Hastings thoroughbred owner Margaret Harkema experienced both the highs and lows of racing at last Saturday’s Otaki meeting.

Harkema is the owner of the Hastings-trained mare Abeecee, who scored a game win in the final race on the card, a $40,000 Rating 65 race over 2100m.

But one race before that Harkema was left devastated when one of her best performed horses, Exit Left, suffered a fractured foreleg during the running of the $80,000 Feilding Cup (2100m) and had to be humanely euthanised.

Exit Left was having is 20th race start and had a record of four wins, five seconds and two thirds. He had won more than $138,000 in stakemoney, which was a huge return on the $1500 Harkema outlayed to purchase the horse from the Gavelhouse equine auction site.

Exit Left was also one of the star gallopers in the Hastings stable of Mick Brown and Sue Thompson and the Turn Me Loose six-year-old had recorded his most important win when taking out the $65,000 Howden Mile (1600m) on the first day of this year’s Colliers Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival.

Abeecee is trained on the Hastings track by Caitlin Johnson and was recording her second win from 16 starts, the first coming in a 2140m maiden race on the Awapuni synthetic track four months ago.

The Belardo mare was a $6000 purchase by Harkema from the 2023 Karaka yearling sales and is out of the Anabaa mare So Comely, who was the winner of one race from three starts in Australia.

So Comely’s dam was the Jade Hunter mare So Keen, whose was the winner of 10 races and was placed third behind Loader and Red Cent in the 1996 Group 1 Railway Handicap (1200m) at Ellerslie.

Although Abeecee is bred on sprinting lines, Johnson has always felt that she would excel over longer distances and the mare was placed over 2200m as a young horse, when trained in the north by Emma Faber.

Leah Hemi rode Abeecee to victory last Saturday and made the most of the horse’s number one barrier to slot her into a perfect trailing position from the outset.

Abeecee was momentarily left flat-footed when the leaders suddenly increased the pace starting the last 900m and she got shuffled back a few places coming to the home turn.

But Hemi angled the horse back down to the inside rail in the home straight and she rallied again to fight out the finish with Joan’s Joker, who was mounting a big run out wide.

The two horses fought hard over the final stages with Abeecee just managing the get a nose decision on the line. They had the finish to themselves, with third placed Chelsea Rose being 3-1/2 lengths further back.

Johnson said this week she is uncertain where Abeecee will start next but that the $35,000 Waipukurau Cup (2100m), feature race at the Waipukurau Jockey Club’s meeting on November 15, is an option.

Sam Spratt back on track

Jockey Sam Spratt’s infectious smile will make a welcome return to the Te Rapa racecourse this Saturday, where she will resume raceday riding after a 20-month absence.

Spratt initially took time away from the sport to have her daughter, Riley, who was born in September last year. Intent on making a swift comeback, Spratt returned to the saddle soon after giving birth, but disaster struck just weeks later when a horse fell on top of her in trackwork, breaking her pelvis in multiple places as well as fracturing a couple of vertebrae.

“Having a newborn wasn’t tricky enough, so I thought I would throw in a shattered pelvis as well,” Spratt quipped. “I broke my pelvis in about eight places, the front of my pelvis was all shattered, and I fractured a couple of my vertebrae as well. When I went in (to the hospital) they said I did a good job.”

The 41-year-old hoop had to undergo two surgeries and spent a significant amount of time in a wheelchair following her initial operation last year but said she made swift progress following her second surgery in June.

“It was broken in half and the whole pelvis had twisted, so they straightened it up by putting some screws in my leg and they pulled my femur down, which straightened the pelvis and made the pelvis round, and then put two big rods from one side of my pelvis to the other across the back,” Spratt said.

“I was in a wheelchair for four months because I wasn’t allowed to put weight on it. I was only allowed to stand on one leg to get myself from the wheelchair to the toilet or bed.

“After that I gradually went to crutches before being able to walk. For about two or three months I was walking but I constantly had a limp and I wasn’t right, so that is when I went to my doctor, I had a CT scan done and the surgeon said my pelvis wasn’t even attached, so no wonder I was limping.

“That’s when I went back for surgery and then I was back on crutches and progressed from there. I started making good progression and it has been a pretty speedy recovery once my pelvis was attached.

While recovering from her injuries was enough to deal with, having a newborn to care for brought its own challenges, but Spratt said she wouldn’t have had it any other way.

“She (Riley) is awesome and is so cruisy,” Spratt said. “By having her and having something to do was awesome, otherwise I would be sitting there depressed, whereas she has made me have to get up and do stuff.”

With Spratt sustaining her injuries within weeks of Riley’s birth, much of the pressure fell on her partner, Bryce. However, Spratt said they were grateful for the support of their family and friends, who rallied around them.

Spratt has three confirmed mounts this Saturday, including the Stephen Marsh-trained Tardelli in the Listed $100,000 Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m).

Spratt has recorded 1127 wins in New Zealand over 25 years, including 112 at Group or Listed level, and while she isn’t putting pressure on herself on her return, she is hoping to quickly add to that tally.

“I am just going to enjoy it and what will be will be, and hopefully I pick up a few speedy ones along the way,” she said.

Winner relegated in Big Dance

Fans have been left heavily divided after a dramatic finish to The Big Dance at Royal Randwick on Tuesday.

Chad Schofield was first past the post on Formal Display and thought he'd won the $1.56 million first prize.

But Nash Rawiller lodged a protest after finishing fourth on Gringotts, and the protest was sensationally upheld. Racing NSW stewards agreed with Rawiller that Schofield had shifted out from the rail and impeded Gringotts near the 600m mark.

Stewards relegated Formal Display to fourth and moved Gringotts up to third, meaning Hellsing was promoted to first and Matias to second. Formal Display's connections lost $1.41 million because the prizemoney for fourth place was a mere $150,000.

Rawiller told the stewards: "It was quite severe interference at a difficult point of the race. I would have been three lengths closer, and travelling, and picking the runs as they opened."

Schofield argued that he was impeded as well and would have won the race by even further if he got a clear run. "My horse was held up until the last 50 metres of the race. If he gets a gap, he goes on and wins by three lengths," Schofield said.

Chief steward Tom Moxon eventually ruled that Formal Display would have had "an unimpeded run to the end of the race".

He added: "Having regard to the incident and the ground lost, and how the horse did then close the race off, the stewards can be comfortably satisfied that, had that interference between the 600 metres and 500 metres not occurred, Gringotts would have finished in advance of Formal Display and therefore, we uphold the protest."

In a further twist, Schofield was also hit with a nine-meeting suspension for careless riding over the incident. It comes after he was banned six meetings for the same offence when riding Skyhook to victory in last Saturday’s A$10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) on the same Randwick track.

NZTR to back apprentice scheme

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing is calling for expressions of interest from aspiring jockeys and trainers looking to support a new apprentice in 2027.

The intake offers riders a pathway into professional race riding through the Elite Jockey Programme, NZTR’s high-performance development programme for apprentice jockeys.

Expressions of interest close on November 30, giving prospective apprentices time to complete the required probationary period, riding assessments and development activities ahead of licensing.

NZTR General Manager Welfare and Industry Capability, Sam Fursdon, says an apprenticeship provides an opportunity for committed riders to turn their passion for horses into a career.

“Becoming a jockey takes dedication, discipline and a willingness to keep learning. For those prepared to put in the work, it can offer an exciting and fulfilling career. Through the Elite Jockey Programme, riders develop their skills and confidence with coaching, practical experience and support as they work towards professional race riding.”

Apprentice jockeys combine practical experience in trackwork and races with structured learning and guidance from their trainer and the NZTR EJP team. Alongside riding skills, they develop an understanding of race tactics, personal performance management and effective communication.

Apprentice licensing takes place between March and July, coinciding with the transition into the wetter months when track conditions soften and apprentices have traditionally provided greater value to trainers through their riding claims.