Wanganui-owned Rangatira capped off a memorable 12 months by being named NZ Racing's Champion Jumper of the Year on Thursday night.
The NZ Racing Horse of the Year awards were announced at a dinner at the Claudelands Event Centre in Hamilton and with 30 votes, Rangatira was the clear winnerin the jumper category.
Owned by Wanganui businessman Alistair Murdoch and painting contractor Allan Barnes, in 2013 Rangatira seemed destined for retirement after a flat racing career with Chris and Dick Bothwell, until the owners decided to give him a crack over the fences.
They transferred the horse to Steve Gulliver's Stratford stable, with the trainer taking a racing share. Then in September at Ellerslie, Rangatira went on to claim a dramatic Great Northern Steeplechase, when stand-in jockey Issac Lupton took him out to a very surprising 100m lead, which he then held by barely a nose from former Great Northern winner Kidunot.
Being a dashing front runner had Rangatira to the fore again this July when he snatched the Wellington Steeplechase with another exciting all-the-way victory under jockey Cory Perrett.
It was his second start after returning from a campaign in Australia where he finished second in the Great Eastern Steeplechase at Oakbank before failing in the Grand Annual at Warrnambool.
The Wellington win was Rangatira's fourth in steeplechase and took his career record to eight wins from 64 starts and $185,000 in earnings. A scan after the race revealed a serious tendon injury which will prevent Rangatira from defending his Great Northern title next month. Steeplechase racing returns to Wanganui tomorrow with a 10-race programme, headlined by the $20,000 feature Jolt Coffee House Wanganui Steeplechase over 4100m. The Wanganui Jockey Club ran its first jumps days of 2014 on May 8.
