Racing: Owners tickled pink at mare’s timely victory

Bruce Herd saluted the judge with great satisfaction after northern visitor Tickle won the $40,000 Manawatu Breeders' Stakes at Awapuni.

The Palmerston North jockey wanted nothing more than to do good by trainer John Sargent, for whom Herd used to ride when the Matamata trainer was based at Awapuni in the mid-1990s.

"John had every excuse to push me aside in troubled times while he was training at Awapuni because, basically, I let him down, among others, when I had personal problems," Herd said.

"But he stuck with me through thick and thin, and to return that faith by putting me on this mare today was a sign of his undivided friendship.

"I'm just rapt to return the favour for him and his owners, so take it from me, this is something special."

Tickle only had a neck to spare on fast-finishing Cambridge-trained mare Dowry in Saturday's listed stakes' race for fillies and mares. There was a nose to pacemaker Anne Carina, third, but Herd said his mare had the situation under control.

"She [Tickle] lost concentration [with the starting gates pulled to the outside in the home straight] and I had to ride her pretty hard," Herd said.

"But she only does what she has to, and was picking up again near the line when she heard Dowry coming at her. She's a lovely, laidback mare with a great attitude, and just a pleasure to ride."

Sargent was not present for the win but the mare was represented by two of her owners, Mark and Cath Lupton, of Matamata. They race Tickle in partnership with Melbourne lawyer Terry Read and London solicitor Gary Howes. It was only the day beforehand that the syndicate had exercised a right of purchase of $60,000 to buy Tickle, who they previously raced on lease.

"We were going to buy her for a breeding proposition sooner or later," said Mark Lupton, who operates an agistment farm in Matamata.

Tickle was leased to them by Jim Barlow, of Barlow Thoroughbreds Ltd, but the lease was due to expire at the end of July.

"We didn't want to wait that long when the money's been sitting in the bank all along, so we went for it. You could say the mare's scored a very timely win.

"I'm rapt for Terry [Read] because he's in New Zealand at the moment attending a family party in Te Aroha, so he would have been watching the race on Trackside. And Gary [Howes] would have been listening in from London somehow."

The syndicate began in harness racing with Holmes Hanover pacer Riley Hale, who was trained by Barry Purdon.

"We won six with him before selling him on to North America, where he has won a further 14 races," Lupton said.

"After Riley Hale was sold, the boys said they wanted to get into thoroughbreds as well, so I rang my good mate John [Sargent] to see if we could arrange a lease on a filly ... something with Oaks potential, of course."

Tickle will now attempt to make her presence felt in Australia, and a trip to the Brisbane winter carnival is pending.

The first race pencilled in is the Lord Mayor's Cup at Eagle Farm on April 30 followed by the Prime Minister's Cup on May 14 and the Doomben Cup on May 28.

"Providing she holds her form through those races, she will possibly attempt the Brisbane Cup itself on June 13," Lupton said.

- NZPA