Fannin suggests speed the key to beating his old mate in Koral

Jesko (in gold) is the young gun of New Zealand jumping. Photo / Peter Rubery

Shaun Fannin admits it will feel a little odd when he is legged aboard Jesko before the $50,000 Racecourse Hotel Koral Steeplechase at Riccarton tomorrow.

Not that there will be anything unusual about jumping on Jesko, the new star of New Zealand steeplechasing, whom Fannin trains with wife Hazel and who is an odds-on favourite for both tomorrow’s race and next Saturday’s 150th Grand National Steeplechase.

The unusual part is that, just metres away, will be Fannin’s old mate and jumping legend West Coast, whom Fannin rode to win three Grand Nationals and two Great Northern Steeplechases.

“It will be a bit weird,” he says. “We have been around so many times together, and I think I have ridden him [West Coast] in almost every jumps race he has had.”

As the trainer and part-owner of Jesko, Fannin would ride him even if he had a choice between the pair, and his record on them both makes him the best person to judge their merits.

“West Coast is a great horse and he has such a wonderful record at Riccarton,” he says, his voice full of admiration for his old mate.

“But Jesko is very promising and I think he has retained his speed on the flat, which some of these horses may not have any more.”

That was evident when Jesko finished a brave second over 2200m in a Rating 75 highweight last week and again in the Wellington Steeples two starts ago, when he was headed on the home bend but had too much leg speed when balanced up in the straight.


Fannin believes that speed could be crucial in what is a wonderfully deep Koral, the lead-up to next Saturday’s record $200,000 Grand National.

Riccarton was rated a heavy 10 yesterday, but with the chance of improvement. The largely unused steeplechase track down the back straight tends to provide better footing than the course proper, putting a premium on speed.

“It doesn’t look like it will be one of those really heavy Riccarton tracks, and I think once he [Jesko] gets on to the main straight he will be able to use his speed.

“He is fit and ready. I think he will jump well and, with his 7kg advantage over West Coast, we are pretty confident he is the one to beat.”

West Coast won the Koral twice before his Grand National victories a week later, and looked to be returning to his best last start after a subdued beginning to this campaign.

As magnificent as he is, West Coast should be better suited by the extra distance of the National next Saturday. If he can win tomorrow, it is hard to see him beaten in his record attempt next week.


But his presence in the race should help Jesko because his rating is so high that he has to carry the maximum topweight of 73kg. Jesko, even as a Wellington Steeples winner, carries the minimum 66kg.

Earlier in the programme, West Coast’s stablemate Berry The Cash starts his bid for a third straight Grand National Hurdles when he also carries a 73kg topweight in the Avon City Ford Hurdles.

It is another deep field, with Waikato Hurdles winner Dictation the one to beat.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s racing editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.