Hawke’s Bay owned and trained Eparaima resumed from a spell with a decisive win on the Awapuni synthetic track on Friday of last week.
The well bred mare was sent out one of the favourites for the Rating 65 race over 1200m and, after giving her supporters some anxious moments in the early stages, she powered home from the back to win by 1-1/2 lengths.
It was Eparaima’s second win from 13 starts and she has also recorded a second and three thirds.
Trained at Hastings by Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos, Eparaima has spoilt her chances in the past by being slow away and she again dropped out to be a clear last in the early stages of last week’s race.
There was plenty of pace on up front and jockey Craig Grylls didn’t panic, letting Eparaima settle at the back before sending her on a forward move around the field entering the last 600m.
Eparaima was the widest runner turning into the home straight and kept up a strong run down he outside to sweep past the leader Pleasing inside the last 100m.
The win was a real Hawke’s Bay triumph as the four-year-old mare is owned and raced by a large group, many of whom live in Central Hawke’s Bay.
The daughter of Per Incanto was bred by former Hawke’s Bay Racing chairman Mick Ormond and is raced by him in partnership with several of his family members and friends. She is named after the family farm in Wallingford.
She is out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Eva Godiva, who was the winner of one race and is a daughter of the multiple stakes winning mare Gussy Godiva.
Guy Lowry said this week Eparaima has come through her winning run in good order and is likely to start next on the first day of the Colliers Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival, on September 7.
The mare now has a rating of 65 points and Lowry said she will either contest the Rating 65 race over 1300m or the Rating 75 event over 1400m, with both races carrying a stake of $65,000.
Dictation’s win only highlight for stable
Dictation provided Hastings training partners Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal with their only high point at this year’s Grand National meeting when he recorded a dominant win in a $35,000 0-1 win hurdle race last Saturday.
The Nelson/McDougal stable took a team of four horses south to Riccarton for the annual National meeting but only got to start three of them.
A suspensory ligament injury ruled the stable’s star jumper The Cossack out of last Saturday’s Grand National Steeplechase while misfortune also struck the other three.
Dictation fell at the last fence in the Sydenham Hurdles (3100m) on the first day of the meeting, when clear in the lead and looking the likely winner.
Nedwin was the stable’s big hope in last Saturday’s Grand National Hurdles (4200m) but he was pulled out of the race with one fence to jump after a mishap at an earlier fence had knocked his confidence and sapped his energy.
Nelson decided to line up the relative novice jumper Al’s Red Zed in last Saturday’s Grand National Steeplechase (5600m) when the race drew only eight runners, with the horse backing up after finishing fourth in the Koral Steeplechase (4250m) on the first day. The big Zed gelding tried his heart out over a much longer but was running on empty when he fell at the last fence.
So it was fitting that the Nelson/McDougal team did come away with at least one win and Dictation certainly stamped himself as a jumping force for the future.
The seven-year-old Tavistock gelding was purchased by Paul Nelson for $20,000 from the Gavelhouse auction site in 2022 and is owned by the I See Red Syndicate, a large group of jumping enthusiasts who have raced a number of top performers from the Nelson stable over many years.
Just A Swagger was the syndicate’s first winner when he took out as maiden hurdle in 2004 and he went on to win two Grand National Hurdles (4200m) and a Grand National Steeplechase (5600m).
Game debut win by Hastings three-year-old
Hastings-trained Anushka Shesastar went some way towards repaying her connections for her $130,000 purchase price with a game debut win in a $17,000 maiden three-year-old race at Woodville last Sunday.
The Proisir filly, prepared by John Bary, was sent out a $2.60 favourite for the 1200m event and got the job done for her supporters when winning by a long neck.
Only five horses contested the race and jockey Joe Doyle allowed Anushka Superstar to settle fourth in the running until approaching the home turn.
While the riders of the other four runners angled their mounts towards the outside of the track rounding the bend, Doyle stuck reasonably close to the inside and the filly quickly joined the leaders.
She took a clear lead soon after but then had to call on her reserves over the final stages as second placed Stewart started to mount a late challenge.
The first two had the finish to themselves with 3-1/4 lengths back to third placed Librero.
Anushka Shesastar is owned by Auckland-based Narendra Balia and his Family Trust and was a $130,000 purchase from the two-year-old Ready To Run sale at Karaka in November last year.
She is the first foal produced by the lightly raced Savabeel mare Blitzabeel, who only had three race starts for a third, a fifth and a sixth.
Anushka Shesastar showed a glimpse of her ability when winning a 1000m Foxton trial on July 4.
Hercock starts season in top form
Hawke’s Bay jockey Kate Hercock has hit the ground running in the new racing season, kicking home five winners in the first fortnight of racing and travelling plenty of kilometres to do it.
The experienced rider rode Street Fightin Man to victory at Riccarton on August 3 and then headed back up north to ride at Hawera the next day where she kicked home a brace of wins with Piper’s Son and Trigger Happy.
Hercock then chalked up another two winners, St Elmo’s Fire and Jack Morrison, at Awapuni on August 9.
Her tally of five wins placed her second equal on the National Jockeys’ Premiership behind Sam Spratt.
Hercock had one of her best seasons of riding last term when chalking up 48 wins, only eight less than her record season of 56 wins in 2003-2004.
Mark Oulaghan a humble history-making trainer
Mark Oulaghan is among the most successful and humble figures in New Zealand jumps racing, a sport that witnessed a history-making performance by his stable star West Coast last Saturday at Riccarton Park.
West Coast collected a phenomenal third-straight Grand National Steeplechase (5600m), an achievement never before achieved in the 149-year history of the event, while his younger stablemate Berry The Cash also went back-to-back in the Grand National Hurdles (4200m).
Reflecting on a successful week in Christchurch, Oulaghan was pleased to defend the titles while adding some history to the iconic feature.
“Everyone spoke about making history with the three wins, so to get that done was quite good,” Oulaghan said.
“I take satisfaction out of developing horses as they race on through their careers, probably more so with jumpers than flat horses because there is a bit more involved.
“West Coast had one or two dents in his armour earlier on in his career and didn’t settle that well, but I thought his run on Saturday was probably the best I’d ever seen him go. He jumped everything well, he was relaxed in a good rhythm and it was close to a perfect performance.
“To see those two horses performing like that carrying topweights and as pretty short-priced favourites, it was right up there with one of my best days in racing.”
Oulaghan has been travelling to the Grand National Festival for more than 25 years and has made plenty of his own history in that time, winning nine Steeplechase and six Hurdle crowns, the most of any trainer.
“When we first started going there, there were a few more local horses going around and more races at the carnival. It’s hard to compare but they were quite hard to win back then, and maybe I didn’t have the horsepower that I have got now as well,” he said.
“There hasn’t been a great deal of change otherwise, other than the middle day not including jump races anymore, it’s one of the last jumping carnivals that has really stuck to their guns.
“It’s a shame to have lost the Wednesday, but even down to two days of jumping, if they can do that right and carry on, I can’t see why it can’t be a successful carnival in the years to come.”
Growing up in Woodville around horses, Oulaghan had followed his father into racing with the guidance of a couple of local legends, including the late Eric Ropiha.
“My father originally was a vet in Woodville, he used to do a lot of racehorses in the area and I followed him around a bit which got me into the racing side,” Oulaghan said.
“I rode at pony club, went hunting and did a bit of show jumping and things like that, then the natural progression was starting off as an owner-trainer with Dad, we had a few horses together.
“It was either racing or farming for me As a younger person I was keen to go farming but one thing led to another and I got tied up with the horses and stuck to that.
“When I started off, there was an old guy there called Ian Bradbury who trained quite a few nice jumpers and I learnt a bit off him. I was involved with Eric Ropiha as well, he had jumping horses too, so they were two that I picked up a few things from.
“I started getting a few outside horses and got a public licence. I was in Woodville until 1997 and had moderate success there, then I shifted over to Palmerston North and have been here ever since.”