LATE STRIKE: Hastings-trained Wait A Sec (foreground) heads to a last-stride win in the Open 1600m race at Hastings last Saturday. It was the horse's fourth consecutive win this campaign.
Variety is proving the spice of life for Hastings-trained Wait A Sec.
The seven-year-old made it four wins in a row when he produced a scintillating finish, under the urgings of top woman jockey Lisa Allpress, to snatch a last-stride victory in the $40,000 Bostock New Zealand Spring Carnival Open at Hastings on Saturday.
It was the horse's first start for two months and he was dropping back from 2100m to 1600m. He was also meeting a strong field of open-class gallopers.
Yet the Postponed gelding gave his rivals a head start and a beating, coming from at least five lengths off the leaders at the 300 to get up and win by a long head over Woodsman, with King Krovanh only half a head back in third.
Such was his whirlwind finish that he clocked the third-fastest last 600m of any runner on the nine-race programme.
Wait A Sec now has a record of nine wins, five seconds and five thirds from only 38 starts.
He is trained by Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen and seems to be thriving since his work has been varied between normal trackwork at Hastings and farm work on the Dannevirke property where Grant Cullen and his partner Nikki Lourie live.
"He is just a very happy horse at the moment," Guy Lowry said.
"He's also a horse that has taken a while to mature and has just got better with age."
Wait A Sec was bred by his Hastings owner Ian Henderson, who races him in partnership with his Perth-based son Paul.
The horse is out of the Grosvenor mare Security, who was bought for $5000 at a 2007 Karaka mixed bloodstock sale.
Security is out of Secrecy, who was the winner of seven races for another Hawke's Bay owner-breeder, Don Gordon.
The first foal Henderson bred out of Security was a full-brother to Wait A Sec, called Secured.
He was sold to Australian-based trainer Brian Jenkins for $25,000 and went on to record a win and six minor placings in that country.
Henderson then bred a colt by Handsome Ransom out of Security but it broke down before getting to the races, with Wait A Sec being the next foal and the only one her has raced out of the mare.
Wait A Sec will now have his next start in the $40,000 Open 2000m race on the second day of the Bostock New Zealand Hawke's Bay spring carnival on September 23 and also holds a nomination for the Group 1 $250,000 Livamol Classic (2040m) on the third day, on October 7.
The long-range mission for the horse is the Group 3 $250,000 New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton on November 18.
Nelsons nail major awards
Paul Nelson and his wife Carol have won two of the main trophies in the annual Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay racing and breeding awards.
This year's function, sponsored by Bramwell Bate and Vet Associates, was held at the Hastings racecourse last Friday evening and recognised the achievements of local thoroughbred owners, trainers, breeders and horses during the 2016-17 racing season.
Nelson was crowned leading Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay trainer on strike-rate for the season.
He produced 16 winners from 83 starters for a 5.19 strike-rate and his wins included the Wellington Steeplechase with Amanood Lad and Wellington Hurdles with The Shackler.
Nelson and wife Carol were also awarded the trophy for Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay Owner of the Year.
This category was worked out on a points basis, with 12 points for a Group 1 win down to 1 point for a non-black type win.
John Bary was the leading trainer on wins with 18, two ahead of Paul Nelson, while Bary also produced the top-trained horse in the district, Miss Wilson.
Miss Wilson is owned by her Havelock North breeders Richard and Liz Wood and won four races in a row during the season, culminating in a victory in the Group 3 Cuddle Stakes at Trentham.
Miss Wilson was also one of five finalists for Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay Owned Horse of the Year, with the others All Roads, Authentic Paddy, Honey Rider, Jon Snow and Pacorus.
The winner was Jon Snow, trained at Cambridge by Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman, and owned by several members of the Zame family from Gisborne.
He is the first horse the partnership has bought and raced and, during the past season, he won the Group 1 ATC Derby and Group 2 Tulloch Stakes in Sydney and was runner-up in the Group 2 Hawke's Bay Guineas.
He also finished third in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby, Group 1 Levin Classic, Group 2 Great Northern Guineas and the Karaka Three-year-old Mile.
The Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay Broodmare of the Year title went to Baltika. Owner Graham de Gruchy also won the Breeder of the Year award.
Baltika is the dam of Sacred Elixir, who won the Group 3 Caulfield Guineas Prelude and Group 2 Moonee Valley Vase in Melbourne last spring before finishing second in the Group 1 VRC Derby.
He also earned De Gruchy the Jimmy Choux award for the top Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay bred three-year-old for the year.
Taupo-based Pat Lowry won the award for Hawke's Bay/ Poverty Bay Breeder of the Year on wins.
He is the breeder of Packing Tycoon, who won four races in Hong Kong, and also Chopin's Fantaisie, who won his first four starts in Singapore. Both horses are out of the Oregon mare Golden Gamble.
Revolution runs away
He may have been a seven-year-old winning his first race but Hastings-trained Revolution suggested he could go on to better things in the future when scoring a runaway victory over 2100m at Woodville on Thursday of last week.
The Guillotine gelding, ridden by Lisa Allpress, capped a third and two fourths from three starts this campaign with an easy two-and-a-quarter length win.
Revolution is prepared at Hastings by Paul Nelson and is owned by him and his wife Carol.
They bred the horse out of the Gold Brose mare Kettle Hill, who was the winner of one race.
Revolution showed ability when fourth on debut over 1200m at Wanganui in May 2014 but a series of injuries and illness has meant he has only had 10 starts since and was sidelined for 18 months before resuming with a third over 1200m at Hastings on July 20.
Jimmy Choux winners
Former outstanding Hastings-trained galloper Jimmy Choux had one of his best results as a sire last weekend when he produced four Australasian winners.
Sired by him, Bostonian and Batabullet were game winners at last Saturday's Hawke's Bay meeting, while Parlay Voux was also successful at Hawkesbury on Saturday and Chouxting The Mob won at Geelong on Sunday.
Jimmy Choux was the winner of 12 races from the Hastings stable of John Bary, five of them at Group 1 level, and was raced by his Havelock North breeders Richard and Liz Wood.
He now stands at Matamata's Rich Hill Stud for a fee of $7000 plus GST.
The four progeny of Jimmy Choux to win last weekend were successful at distances ranging from 1000m to 2433m.
Bostonian maintained his unbeaten record from three starts when prevailing over a high-class field of three-year-olds in the Listed El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m).
Batabullet withstood a late challenge from Almo Street to score his third win from seven starts in a Rating 75 race over 1600m.
Parlay Voux won a 1000m Class 2 race at Hawkesbury, while Chouxting The Mob was successful in a 2433m maiden at Geelong.
The Woods bred Chouxting The Mob and Richard is part of a large group of people that race the four-year-old from the Ballarat stable of Simon Morrish.
The horse was originally offered for sale as a weanling at a Karaka mixed bloodstock sale in 2014 but was passed in for $58,000, with the reserve being $60,000.
Chouxting The Mob was having his fourth start and the win followed a second and a fourth.
He is out of the Reset mare Bidthemobgooday, who won two races in Australia, and is a daughter of Tully Thunder, whose four wins included the Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m).
Local win at Ashburton
Locally Sauced, a horse part-owned by Hastings woman Irene Downey and her son Josh, chalked up his third win when successful in a $10,000 Rating 65 race over 2100m at Ashburton last Friday.
The six-year-old Iffraaj gelding is trained by the Waiuku husband and wife team of Grant and Tana Shaw and has also recorded seven minor placings from his 35 starts.
The horse has been ridden in all three of his wins by top South Island jockey Chris Johnson, who is a close friend of Irene Downey and her husband Graeme and regularly stays with them when he rides at race meetings in the Central Districts.
Gold Trail start still on
John Morell remains focused on the Group 3 Hawke's Bay Breeders' Gold Trail Stakes at Hastings on September 23 with Florence Jean, despite a hiccup to the filly's programme.
The Te Rapa owner-trainer was forced to bypass last Saturday's opening day of the Hastings carnival after the three-year-old was laid low by a virus.
"We're working her along quietly," Morell said. "She's eating again now and feeling livelier so we'll go down for the Gold Trail, she usually races well fresh.
"I'm hoping she can get up to 1400 metres and a mile later. She relaxes so I think she will run on all right."
Florence Jean's only defeat in three starts came in the Group 2 Matamata Breeders' Stakes when she was checked at the start and made late ground for sixth.
Perfect Fit retires
Group 1 winning mare Perfect Fit has been retired after tailing the field home in last Saturday's Group 1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m) at Hastings.
The daughter of Elusive City won six of her 18 starts, including the Group 1New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m), from the Matamata stable of Ken and Bev Kelso.
She will be mated this spring with Australian-based stallion Exceed And Excel.
Nicole Pendreigh will wear a top with the names of 115 women killed on runs.