Racing: Weight of history against local hurdles favourite

Victory for Narousa in the Grand National Hurdles today would see him become the highest-weighted winner since the introduction of metrics to New Zealand racing.

Narousa has the topweight of 67kg in today's $60,000 event at Riccarton Park in Christchurch and the highest weight carried to victory since the arrival of metrics in 1972 was 63.5kg by Bart's Best in 1997.

In addition no winner has carried more than 62.5kg to win since the Riccarton track was remodelled in 1997 and the last three winners - of which one was Narousa - each carried 60.5kg or less.

Apart from Bart's Best, Woodbine Blue Chip and Rand (62.5kg) are the only horses to carry more than 61kg to victory in the last decade and few would argue that those three were very special hurdlers.

Narousa has had only three races, two of them on the flat, in the last 14 months, the most recent at Hastings on July 3.

Rand had had seven races leading into his Grand National win and Woodbine Blue Chip raced three times in July alone before his Sydenham-National winning double.

But Narousa is himself something special. Last year he won the Waikato and Great Northern Hurdles, which added to his 2001 Grand National win when in the Otago stable of Brian and Shane Anderton.

As weights go, there is a factor in his favour. Until this season the minimum weight for the Grand National was 60kg but is now raised to 62kg. So for a horse to be able to carry big weights like Narousa, his 67kg equates to 65kg under the previous scale.

A factor against him in his buildup was the cancelled Wellington Hurdles which was going to be the race which topped him off for today's assignment.

In theory two flat runs and a good effort for third in the Hawke's Bay Hurdles on July 3 with 67kg is not a classic preparation for the 4200m of the national.

Said trainer Pam Gerard: "We won't know until after the race how much missing the Wellington Hurdles has affected him.

"It is probably bound to have some effect but I have been trying to minimise it with extra work.

"Usually he will do 15 to 18km roadwork in a day, two or three days a week. Lately he has been doing it every day, and he is handling it well. He really does look the part.

"My worry is that he has not done quite as much fast work because with his dicky leg you can't be doing the strong miles and the speed miles at the same time. But I am really very happy with the way he is, considering that missed race."

To win today would be an amazing comeback for a horse whose career was heading for the history books nine months ago when a tendon problem surfaced in Australia.

While victory with such a heavy weight sounds nearly impossible, Narousa's task has been made easier by five of his rivals being scratched.

That will at least reduce his chances of suffering traffic problems, which because of his big weight would be disastrous.

While Narousa will head the South Island defence of the race the locals are greatly outnumbered, with eight of the 11 starters coming from north of Cook Strait. That would make a southern win even more enjoyable for the crowd.

- NZPA