Carpe Diem at the Levin Equine Training Facility with trackwork rider Alana Singer.
Carpe Diem at the Levin Equine Training Facility with trackwork rider Alana Singer.
The last time Waitarere Beach horse trainer Brendon McDermott represented Horowhenua-Kāpiti was as a winger in schoolboy rugby.
That was a few haircuts ago now. But he gets a chance to represent his province again when his horse Carpe Diem lines up in the $80,000 ITM Interprovincial race at NewPlymouth tomorrow.
“It is cool to think you are representing your province. I can leave my colours behind because our jockey will be wearing red, white and blue,” he said.
The race sees horses representing the different provinces of New Zealand and Carpe Diem fills the Horowhenua-Kāpiti berth. Auckland has been the most successful, winning the event five times in its 26-year history, ahead of Horowhenua-Kāpiti, who had won three times. Canterbury have never won the race.
Waitarere Beach horse trainer Brendon McDermott and Carpe Diem.
McDermott said if Carpe Diem was a rugby player, he wouldn’t be in the front row. He’s not the biggest horse around but what he lacks in ability he makes up for it with courage.
He’d probably be a halfback.
“He might be small, but he’s tough,” he said.
McDermott does most of the training with Carpe Diem on the sands of Waitarere Beach each morning. He parks up near the surf club and walks down to the beach, cantering past the buried wreck of the Hydrabad, a ship that was beached more than 142 years ago.
His partner Kim Robinson drives along beside in a Toyota Parda 4WD. He said the horses love working alongside the vehicle.
“It’s like working in company with another horse,” he said.
Brendan McDermott does most of his horse training at Waitarere Beach.
McDermott only takes Carpe Diem to the Levin Equine Training Facility in Mako Mako Rd occasionally for sprinting work leading up to raceday, like earlier this week where the horse showed he was fit and ready running 800m in 48.9sec, and the final 600m of his trackwork timed at 36.3.
Just so the horse doesn’t associate the sight of the Levin with fastwork, he takes him there the day before for a quiet jog around. He’s mindful of few training tactics that help keep Carpe Diem relaxed and conserving energy.
He even takes him for a walk around the beach the morning of the race just to make him feel like it’s another day.
“Otherwise he knows he’s going to the races and gets excited and is liable to start running around his paddock like a lunatic,” he said.
Carpe Diem would be ridden on Saturday by apprentice jockey Lily Sutherland, allowing his carded weight to drop from 54kg to 52kg with the benefit of a 2kg apprentice claim.
It will be a huge help to Carpe Diem’s chances and will see him carry 10kg less than top-weight Seajetz in what is expected to be testing track conditions at Pukekura Raceway.
“He hasn’t gone well at New Plymouth in the past. He likes rain on the day. He likes it a bit slushy and with a bit of luck he might get conditions to suit,” he said.
Carpe Diem had won five of his 54 starts and $122,254 in prizemoney. McDermott had trained some handy horses from the beach that had all paid their way, like Waipukurau Cup winner Kairanga, Kairanga Lad, Reforzar and Rio Star.
