the maiden hurdle race at last Sunday's Hawera meeting.
The Yamanin Vital gelding had won five previous races but none of them over hurdles.
He was successful in a maiden flat race over 2200m at Awapuni two years ago and all four of his other victories have been in steeplechases.
The Mark Oulaghan-trained 10-year-old won the Manawatu Steeples in 2015 and then triumphed in last year's Grand National Steeples at Riccarton. He also finished fourth in last year's Great Northern Steeples at Ellerslie.
Upper Cut was ridden last Sunday by Shaun Phelan, who settled the horse back in the last two or three in the early stages of the 2900m event before improving his position sharply when the pace went on from the 1200m.
J'Walke shot clear of the field after jumping the third last fence but Upper Cut quickly set out after him and was left in front when that horse fell at the next jump. He then had enough in reserve to hold off a late charge from Max to win by a short neck.
It was a great return to jumping by Upper Cut, who looks in for another successful winter campaign.
Back from Australia
Hastings-trained stablemates Savvy Dreams and Lamborghini have returned to New Zealand after their South Australian campaigns and are now spelling on the Cambridge property of owner Tony Rider.
The two horses were floated from Adelaide up to Melbourne in the middle of last week and then flown to Auckland.
Both horses will now been given a good long winter spell and won't come back into work until September 1.
"They have both travelled home okay and will now have a decent break, which they deserve," co-trainer Guy Lowry said.
"They won't race again until early next year and will be aimed again at races in the late summer and autumn."
Grant Cullen, who trains in partnership with Guy Lowry, took Savvy Dreams and Lamborghini across the Tasman in early April and remained with them for the entire six weeks they were there.
Neither horse had much luck in their Australian starts but they still both picked up enough stakemoney to pay for most of the trip.
Both had three starts there with Savvy Dreams recording a 10th, a fourth and a 13th while Lamborghini picked up a second, a fifth and a 10th.
The Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2010m) was to have been the main target for Savvy Dreams, whose last New Zealand start saw her finish third behind Bonneval and Devise in the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) at Trentham in March. However she flipped over backwards just before being loaded into the barrier for the feature and was declared a late scratching. Fortunately she escaped injury and contested the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) a week later instead, where she finished a game fourth after covering plenty of extra ground from the extreme outside barrier. The stakemoney for running fourth in that race was $26,100.
Lamborghini, who won the Waipukurau Cup (2100m) in March at his last New Zealand start, earned $18,500 when he finished second over 1800m in his Australian debut on April 22 and added another $2170 to his earnings when fifth over 2010m at his second start.