Waipukurau horse wins two-day New Plymouth carnival

Pep Torque and Charlotte O'Beirne are out on their own at the finish of the Kamada Park City Of New Plymouth Cup. Photo/ Race Images.

Waipukurau horse Pep Torque has won the Kamada Park City of New Plymouth Cup in New Plymouth over the weekend.

An eye-catching performance for third on the first day of the two-day New Plymouth carnival paved the way for Pep Torque to bounce back to winning form, taking out the 1800m race on Sunday, December 29 .

The 6-year-old horse, trained and part-owned by Kirsty Lawrence, hit a purple patch of form around this time last year when winning twice at Trentham in January and again in March.

Pep Torque was ridden by Charlotte O'Beirne, who had the horse travelling nicely in the trail throughout before slipping through on the inner of pacemaker Sergeant Blast rounding the home bend.

Kirsty says she and her fellow owners had been pretty vocal when supporting their charge during the race, who had been billeted at local trainer John Wheeler's property over the past few days.

"He's a real family pet this horse," Kirsty says.

"He's got a team of loyal owners and we've come away for a bit of a holiday and stayed at Linda and John's.

"It was a lovely ride and we were pretty pleased with him after the first day as he ran the fastest last 600m in that race."

Kirsty says she is happy with the win.

"He's as honest as the day is long and I'm really pleased for Charlotte as she has stuck with him and she just loves this horse," she says.