Hawke’s Bay-trained horses dominated at their local meeting on Wednesday of last week, winning half of the 10-race card.

Such was the number of entries for the annual Hawke’s Bay Christmas twilight meeting that the number of races had to be increased from eight to 10.

Dark Alley, from the Hastings stable of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen, started the ball rolling for the locals when he put up an outstanding performance in winning race two, a maiden 1200m.

In the following race the Lee Somervell-trained No Rock No Pop earned a reprieve from being banished to the South Island when she took out a maiden three-year-old fillies race, also over 1200m.

Pep Torque, prepared at Waipukurau by Kirsty Lawrence, brought up the sixth success of his career when taking out the Roger Brittin Memorial, a Rating 74 race over 1600m, while the Sue Thompson and Mick Brown trained Overstayer returned to his best form with an all the way win in a Rating 65 event over the same distance.

The fifth Hawke’s Bay success came in Race 9 with little known Hastings trainer Mike Warren being credited with his first success when Pablo Esk prevailed in a maiden race over 1400m.

Impressive debut win by Dark Alley

Dark Alley won like a horse destined for much better things with a dominant 1-1/4 length victory. The Per Incanto four-year-old drew the extreme outside barrier over 1200m and was forced to race three and four wide for the entire race. He was the widest runner swinging into the home straight yet still managed to unleash a powerful finishing burst to win, going away.

That victory followed two trial wins, the first over 1000m at Otaki back in June and the second over 1050m at Taupo last month.

Gary Grylls was aboard the horse in the second of those trial wins and was keen to retain the ride in his race debut.

“He (Grylls) said he really liked the horse after he won his trial and he was even more impressed after he won last week,” Lowry said.

Dark Alley is expected to have his next start in a Rating 65 race over 1400m at Hastings on New Year’s Day but will need a change of rider as Grylls will be riding at Ellerslie that day. So Lowry has already engaged top Central Districts rider, Johnathan Parkes.

Dark Alley is owned by Guy Lowry in partnership with Masterton-based Little Avondale Stud and they bred him out of the Towkay mare Queen Alley.

Lowry said Queen Alley never raced after injuring herself when going through a fence as a young horse but that she was so well-bred that they decided to breed from her.

She is from the family of Ambitious Dragon, the former Hong Kong Horse of the Year who won 13 races and more than $HK58million in stake money.

Dark Alley was the first foal out of Queen Alley and she has since produced a two-year-old colt by Pins, a yearling colt by Time Test and a filly foal by Time Test.

Win puts halt to filly’s move south

A Majestic horse truck was parked in the float park at the Hastings racecourse on Wednesday waiting to take No Rock No Pop to the South Island where she was to carry on her racing career under a new trainer.

But that trip was cancelled after the Rock ‘N’ Pop filly showed her true potential with an upset win at that day’s Hawke’s Bay race meeting.

The three-year-old is owned by Hawke’s Bay Regional councillor Neil Kirton, who had just about given up on the filly after she had produced one solitary third placing from seven starts.

He informed the horse’s Hastings trainer Lee Somervell on the eve of last week’s Hastings races that he had agreed to lease her out to someone in the South Island and had arranged transportation for her to head south a couple of hours after she raced.

But Kirton put a stop to the transfer after the filly produced a game winning performance over 1200m, scoring at odds of 35 to one.

“There is a saying that goes ‘ye of little faith’ and I must admit I had certainly given up on the horse,” Kirton said following the win.

He has now had a change of heart with the horse now staying in the stable of Lee Somervell and is likely to have her next start in a Rating 65 race over 1400m at the Hawke’s Bay meeting on New Year’s Day.

Somervell is the first to admit that No Rock No Pop has not been easy to manage. She showed early promise when placed third over 1200m at Hastings back in July but little has gone right since. She developed a habit of being slow away in her races and then ran off on the home bend and lost all chance over 1400m at Woodville in October.

In his victory speech Kirton, who purchased No Rock No Pop off the thoroughbred auction site Gavelhouse, heaped praise on Somervell’s skills as a horseman in getting the filly to not only race generously again but also to come out a winner.

Free-going Overstayer shows class

A decision to go to the front on Overstayer at Hastings last week and let him dictate terms proved the winning of the race in the Tremain Group Mile.

The Zed six-year-old had been ridden back in his previous two starts and, although he had made ground, it was too late.

The horse drew an inside barrier from the tricky 1600m start at Hastings and jockey Samantha Collett was instructed to kick him out of the gates and get an early lead, if possible.

Collett followed the instructions to the letter, having the horse clearly in front at the end of the first 200 metres and then dictated the pace from then on.

Overstayer rounded the home bend with a handy advantage and staved off a late challenge from Flying Surf to win by a short head.

Overstayer is trained on the Hastings track by Sue Thompson and Mick Brown and was bred by Hawke’s Bay’s Megan Harvey. She races the horse in partnership with Sam Nelson, brother of Hastings trainer Paul Nelson.

Successful week for Pep Torque

Waipukurau-trained Pep Torque has picked up a win and a close second in the past week for his connections.

The seven-year-old gelding was freshened after beating just two horses home in the Group 3 Thompson Handicap (1600m) at Trentham on October 25 and resumed with a game short head win in a Rating 74 race over 1600m at Hastings on Wednesday of last week. He then backed up at Awapuni three days later and fought strongly for second behind Beefeater in a $32,500 Open 1600m event.

Pep Torque is trained by Kirsty Lawrence, who races him in partnership with her husband Steve, stable employee Susan Best and the sisters Diana and Christina Newman.

The Nadeem seven-year-old has now recorded six wins, six seconds and four thirds from 44 starts and has taken his stake earnings to more than $124,000.

Pablo Esk fulfils early promise

Pablo Esk finally lived up to the early promise he showed when scoring a long neck win in a maiden 1400m race at Hastings last week.

The Alamosa four-year-old hinted that success was not far away when winning an 850m two-year-old trial at Foxton in March 2019 but was then sidelined for several months. He was having his fifth race start when successful last week, with his previous best placing being a third over 1200m at Hastings last month.

The gelding, who is officially trained by Mike Warren at Hastings and raced by him in partnership with another Hawke’s Bay man, Terry McGarva, won at odds of 20 to one last week.

He jumped away well and jockey Michael McNab was able to get him to settle fifth in the running. He was angled to the outside of the leaders rounding the home turn and dashed to the front soon after.

Race favourite Camarosa launched a late run from the back but Pablo Esk had established a winning break and held on for a long neck victory.

Two in a row for Miss Labasa

Hastings-trained mare Miss Labasa showed she is back to her best when recording her second consecutive win last week.

The John Bary-prepared mare finished among the tailenders in her first two starts this season but was then given a freshen up and resumed with an all the way win in a Rating 74 race over 1400m at Rotorua on November 17.

Bary then kept the mare fresh and took her to Tauranga last Friday where she scored another dominant win from the front in another Rating 74 trace over 1400m.

Miss Labasa drew wide but talented apprentice Wiremu Pinn bounced her out quickly from the barrier and had her clearly in front at the end of the first 200m. From there he dictated terms and had three lengths on the opposition rounding the home bend.

The others never looked like catching Miss Labasa in the straight and she crossed the line with a 1-3/4 length advantage.

Sir Nate back in winning groove

Sir Nate, a horse that promised so much as a youngster before losing his way, showed he is back to his best with a determined win in a $37,500 open race over 2100m at Awapuni last Saturday.

The Nadeem five-year-old, trained on the Awapuni track by Lisa Latta, won his first two starts as a two-year-old including the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1000m) at Trentham. He then won again in the autumn of that season before finishing third in the Group 1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m).

Sir Nate won again early in his three-year-old season and finished third in the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton. But, after finishing among the tailenders in the Group 1 New Zealand Derby (2400m), it was two years before he graced the winner’s stall again over 2100m at Awapuni, a month ago.

He followed that up with a good third in the Wanganui Cup (2040m) before he prevailed in a close three-horse finish at Awapuni last Saturday.

After enjoying a perfect trail third against the inside rail, Sir Nate peeled off the leaders heels rounding the home bend but then looked to be only battling as stablemate Platinum Rapper and Felaar were fighting out the finish. However, he seemed to change into a higher gear in the final stages, driving between those two horses to grab a half-head decision right on the line.

Sir Nate is raced by a large syndicate that includes two Hawke’s Bay people, Kathryn Donoghue and Merv Dudley.