Racing: Top chaser packs punch over hurdles

Paul Nelson. Photo / Duncan Brown

We now all know Counter Punch as a gun steeplechaser with four unbeaten runs over the big fences.

But he goes into tomorrow's $75,000 Great Northern Hurdles with a pretty damn good record over hurdles.

Counter Punch's last hurdling start was a win in the Wellington Hurdles last winter, after a closing fifth in the Waikato Hurdles, which was too sharp a race for him.

He had two years away from racing with injury and just before that finished a close third in the 2007 Great Northern Hurdles to Just Not Cricket after being left in front a shade too soon. Before that he won the Grand National Hurdles at Riccarton.

That's a classy background to take into this race, even with 68kg topweight.

Mark Oulaghan is so smart with a jumper he wouldn't be switching Counter Punch back from his Grand National Steeplechase win last start to a hurdle race here unless he thought he could win it.

A clash between Counter Punch and Grand National Hurdles winner Joint Effort is fascinating, particularly with back-up runners as classy as Solid Steal and Waitaha Toa.

Recent rain has been to the advantage of Joint Effort, whose ability to get through the worst of winter footing in winning the Grand National was nothing short of remarkable.

While the remainder of the National field were struggling to lift their legs in the closing stages of the National, Joint Effort powered on to score by 22 lengths.

This test of stamina tomorrow will be just as stern and the southern mare from the wilderness of Mossburn won't be found wanting.

Paul Nelson is expecting something better from Solid Steal than the seventh and fourth placings he recorded in the Sydenham Hurdles and Grand National Hurdles at Riccarton.

Nelson believes Solid Steal would have been second or third in the National but for a bad jump 800m out, but is reasonably certain the horse must have had a touch of a virus in the South Island. "Looking back he definitely wasn't himself.

"The problem is often there is no outward sign of a virus and sometimes it doesn't show even in their blood.

"It's not until they're put under pressure in a race that they come up short on what you expect of them."

Solid Steal showed in his Wellington Hurdles win he can handle the worst of winter footing.

Waitaha Toa's second to Joint Effort was a good effort, but it probably exposed his lack of real experience at the top level of jumping.

Trainer Lisa Latta believes she probably made a mistake not running the horse on the first day at Riccarton.

He remains one of jumping's finest up-and-coming prospects and it will be a mammoth effort if he can beat the more experienced jumpers.