Words of warning as superstar steeplechaser West Coast returns

Today West Coast is once again taking on the steeplechase fences that have made him a star. Photo / Kenton Wright

SUNDAY SPECIAL

• Today is one of the bigger days of the jumping season.
•  The Hawkes Bay Hurdles and Steeplechase will both be held at Woodville as the Hastings track remains closed awaiting recambering.
• Mark Oulaghan trains the superstar topweights in both races.

The man who will take two of the superstars of New Zealand jumps racing to Woodville today does so with words of warning.

Trainer Mark Oulaghan has his big guns Berry The Cash (R3, No 1) and West Coast (R6, No 1) to the Hawkes Bay Hurdles and Steeples respectively, with West Coast returning to the big fences for the first time this campaign.

Both horses are being set for a return to Riccarton next month to chase the Grand Nationals, with West Coast looking to win the iconic race for the fourth straight year. But while nobody doubts West Coast is the king of New Zealand steeplechasing, Oulaghan says today is a step towards that bigger goal – and the mammoth jumper could be vulnerable.

“It is his first steeplechase this time in and while he is ready for it, it will also bring him on,” says Oulaghan.

“I wouldn’t be that disappointed if he was beaten because he will improve and hopefully this will get him fitter for Riccarton.”

West Coast’s campaign started in a low when he was pulled up in the Manawatu Hurdle last month and while it was a race he was never going to win, it was a worrying sign.


“He actually wasn’t working that well heading into that race,” admits Oulaghan.

“He also had an off day but he has improved in his training since and while he ran second-last in his flat race last start, I was a lot happier with him.

“So he is heading in the right direction but he could be vulnerable this weekend.”

The problem for those not wanting to take the risk on the giant jumper is finding one to beat him in the steeplechase, which lacks top-end depth.

That isn’t the case in the hurdle, where Berry The Cash has to lump 73kg against a host of major-race winners.

He has raced at the huge Warrnambool carnival this campaign, so carried residual fitness to Ōtaki on Tuesday, where he finished third on the flat.

“He is just a really good horse and is probably more ready for Sunday than West Coast but he faces a better field.”

Berry The Cash has had an exceptional last two years but has rarely met a field as deep as today’s and that, coupled with his 73kg – which will sit heavier on him than West Coast as he is a smaller horse – make it hard to back him with confidence.

Unlike the steeplechase, there are plenty of viable options for punters willing to bet against Berry The Cash, from reigning Great Northern winner Lord Spencer to Happy Star, Taika and the in-form Squire.

Today’s meeting is a winter wonderland for jumps fans, with three hurdle races to start the card, two steeplechases in the middle and the four flat races all being highweights, including one for amateurs, meaning the flat jockeys get to have a day off.

* The Egmont meeting at Hāwera, which was abandoned on Saturday because of heavy rain, will now be held on Tuesday.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.