Seven Ruakaka-trained horses will line up in the starting gates at the New Year's Day races at Ellerslie tomorrow, after a successful year for the training team of Donna and Dean Logan and Chris Gibbs. The trio are currently third on the national trainers' premiership, thanks to 27 wins with stakesof more than $468,000 since August. They have also got a horse running in the country's richest race at Ellerslie in February. Mares Jazella and Dashing Donna are running in the group one Waiwera Railway Stakes tomorrow, and are nominated for the group one Telegraph handicap at Trentham on January 17. Castle Heights, owned by a local syndicate, has won five of his eight career starts, and the four-year-old gelding has been nominated for the City of Auckland Cup group two race, with the possibility of heading to the Wellington Cup later in January. Genuine Offer, another top contender, could also make it to Wellington. Meanwhile, three-year-old gelding Le Baron narrowly won the $150,000 Great Northern Guineas 2100m on Boxing Day, and is a starter for the $2.2 million Telecom NZ Derby on February 28, the richest horse race of the year. Dean Logan said the current successes could prove rewarding. "If you're up in the top group of trainers, that equates to more owners wanting you to train your horses, which is positive." He said it was unusual for them to be placed third in the trainers' premiership, given that they trained fewer horses than many of the top trainers. "But we've had a good strike rate, so to speak." When the Logans began training horses more than 20 years ago, hardly anyone had heard of Ruakaka - these days, it's on the map in the racing world. "No one under-rates the training we're doing here," Mr Logan said. "It's really good for the local racing community to know that there's success coming out of Ruakaka. "A lot of people always looked on Ruakaka as being a long way away. But it's two hours from here to Ellerslie and, with the new tunnels they're building. it's going to be closer than ever."
