Racing: Duck shooter bags Rotorua Cup instead

Reese Jones returns to scale aboard Indikator after their strong win in the Rotorua Cup. Photo / Supplied

So, Reese Jones gave up duck shooting for the first time in a couple of decades to win Saturday's $85,000 Platinum Homes Rotorua Cup on Indikator.

Ducks cost $16.

With his 5 per cent of the $53,125 winning stake and two riding fees, Jones left Rotorua with around $2880.

That's 180 ducks, and they're top-of-the-range Peking ducks, not the tough wild duck that come from the first weekend in May.

That's actually not the scenario Reese Jones faced.

"I know there's people out there thinking: 'Yeah, it's only duck shooting', but that's really only a small part of it for me," said the Matamata-based horseman.

It's his dad, retired South Island trainer Barry Jones, not the ducks.

"Dad and I used to go shooting together every year for more than 20 years down south.

"He doesn't shoot any more, but we'd travel from Canterbury down to Otago together, and more recently he'd go and see his friends and I'd go shooting with my mates that I grew up with on racecourses.

"It's the culture of it all. Sure the duck shooting is good, but that's not really the point - it was always about the father-and-son thing."

The former South Islander has recently reinvigorated his career after a couple of seasons where lack of opportunity bled some of the enthusiasm.

"You get a bit flat when rides don't come your way.

"But things have picked up and Stevie Autridge has been giving me rides and we're going all right.

"I used to ride a fair bit for Steve when he was training for Te Akau."

Increased fitness has helped - - Jones has for some time been under the care of high-profile personal trainer Maree Blakey, who, for years, was an important part of the training schedule of champion Hong Kong jockey Douglas Whyte.

"Marie has been great. It's not about losing weight, it's fitness and strengthening. I've never felt as fit.

"My weight crept up there for a while, but it was because you are not busy and a little bit to do with incentive.

"Compared to some I actually don't have to do it too hard to get my weight back down. For me it's just a matter of being busy."

Indikator has always looked smart, even if his form was at times slightly patchy.

His past two wins, at Tauranga and on Saturday, are several levels above anything he has produced.

"I know it sounds ridiculous as a 7-year-old, but he's just reached his full strength," said Keith Opie, who prepares Indikator in partnership with his son Gavin.

The ease with which Indikator has forged his past two wins has been spectacular.

"I look at him now and suddenly see this stronger horse and you go home and think 'Perhaps I'm dreaming' but his racetrack performances are proving that."

Opie says he hasn't discussed with owner Peter Setchell what plans are possible for Indikator, but they must be limited in New Zealand when he had to lump 58.5kg to win a Rotorua Cup.

Even allowing for the ease of his three-length victory on Saturday, Indikator's handicap now will start to become prohibitive.

"My whole focus has been to get him to win the Rotorua Cup and I haven't thought beyond it, I'm just so proud of him for winning on Saturday," says Opie. "I have to have a talk with Peter early this week and come up with a plan.

"There's a A$100,000 2400m race in Sydney in two weeks and there's the Banjo Paterson series in Melbourne with a final in eight weeks.

"Or I could put him in the paddock and bring him back up for the big mile race at Wanganui."

Opie's concern is track conditions. On his last trip to Australia, Indikator struck tracks that were too firm.

"While we were making plans the tracks were wet and when we arrived it fined up and we were faced with firm ground.

"He doesn't need heavy ground like Saturday's track, he just needs some give in it because he can't run home from the 600m in 33 seconds like they were doing when we were last over there.

"He was running nice races, but finishing fifths and sixths."

The favourite, Roi d'Jeu, had his chance, but didn't look entirely happy in the very heavy ground.

For the record, Reese Jones says don't imagine he relishes the northern wild ducks to eat.

"The ones down south are fabulous. They're grain fed and are nothing like the ones you would shoot up here."

A 9kg differential in Saturday's knee-deep mud at Rotorua would be like having Richie McCaw just jump off your back.

Two-year-old filly Dowager Queen made the most of it to win the $45,000 Windsor Park Rotorua Stakes against her older opposition and co-trainer Graeme Rogerson knew she would.

"She's a very developed, mature filly and I was certain she would be up to the task," said Rogerson after Dowager Queen carried just 46kg and Lisa Allpress to beat Fleur de Lune with 55kg on her back.

It was a dominant performance to grab a brave Fleur de Lune and one that guaranteed Dowager Queen passage to Queensland for the winter carnival.

The word Dowager generally refers to aristocracy and will become even more appropriate if the filly achieves one of racing's most difficult tasks, beating the Australians in the juvenile ranks.

The way Dowager Queen stormed home to win the 1600m Champagne Stakes at Ellerslie at her final start before Saturday suggests she will be well suited to the grind of the 1400m A$250,000 Sires Produce and 1600m of the A$500,000 TJ Smith in Brisbane.

The tip from the Kentucky Derby - what a horse third-placed Mucho Macho Man might eventually end up being.

He couldn't provide heart transplant recipient Kathy Ritvo with Derby success, but his strong finish into third was massive.

He was the youngest horse in the race - not yet 3 in real terms - he was the biggest horse of the 19 and looked as though a year and 35kg on his frame would make him into a real racehorse.

The Florida-based Ritvo can look forward to plenty of fun.