Jockey Shaun Phelan is about to give The Cossack an affectionate pat as they cross the finish line for an easy 11-1/4 length win in the K S Browne Hurdle. Photo / Supplied
The Hastings training partnership of Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal dominated their local meeting last Monday, winning five of the 10 races on the programme including the two features, the $60,000 KS Browne Hurdle and $60,000 Poverty Bay Hunt Ferguson Gold Cup Steeplechase.
It is the first time in nearly 40 years as a trainer that Paul Nelson has produced five winners in a day and the feat was also a career highlight for McDougal, who joined forces with the astute horseman two years ago.
"We've had a few two wins in a day and last year we had three wins in a weekend," Nelson recalled.
"Suliman won the Taumarunui Cup at Rotorua on the last Saturday of the season and then Al's Red Zed and Argyll both won at Te Aroha the next day.
"But to get five wins in a day is something you only dream about. It will be a hard act to follow."
The Nelson and McDougal stable won four of the five jumping races on the card at Monday's Hawke's Bay meeting and also picked up the amateur riders' race.
Their champion jumper The Cossack produced an enormous performance to lump 73kg to victory in the KS Browne Hurdle (3100m), outclassing a field of handy jumpers to score by 11-1/4 lengths.
It is thought to be the biggest weight carried to victory in a New Zealand hurdle race since metrics were introduced and equals the 73kg that Mr Hickey had on his back when he won a 4400m steeplechase at Tauranga in June 1981.
The modern-day Australasian weight-carrying record for a jumper is held by Black And Bent, who won a hurdle race at Adelaide in July 2011 carrying 73.5kg.
The Cossack carried 5kg more than any of his rivals on Monday but seemed to make light work of the impost.
Jockey Shaun Phelan settled the Mastercraftsman 8-year-old in third place before letting him cruise up to take the lead with 800m to run. From then on they were always in control, with The Cossack measuring the last three fences well before racing away for a dominant win.
Phelan could not be more complimentary about The Cossack's performance.
"He is amazing. If anything he has come back better this time in. I couldn't get him to go any slower, he just took me for a ride."
It was The Cossack's 11th success from 44 starts and his eighth win over hurdles. He was crowned champion jumper for the last racing season when his victories included the Great Northern Hurdle, Grand National Hurdle, Wellington Hurdle and Waikato Hurdle. He also added a second Great Northern Hurdle win earlier this season.
The maximum weight a jumper can carry in New Zealand now is 73kg and if The Cossack continues to go around in hurdle races his opposition will have their book weight reduced so that there is a bigger handicap difference.
For that reason, The Cossack could soon be seen over the steeplechase fences, although Nelson said he is unsure when that will be.
There is also a strong chance he could head to Australia this winter, where the steeplechase fences are considerably smaller than in this country.
Paul Nelson races The Cossack in partnership with three other Hawke's Bay men, Peter and Doug Grieve and John Frizzell. He has now won the quartet more than $330,000 in prizemoney.
No Tip, a horse that was once given away by Paul Nelson and his wife Carol, recorded his second major steeplechase victory in their colours when taking out Monday's Poverty Bay Hunt Ferguson Gold Cup (4000m).
The Nelsons bred the 10-year-old Mettre En Jeu gelding but, at one stage, they thought he was too small to make it on the racetrack so they gave him away to be tried as an eventing horse.
"He went okay for a start at that but then didn't want to do it so the people that had him gave him back to us," Nelson said.
"Carol said what are we going to do with him now, and I said we might as well put him into work and he has since picked up a Manawatu Steeples and now the Ferguson Gold Cup plus two hurdle races before that."
Cambridge-based jockey Shaun Phelan was also the successful rider when No Tip scored a gutsy 1-1/4 length win over race-favourite Zamora in Monday's prestigious race.
The Poverty Bay Ferguson Gold Cup Steeplechase is one of the oldest jumping races on the New Zealand calendar, dating back to 1928. It was run on the Gisborne track up until 1995 but was then mothballed. It has now been resurrected and plans are to again stage it on an annual basis.
Phelan gave No Tip the perfect run in the early stages of Monday's race but admitted he had some anxious moments when they became squeezed for room as the leading division bunched coming to the second-to-last fence. He angled his mount to the outside and they joined Zamora approaching the last.
The two horses jumped that obstacle in unison and then fought out a slog to the finish, with No Tip managing to gain an advantage close to the line.
Nelson said No Tip will probably have his next start in the $60,000 AHD Hawke's Bay Steeplechase (4800m) at Hastings on July 2.
"He will follow a path to the bigger races over the steeplechase fences but we have to be mindful of the weights he might have to carry as he is only a pony really," he said.
Phelan was full of praise for No Tip, saying: "He has gone around in the last couple of seasons and now he has probably come into his own. The wet track helped him as well."
The Nelson/McDougal stable revealed two more promising jumpers from their stable when Nedwin and Motivation took out the two maiden hurdle races.
Nedwin had one previous hurdle start for a fourth at Te Aroha in October, while Motivation was making his jumping debut.
Phelan was also aboard Nedwin and took any chance of traffic problems out of the equation by taking the horse straight to the front in the 2500m event. The Niagara 7-year-old travelled kindly and jumped proficiently all the way, going on to win by 1-3/4 lengths.
Nedwin, who has also won three races on the flat, is raced by Paul and Carol Nelson in partnership with the horse's previous Gisborne-based trainer Mick Gardner and his wife Sue.
The old firm of trainer Paul Nelson and jockey Aaron Kuru combined successfully again with Motivation.
Kuru, who is nowadays based in Victoria, Australia, grew up in Hastings and was the number one jumps rider for Nelson for several years, the pair combing for many feature wins. He made a fleeting visit home for Queen's Birthday weekend and was rapt that he was able to kick home another winner for the stable.
He showed why he is regarded as one of the most patient jumps jockeys in Australasia by settling Motivation just in behind the pacemakers early before urging him forward to challenge the leader Mrs Twinkletoes rounding the home bend.
The two horses jumped the second-to-last fence on terms but then Motivation edged ahead and, after putting in a tremendous leap at the last, he surged clear to win by 2-1/4 lengths.
Motivation is owned by his Hunterville breeders Chris and Susanna Grace and was initially prepared by another Hastings trainer, John Bary. He won two flat races with the Mastercraftsman gelding before it was decided to transfer him to the Nelson/McDougal stable to embark on a jumping career.
The horse has been placed several times on the flat since the stable change, but last Monday's victory was his first from the new base.
The other Nelson/McDougal trained winner last Monday was Dictation in the amateur riders' race over 2100m.
The Tavistock four-year-old was recording his second win in a row after he also triumphed in an amateur riders' race over 2060m at Wanganui last month.
The horse was ridden in both wins by Hastings-based rider Leah Zydenbos, who is fast building up a good association with the Nelson/McDougal stable.
"Leah rides work at the Hastings track for the Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen stable and also Sue Thompson and Mick Brown and then she comes out and works for us during the day," Nelson said.
"I was delighted she was able to get another win as she is a very hard worker and a talented horsewoman."
Zydenbos was instructed to keep Dictation away from the inside and give the horse plenty of clear running, and she followed the instructions to the letter.
They were midfield until the last 600m when Zydenbos decided to send her mount on a forward run wide out.
Dictation was one of the widest horses turning into the home straight but was building momentum and kept up a strong finish down the centre of the track to win by 1-1/2 lengths.
Nelson said Dictation is unlikely to be seen in a jumping role for a while as he rates him as a good stayer in the making on the flat.
He added that the Tavistock four-year-old is still learning how to race properly, which is why he instructed Zydenbos to make her run wide out.
"We wanted to give him an uninterrupted run because if he got held up he might not have finished it off on that heavy track," Nelson said.
"I think he could be a pretty good horse but I don't think he likes a really heavy track so we might have trouble trying to find another suitable race for him."
Dictation was formerly trained by Cambridge-based Glen Harvey, who gave him six starts for a third over 2200m at Rotorua.
The horse was then offered on Gavelhouse and changed hands for $20,000. He is now raced by the I See Red Syndicate, a group that has raced several successful horses from the Nelson stable over many years.