An ecstatic jockey Hamish McNeill stands high in the irons and gives a victory salute after winning last Saturday’s Grand National Hurdles on Suliman.
John Jenkins is a long-time racing journalist based in Hawke’s Bay.
Paul Nelson was trying to get home from Christchurch when contacted on Wednesday evening after what had been a week of highs and lows for him, his training partner Corrina McDougal, and loyal stable clients the I See Red Syndicate.
Although buoyed by Suliman’s win in Saturday’s $100,000 Grand National Hurdles at Riccarton, the Hastings racehorse trainer and his wife Carol had to spend more days in the South Island than intended after ferry crossings between the two islands were cancelled.
“We got to the ferry on Sunday but it was cancelled. We were stuck in Blenheim Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and finally got across today,” Nelson said.
The Nelson/McDougal stable had taken four horses south for the Grand National meeting in Suliman, Dictation, Nedwin and Sqaw Valley and wanted nothing more than to get them home as soon as possible.
“Fortunately we were able to put the horses out in a good grass paddock in the middle of the Blenheim racecourse and so they have been able to pick up a bit,” Nelson said.
Suliman prevailed in one of the most intense Grand National Hurdle finishes in years, outlasting three others by a bare nose margin at the finish of the 4200m stamina test.
The 12-year-old is owned by the I See Red Syndicate and the same combination also races the high-class jumper Dictation.
That horse was a dominant winner of the Sydenham Hurdles on the first day of this year’s Grand National meeting and would have started one of the favourites for the Grand National Hurdles had an injury not prevented him from starting.
The large group of jumping enthusiasts that make up the I See Red Syndicate were left devastated when told that Dictation had suffered a minor tear to a suspensory ligament in winning the Sydenham and would need months of recuperation before he could race again.
Many members of the syndicate, which numbers 26, had made bookings to be in Christchurch for Grand National week but were left deflated when, what appeared to be their top chance, wouldn’t get to contest the race.
But the syndicate still had a representative in Suliman, a horse that had finished only a moderate fifth in the Sydenham on the first day but who Nelson expected to improve dramatically from that run.
Nelson felt Suliman wasn’t ridden to his best advantage in the Sydenham and probably found track conditions a bit too firm for his liking that day. The expected rain leading up to last Saturday was certainly going to enhance his chances.
The rain came and the Riccarton track, although providing loose footing, became extremely heavy and it was always going to be a survival of the fittest.
The Nelson/McDougal stable definitely know how to get horses ready-fit for tough jumping assignments and Suliman was certainly up for it after months of preparation over the hills at the Nelsons’ Air Hill Stud property combined with six lead-up races.
And so it proved, with Suliman prevailing in a four-horse war over the final stages of last Saturday’s race to score a nose victory over Quid, with a length back to third-placed Happy Star and only a head back to Mr Fabulous in fourth.
“We got quite a few of the syndicate down here on course for the win and there was plenty of celebrating done on Saturday night,” Nelson said.
Suliman has now won eight races from 31 starts and more than $342,000 in stakemoney.
The Redwood gelding has both an Awapuni Hurdles (2800m) and Wellington Hurdle (3400m) to his credit along with a Taumarunui Gold Cup (2200m) victory on the flat but had mixed his form in recent times after resuming following a year off after a bleeding attack suffered during the 2023 edition of the Grand National Hurdles.
Jockey Hamish McNeill adopted much more positive tactics in last Saturday’s race than in the Sydenham, having the horse tracking the leaders from the outset.
Rounding the turn, Happy Star and Mr Fabulous were disputing the pace but Suliman and McNeill were in hot pursuit while Quid and race-favourite Berry The Cash chased gamely, but were several lengths adrift.
Mr Fabulous was in front after jumping the last fence but Suliman closed resolutely to hit the lead with 100m to run and managed to stave off the challengers.
Nelson thought his charge may have been beaten in the shadows of the post.
“I was a little bit doubtful that he had got there although I got assured he had pretty quickly,” Nelson said.
“That was just great. The track being as bad as it was helped him, as when he won the Wellington Hurdles the track was horrible and he just kept going.
“Any race win is good but a National is just wonderful.
“The syndicate who race this guy have been with me for 20 years. It was a shame for them when Dictation came out but this will have fixed that.”
It was Paul Nelson’s fifth success in the Grand National Hurdles. He produced Just A Swagger for back-to-back victories in 2004 and 2005 and Just Not Cricket to win in 2008 while he had McDougal as a training partner when they won the race in 2021 with The Cossack.
It equalled the modern-day record of Kevin Myers, whose five wins in the race have been with Lucky Tip (2002), Mahanadi (2013), Tallyho Twinkletoes (2015), Ngario (2016) and Happy Star (2022).
“We don’t try and break records but we just like to win races,” Nelson said.
With the Grand National features run and won, the jumping focus now turns to the newly instated Great New Zealand Jumps Carnival, run at Te Aroha on September 19 and 21.
Nelson said he was unsure how many runners the stable will have over the two days, but champion jumper The Cossack and Taika are two likely to be there.
Both horses had a run in a 2200m flat race at Rotorua on Wednesday, with Taika finishing seventh and The Cossack ninth.
“I only got to see the race on my phone but they both seemed to go okay so we will see how they are over the next few days,” Nelson said.
At this stage both horses are expected to race next at Te Aroha on August 31, The Cossack contesting the Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4200m) and Taika in the Pakuranga Hunt Hurdle (3250m).
Waipukurau Cup part of new country series
The Waipukurau Cup, the feature race when racing returns to the Waipukurau track on November 16, will be part of a seven-race Country Cups series run during this year’s spring and summer months.
Known as the Prezzy Card Country Cups Bonus Series, the races will be run between October and December with points attached to each and a $50,000 winner-take-all bonus at the end.
The DMAK Electrical Waipukurau Cup will be the fifth race in the series and will be a Rating 75 race over 2100m. The stake for the race will be $35,000, an increase of $10,000 on the last time it was run.
The Country Cups series is a new initiative from New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing in conjunction with the Taupō Racing Club with the seven races run on various North Island racetracks.
Horses will earn points for a top four finish and are required to contest at least three of the races in the series, including the $100,000 Harcourts Taupō Cup (2000m).
Points will be allocated on a basis of five for a win, three for a second, two for a third and one for a fourth in the first six races but will be increased to 12 for the winner, five for second, three for third and two for fourth in the Taupō Cup.
Prezzy Card Northern Country Cups Bonus Series races:
Successful trials on Awapuni track
A return to racing on Awapuni’s grass track is getting closer after it passed its first test for that return following a successful set of trials on the surface on Tuesday.
Thirty horses lined up over five heats at the track and RACE’s general manager of racing, Brad Taylor, received positive reports at the conclusion of the trial meeting.
“The feedback was very positive from the riders,” he said. “As expected, with the surface we have, there was a little bit of the sand kicking back but all-in-all it was very positive.”
Awapuni’s grass track was initially out of commission for 19 months as it underwent an extensive renovation, and it was set to commence racing on Anzac Day. However, that meeting was abandoned following a horse slipping in the opening race.
The track has subsequently undergone further remedial work, and the club has called upon the expertise of Flemington track manager Liam O’Keefe to assist in that process.
Another set of trials will be run on the Awapuni track within the next fortnight and that will determine whether they can proceed with the planned return to racing on September 6.