Racing: Marton galloper Te Kahu wins Great Northern Steeplechase

Te Kahu clears a fence on his way to victory in the Diprose Miller Great Northern Steeplechase (6200m) at Te Aroha on Sunday. Photo / Race Images - Kenton Wright

Once again the greater Whanganui region has produced the winner of the country's most prestigious jumping race, the Diprose Miller Great Northern Steeplechase.

After competing for the full 6.2km distance of a gruelling Great Northern, less than half a length separated the eventual winner - Marton galloper Te Kahu - from gallant runner-up Zartan at Te Aroha on Sunday.

No less than 10 winners of the great race since 1998 have been owned and/or trained in the greater Whanganui region, including last year's victor Magic Wonder.

Raced at Te Aroha, due to Covid-19 restrictions, instead of its spiritual home over the famed Ellerslie hill, the race lived up to its epic history as the first two home settled down to a ding-dong battle over the final fence.

Pacemaker Zartan and rider Shaun Phelan had controlled proceedings from barrier rise and went for home with three fences to clear.

Te Kahu and Waverley horseman Matthew Cropp, along with No Tip and Shaun Fannin, headed the chase and joined issue with Zartan entering the home straight.

No Tip was the first to drop away, with the Dan O'Leary-trained Te Kahu taking a narrow lead after jumping the final obstacle. O'Leary, of course, is one of the four Whangaehu dairy farming brothers who, with their wives, raced the popular Who Shot Thebarman several years ago.

Zartan would not be denied and rallied again to push Te Kahu all the way to the line; however, the 8-year-old Marton visitor had enough in hand to hold out the challenge by half a length to register the third and biggest win of his 14-start career.

O'Leary, who co-owns Te Kahu in partnership with his wife Jane, was struggling to take in what his charge had achieved at such an early stage in his jumping life.

"It's a huge thrill and I'm just absolutely stoked," he said.

"It's a funny thing, but when he was first being schooled and taught to jump by Matthew, he came in one day and said to me he felt like a real Northern type of horse that would just stay all day.

"I told him he was mad as he hadn't even had a start at that stage, but it just shows you that sometimes these things are meant to be.

"He has always been a little slow for the flat but just loves his jumping, with the bigger the fences the better.

"He had a couple of races at Ellerslie last season and really finished off well, so I thought with a year on him and getting over the Northern distance then he could be a chance, but you are never confident in a race like this."

O'Leary will now spend the summer planning a schedule for Te Kahu which could include an Australian sojourn if he comes up well for a new campaign.

"We'll get him home and let the dust settle before we do anything with him, but he is a young horse that still has it all ahead of him," he said.

"There are several options here, although I have in the back of my mind that he could be the perfect type for a race like the Grand Annual Steeplechase (5500m) at Warrnambool.

"Who knows what the travel situation will be like then, but I'd like to give it a shot if we had the opportunity."