Woodville trainer Shane Brown (centre) talks to successful Dannevirke owners Jim Small and Lyn Anstis after Shelbyrock’n’s win in a $40,000 Rating 75 race at New Plymouth last Saturday.
John Jenkins is a long-time racing journalist based in Hawke’s Bay.
A long road trip from Tararua to New Plymouth and then another lengthy wait until the last race proved worthwhile for Dannevirke couple Jim Small and Lyn Anstis when Shelbyrock’n romped to a 15-1/2 length win in a $50,000 Rating 75 race at last Saturday’s Taranaki meeting.
The pair of racing enthusiasts have been involved in several horses in recent years, and Shelbyrock’n is obviously one of their favourites.
The Rock ‘n’ Pop 7-year-old mare was notching up her sixth win from 35 starts and has also recorded three seconds and seven thirds for stake earnings of more than $162,000.
It has been a great financial return for Small and Anstis, who paid only $3600 to buy the horse as a weanling from the online auction site Gavelhouse.
Shelbyrock’n is prepared by Woodville trainer Shane Brown, and the mare’s success took his career tally of wins to just one short of a century. She was also recording her second win on the New Plymouth track after she took out the $80,000 Interprovincial Championship (1600m) there in August 2023.
The mare won at odds of 19 to one that day and was again relatively overlooked by the punters last Saturday, returning a win dividend of $11.60.
Shelbyrock’n excels on wet, loose tracks and got conditions to suit last Saturday. She is also a noted front-runner, and being able to race in or near the pace was a definite advantage at the meeting, with all but one of the winners on the seven-race card winning from the front.
Apprentice jockey Elle Sole bounced Shelbyrock’n out quickly from the barrier, and they soon took a clear lead.
Sole kept the mare just a couple of lengths clear of the opposition until the 700m, when she decided to apply a bit more pressure, and they opened up a five-length lead on the opposition coming to the home turn.
Sole kept her mount up to the mark in the home straight, and the mare maintained a strong gallop to win untested.
Sole had won earlier in the day aboard Charm Zafarm with a similar front-running ride and was confident of a good performance when she was legged aboard Shelbyrock’n.
“She was a lot quieter today when I got on her, and once we cleared the gates so well I knew she was ready for a big effort,” said Sole.
“She just travelled so sweetly, and when I let her slide she was full of running. In the straight I was too scared to look behind me as I wasn’t sure who was chasing, but when I got back to the jockey’s room and saw the replay I couldn’t believe just how far in front we were.
“She just relished the track conditions after struggling at Trentham last time, and when she can get her own way in front she just fights and fights.
“Rounding the home bend, she was going that well I was pretty sure she was the winner, but I wasn’t taking any chances.”
Shelbyrock’n certainly has breeding to back up her racing ability. She was bred by Waikato Stud out of the Pins mare Joy, with her grandam being the Centaine mare Gio, whose progeny included the Group 3 winner Crepe De Chine.
Small and Anstis had a racing share in the former Guy Lowry- and Grant Cullen-trained mare Savvy Dreams, who won only two races but finished third in the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks, second in the Group 3 Lowland Stakes and fourth in both the Group 1 Thorndon Mile and Group 1 Bonecrusher Stakes. The daughter of Savabeel was also placed fourth in the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) in Adelaide.
The couple now also have a share in a daughter of Savvy Dreams called Sol De Otono, a mare prepared by the Hastings combination of Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos, who has recorded three seconds and two thirds from 10 starts. The 4-year-old daughter of The Autumn Sun is spelling at present but is expected to return to the racetrack in the spring.
Former HB pair win at Oamaru
Candle and Speed Dial, two horses formerly prepared by Lowry and Zydenbos, were both successful for new trainer Richard Didham at last Sunday’s Oamaru meeting.
Lowry is the co-breeder of Candle and Speed Dial and still owns both horses. However, after thinking they were both limited in what they could achieve in the North Island, he decided to lease them to clients of Christchurch trainer Didham, and they joined his stable a couple of months ago.
Candle was the winner of three races when based in Hastings, the most recent being over 1200m on the Hastings track in December 2023.
The daughter of Super Easy covered extra ground to finish a respectable eighth for Didham at Ashburton on July 3, and was neglected by punters in Sunday’s $40,000 Glenmoa Farms Trophy (1200m), returning $22 for a win.
Drawing the extreme outside barrier, jockey Leah Hemi opted to settle back in the last pair aboard Candle while Master Marko drove through to take the lead. The field fanned wide across the track turning for home, but Hemi stuck to the inside and Candle quickly burst into contention, outsprinting Lise Paree to score by three-quarters of a length.
Didham was delighted with the result, having also combined with Hemi earlier on the card to take out the Hart Memorial (1400m) with Speed Dial.
“It’s been a great day,” he said.
“It was really nice of Guy Lowry to lease her [Candle] down to me, and I’ve only had her for one start. Things didn’t go her way at Ashburton, and today, it was a gun ride by Leah. She stayed on the fence, never went around a horse and was too good.
“She’s run against a lot of nice horses; she ran second to Provence at Auckland, which is great form.
“I’m just thankful to everyone that had got us here today.”
Out of No Excuse Needed mare Flare, Candle has now won four of her 21 starts and over $110,000 in stakes.
Speed Dial broke through for a deserved maiden win after recording four seconds and two thirds from her previous 15 starts. The Time Test 4-year-old was bred by Lowry in partnership with Little Avondale Stud and is out of the unraced Towkay mare Queen Alley.
Cameron due to make a return
Former champion jockey and apprentice Matt Cameron took another significant step toward his return to race riding this week.
Cameron was in action on Tuesday at the Avondale trials, where he placed in two of his five rides in testing conditions.
“The track was extremely heavy, but I pulled up well, so that was really good,” he said.
The 38-year-old hasn’t ridden for nearly a year after a well-documented disqualification, and has subsequently made significant changes, including a move north away from the Waikato.
“I’m based at Karaka/Drury and shifted there from Waiheke Island, where I was working at the Man O’War Winery while I was off and enjoyed that,” Cameron said.
“I’ve done three or four weeks of trackwork and been going down to Cody Cole’s place at Matamata a few times a week.
“I’ve also been to Byerley Park to ride a few for Donna Logan and the odd gallops at Cambridge.
“Donna was a big supporter of mine over the years when she was first training in New Zealand.”
Cameron has kept active in his time away and is happy with his current fitness level.
“I’ve been doing a lot of running to keep as fit as possible and my weight has been good, I don’t struggle with it like some unfortunately do,” he said.
“I was also walking about 15km every day while I was working at the winery.”
Cameron is hopeful of reigniting his riding career in early August.
“I have to do everything right, and I am looking at getting back riding in the first week of the new season, maybe at Ruakākā on August 2 or soon after that,” he said.
Cameron established himself as one of the leading jockeys in the country with a career tally of 1485 winners, 109 at Group or Listed level, and he has 18 Group 1 successes to his credit.
He won the National Jockeys’ Premiership in the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons, with 143 and 155 winners respectively, and won 60 in the 2005/06 term to be crowned Champion Apprentice.
Big plans ahead for Ladies Man
Dual Group 1 winner Ladies Man returned to the trials at Foxton on Tuesday and is on track for another Group 1 spring preparation.
Trainer Allan Sharrock was pleased with the rising 8-year-old’s 1000m hit-out, and he said he had positive feedback from senior hoop Kelly Myers.
“He went a nice trial and Kelly said he felt well,” Sharrock said. “He has only had three quiet gallops, so he was always going to blow out, but it’s onwards and upwards.”
The son of Zed scored his first elite-level scalp in the Group 1 Livamol Classic (2040m) at Hastings two years ago, and the spring feature is once again on his radar.
“I will nominate him for the mile [previously known as the Group 1 Arrowfield Stud Plate] and the 2000m [previously known as the Livamol Classic],” Sharrock said.
“He will probably have a run before the mile, possibly at New Plymouth. He has won a Livamol before. We are all up in the air with the change in venues, but I am really happy with him, so we will head towards those Group 1 races.”