Racing: Pier mare transforms into dream

Sam, Briar and Lou Weatherly celebrate Pier's win. Photo / Supplied

Trainer Darryn Weatherley's dream of winning the 2000 Guineas with Pier turned to a nightmare at the halfway stage of the Group 1 race at Riccarton yesterday.

But the great thing about nightmares is you can wake up from them, and Weatherley and the family team behind Pier did just that a minute later.

Pier went into the $500,000 3-year-old race the warm favourite but found himself midfield and following the wrong horses at the 1000m mark when the pace went out of the race.

That prompted jockey Michael McNab to pull him three wide and expose him early, hardly ideal on the huge Riccarton track.

"I was watching the race kind of on my own, and when he was out there three wide, my heart sank," said Weatherley.

"I thought we were in trouble and again when they came at him in the straight but [McNab] knew what he was doing."

Even when the swoopers challenged with 300m to go, McNab waited to ask Pier for the ultimate effort and he delivered to take his record to three wins from four starts.

The win was the biggest of Weatherley's training career, made even more special by the fact he now trains with his daughter Briar while his son Sam, on a riding suspension, also played a huge part in Pier's preparation.

Also buzzing would have been part-owner Ozzie Kheir, whose colours had won the A$300,000 Queen's Cup at Flemington aboard Soulcombe just minutes earlier.

While McNab's ugly ride to win the Guineas was a thing of beauty, visiting Australian jockey Josh Parr ran him close for ride of the day with a rails-hugging special to win the Metropolitan on Campionessa.

Having his first day riding in New Zealand, Parr produced a gem to get the Mark Walker-trained mare home from last in the main lead-up race to next Saturday's New Zealand Cup.

The other feature of the day was won by the "Lisas", with jockey Allpress and trainer Latta combining to win the $80,000 Pegasus Stakes with Lincoln's Kruz.