Sprint prelude: Outsiders defy script as local hope flops

Dylan Turner, on McLaren, after winning the Napier Park Sprint Prelude open handicap at Hastings on Saturday. Photo/Duncan Brown

It was expected to be an easy win for rising sprinting star Alleyoop. It was hoped to be a heroic return to form for a local galloper.

But neither script played out in the Napier Park Sprint Prelude at Hastings on Saturday, and a pair of outsiders drew away from the field. In the end, McLaren edged out Jaggard in a thrilling finish.

With most pre-race attention centred on Alleyoop, a winner of three of his five career starts and with a stakes placing to boot, McLaren and Jaggard came into the race under the radar.

But both were probably better than they were being given credit for. McLaren may have finished only 10th last start in the Lightning Hcp at Trentham, but he had trouble finding clear running in the straight and could have finished a lot closer with any luck. His last start before that was an impressive win at Otaki.

And Jaggard was Group 1-placed in the Telegraph back in January - a fact that's been increasingly overlooked with each disappointing start since.

But the pair were both on top of their games on Saturday, and they left the rest of the field behind.

The Kevin Gray-trained McLaren eventually prevailed by a long neck. Jaggard finished two lengths clear of the third-placed runner, Hastings mare Shezgorgeous. Hot favourite Alleyoop was another two lengths away in a disappointing fourth - though not as disappointing as enigmatic local The Hombre, who finished last for the second time in a row.

But it wasn't all bad news on Saturday for The Hombre's trainer, John Bary, who scored an impressive win later on the programme with Mae West in the DHL Global Express Hcp Sprint. The win was Mae West's second from six starts, and she's never finished further back than fifth. Her future looks bright.

And Bary can be hugely proud of the effort of stable star Recite at Te Aroha later in the afternoon.

Taking on New Zealand's very best older mares in the Group 1 Breeders' Stakes, Recite ran a mighty race to finish a close second behind Viadana, a three-time Group 1 winner who's in the form of her life.

In the process, Recite finished ahead of Group 1 winners Costume and Xanadu, as well as star mares Chintz, Fix and Thy.

She came up just short in a bid for the third Group 1 win of her short career so far, but Recite's performance was full of merit.

In the other main race at Hastings, the Windsor Park Hawke's Bay Cup Prelude, Silverdale made quite an impression in his first try beyond a mile.

Third in Sacred Falls' Hawke's Bay Guineas as a 3-year-old, and an inconsistent but occasionally high-class performer over primarily sprint distances since then, Silverdale might have found his true calling on Saturday.

The Castledale gelding left an accomplished field for dead. He drew away in commanding style, crossing the line 3 ahead of Sadlers Rock. Local hope Broadwalk was another two lengths away in third.

If this race was intended to give Silverdale's connections an indication as to whether it's worth having a crack at the Hawke's Bay Cup later this month, their horse gave them an emphatic answer.