Racing: Wheeler's horsemanship to fore

Bennyosler (Richard Eynon) showing his jumping prowess in the Grand National Steeplechase at Riccarton on Saturday. Photo / Otago Daily Times

John Wheeler loves climbing mountains.

And, yes, he's addicted to skiing as well.

The mountains the Taranaki horse trainer prefers to climb are the imaginary ones.

Like winning Riccarton's famous Grand National Steeples with a horse who had not previously won a steeplechase.

One that had raced only once over the big fences.

That's simply impossible.

John Wheeler loves the impossible.

The mountain is never too high to climb.

The late Sir Edmund Hillary would have been proud of John Wheeler at Riccarton on Saturday.

Particularly as Sir Ed was probably breathless when he got to the top of Everest, whereas Bennyosler could have gone around Riccarton twice more on Saturday after having put the opposition to the sword and making them look second class.

They weren't, which is a marvellous tribute to Bennyosler and an even greater one to John Wheeler.

No one else would have tried what he did on Saturday.

The new racing season has just started and no one will achieve a greater goal with a horse in the next 12 months.

If you think a jockey's life is easy, really absorb what a couple of them went through this week.

About 500m out in last Wednesday's Grand National Hurdles, Englishman George Strickland was something like 30 lengths clear of the opposition on Rioch and confident he could hang on for his lifetime biggest win.

At that exact moment Tommy Hazlett was starting to believe he could pick the leader up on Solid Steal.

Rioch crashed at the fence near the home turn, got up and ran into the path of Solid Steal, bringing him and Hazlett down as well.

Hazlett was gutted, but relied on the fact that he was riding the favourite, Counter Punch, in Saturday's Grand National Steeples.

Counter Punch broke down on Friday and you can only imagine Strickland's thoughts when he looked across at how beautifully Bennyosler was travelling at the 800m, when he was aboard the only possible threat, Nicholman. It's doubtful there has ever been a horse travelling as well late in a major steeplechase as Bennyosler was throughout the last lap on Saturday.

Not only did Bennyosler achieve the impossible, he did it with stunning ease.

So how good is this horse who has suddenly burst into the headlines from virtual obscurity?

With all that said, Bennyosler had some help.

It will always be said that if a horse of his lack of experience was ever going to try the National, this was the year.

Riccarton's fences, once famous for their height and toughness, have been rebuilt and at the moment are only fractionally more substantial than the CJC's hurdles.

But there is still the distance to consider - the 5600m is a lap further than Bennyosler had previously been asked to race over.

John Wheeler, as modest as ever after a big win, was happy to add in a couple more positives going into the race.

"He's the right type of horse for that race the way the fences are at the moment.

"Most horses you wouldn't try that with.

"The better track conditions also helped. Not that he's useless in the wet, but the drier track disadvantaged a few of the others, some of the bigger horses like Nicholman [second]."

The size of the fences definitely suited Bennyosler, who simply flew every one of them.

"He's a clever jumper," says Wheeler.

"He gets right in underneath the fences and nips them. He never tries to go for a big one [leap], he just skips over them."

Wheeler was last year worried about Bennyosler getting back to his form after a heavy fall in the Hawkes Bay Hurdles. "It took a lot of races to get him back.

"He totally lost his confidence and I think most of that was because he didn't know what he'd done wrong.

"He couldn't understand why he'd fallen. But he'd clipped the top of one, only fractionally, but he couldn't get his landing gear down quickly enough."

Bennyosler had the National won with a lap to travel. The only worrying moment was when his front legs knuckled landing over the last fence.

John Wheeler had not been aware of it until he watched a replay of the race yesterday and rider Richard Eynon said he hadn't even felt the effect of it at the time.

A few years ago, Wheeler won the world's richest jumping race, the Nakayama Grand Jump in Japan, with St Steven and has been waiting for the right type of horse to come along again.

Suddenly, he's found it and his chance of selection for the Nakayama was done no harm by the presence at Riccarton on Saturday of representatives of the Japan Racing Association.

The course for the Nakayama is tight and turning and requires speed, agility and the ability to jump off both legs - Bennyosler's total package.

"I'll definitely go if he's invited."

Meantime Wheeler will look at the toughest of them all, the Great Northern Steeplechase at Ellerslie.

"It's in September now and if we get a week of good weather going into the race the track should be pretty good.

"If not, if the track is heavy, I might run him in the hurdles instead."

Nicholman, unlucky in last year's National, bravely chased Bennyosler from the 1000m, but barring accidents he was always going to run second.

Sadly, his stablemate Mountain High had to be put down after a mishap.

Cambridge jumper Poacher stuck on gamely to run third after being handy throughout.

Romeo is not a horse trainer James Wallace ever gets confident with.

Conditions rarely suit the horse enough to be confident.

But Wallace was reasonably happy Romeo had a winning chance in Saturday's $20,000 Wharfe Bros 1600m at Pukekohe.

And he was right.

"The track was perfect for him," said a delighted Wallace.

"When the track gets to just inside the heavy range he's ideally suited.

"He doesn't like the real heavy stuff, but when the rating is about 9 he fires."

* * *

Romeo got clear of the favourite Coolross with Material Girl third.

"We haven't got a lot planned out for him, he's not that sort of horse, but if he snuck into a race like the Matamata Cup with the right sort of track I think he'd be competitive."

* * *

Former Cambridge galloper Rios finished a fair fifth behind Mic Mac, with top galloper El Segundo third, in his first start from his new Melbourne stable, that of Flemington trainer Danny O'Brien, on Saturday.

The Hussonet 5-year-old has raced well when fresh in the past, but the 1200m of the listed Aurie's Star Handicap at Flemington was short of his best.