Herself started the winning roll by Hawke's Bay-trained horses at last week's Hastings race meeting with a dominant 4-3/4 length victory in the first race. Photo / Supplied
Hawke's Bay-trained horses again dominated their local race meeting on Thursday of last week, just as they had done at the last Hastings meeting.
At the December 31 Hawke's Bay meeting, horses from the area won five of the eight races on the programme and they added another four wins from eight races on the same track last week.
Hawke's Bay stables were successful in four of the first five races on the card last Thursday. Herself started the ball rolling when she capped off some encouraging runs with a dominant victory in the opening event, a maiden 2100m race. Class mare Miss Labasa returned to her best with a game win in race two; One Dream One Soul broke through for an impressive maiden win in race four and Swish Az scored a decisive win in race five.
It is a great winning strike-rate for a district that has fewer than 150 horses in work at any one time.
Herself's win was an all-Hawke's Bay celebration. The Redwood 4-year-old mare is bred by former Hawke's Bay Racing chairman Tim Macphee and his wife Briar and they race her in partnership with Murray Green.
Macphee is managing director of Bay Ford-Bay Mazda and Green is the service manager at the Hastings branch.
Herself is out of the Howbaddouwantit mare Indiscretion, who is a granddaughter of Zabeel, and she was having her fourth start when she lined up last week and following on from a good last start third over 2100m at Otaki on January 13.
Rider Michael McNab settled Herself fifth and up against the inside rail from the start, remaining there until just before the home turn. He then angled his mount into open space and showed great acceleration to race clear in the home straight and win by 4-3/4 lengths.
Herself is prepared on the Hastings track by Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen and Lowry said he is now keen to take the horse north to give her a run the right-handed way of going.
"We are looking to run Mohaka in the Avondale Cup at Ellerslie on February 19 and there is a Rating 65 race over 2100m on the same day for this mare," Lowry said.
Hastings-trained mare Miss Labasa earned herself a start in the Listed $60,000 Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m) at Tauherenikau on Monday when she ended a run of unplaced performances with a game win in a Rating 74 race over 1400m on her home track last week.
The Swiss Ace mare was resuming after a three-month spell and was only opposed by five others. She began quickly from the barrier to be in front early, but rider Johnathan Parkes then took a hold to settle her outside leader Virtuoso Lad on the home turn.
Miss Labasa easily took over at the top of the home straight and then staved off a late challenge from Brahma Sunset to win by half a length.
It was Miss Labasa's sixth win from 20 starts and she has also recorded three minor placings.
The 6-year-old is owned by Auckland-based Narendra Balia and his family and was a $30,000 purchase from the 2017 Karaka yearling sales.
Bary said Miss Labasa has been confirmed in-foal to the Waikato Stud-based stallion Banquo and will only have two more starts before being retired.
One Dream One Soul pulled off a sentimental win for her connections when she scored a decisive maiden victory over 1600m at Hastings on Thursday of last week.
The 3-year-old filly is trained on the Hastings track by Lee Somervell and raced by his partner Shirin Wood along with her Australian-based son Calvin, her daughter Tina and partner Steve Ryan and a close friend in Pene Wisdom.
One Dream One Soul is a younger full-sister to the well performed galloper One Prize One Goal, who recorded five wins and 17 minor placings from his 55 career starts.
One Prize One Goal - who is now enjoying retirement at Somervell's stables - is regarded as an equine celebrity, with Somervell being asked to parade the big placid chestnut at a hospice, a funeral and at other venues.
One Dream One Soul was bred by Shirin Wood in partnership with her son Calvin and the estate of her late husband Kevin, who was a board member of Hawke's Bay Racing.
She is out of the Towkay mare Sheeza Kinda Magic, who also left the four-race winner Jacob Gambino.
The filly was having her eighth start last week and was following on from a good last-start fourth over 1400m at Otaki on January 13.
Apprentice Ashvin Mudhoo bounced One Dream One Soul out quickly from the barrier last week but the filly had to use up a fair bit of energy to get across and take up a handy position heading into the back straight.
Mudhoo then managed to get the horse to settle fourth and one off the fence, and bided his time until just before the home turn, when he urged his mount to improve.
One Dream One Soul ranged up outside the leaders soon afterwards and dashed clear in the final stages to win by 2-3/4 lengths.
Somervell said the filly has come through the win very well and now has her entered for a Rating 65 race over 1600m at Tauherenikau on Monday.
She will be accompanied on the trip south by stablemate No Rock No Pop, who will contest the Listed $60,000 Wairarapa Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes (1600m).
Swish Az returned to her best form with a dominant all-the-way win in a Rating 65 race over 1600m at last Thursday's Hawke's Bay meeting.
The Swiss Ace mare was recording her third victory from 23 starts but her first since she took out a similar race at Hastings in February 2020.
The 7-year-old is trained by the partnership of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen and owned by Cullen in partnership with his partner Nikki Lourie.
The horse is prepared on the Dannevirke farm property operated by Cullen and Lourie and the quiet environment seems to suit the mare.
Last week's win by Swish Az followed a close last start second over 1600m at Hastings on December 31, where she led from the start and was run down late.
Jockey Dylan Turner shot her straight to the front again last week and the mare kept rolling along at a good pace, maintaining a length advantage on her rivals.
Turner then kicked her clear at the top of the home straight and the others never looked like catching her, with her winning margin being 1-1/2 lengths.
Swish Az was a $2000 weanling purchase by Cullen and Lourie and the mare has now recorded three wins, three seconds and a third and has stake earnings of $38,730.
Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh has won numerous major races on the New Zealand racing calendar, including Group 1 events, but he got a special thrill out of producing the winning quinella in last Saturday's Group 3 $300,000 Wellington Cup.
Marsh produced Lincoln King to take out the 3200m feature with stablemate Starrybeel just a neck back in second place.
"This is a huge result for me and something that is very special," a delighted Marsh said minutes after his two horses crossed the line in front of the small but responsive crowd at the course.
"Lincoln King has been pretty luckless in two New Zealand Cups, so it was great to see him here and to get that win and the other horse (Starrybeel) went a great race too and was only just beaten. It doesn't get much better than that.
"They have both raced out of their skins and I'm just so pleased for everyone, including my staff as I can see that they have got a huge buzz out of this too."
On a normal Wellington Cup day there would be 10,000 people on-course but, with the Covid red light restrictions, there was less than a 10th of that number there last Saturday.
"It's a shame that more people can't be here to enjoy this day, especially some of the owners, as it is an iconic race day and the Wellington Cup is an iconic race," Marsh added.
Marsh said he hasn't had many horses in his stable good enough to contest a Wellington Cup in the past but he did produce Chettak to finish seventh in 2010, when the race was reduced to 2400m.
His father Bruce, a leading trainer in New Zealand before progressing to an even more successful career in Singapore, also won most of the major races on the New Zealand calendar but never a Wellington Cup.
The closest he came to victory in the race was when Hail finished fourth in 2004, while he also produced Paddy Maloney to finish sixth in both 2000 and 2001.
Stephen Marsh got added financial satisfaction out of last Saturday's Wellington Cup result as he owns a 20 per cent share in Lincoln King and a 22.5 per cent share in Starrybeel.
The winning stake in the race was $172,500 with second prize $55,500. Add to this the trainer's winning percentage of 10 per cent and Marsh was rewarded with a haul of more than $64,000 from the race.