Hawke’s Bay owned and trained Testwin produced a performance that suggested he is headed for much bigger things when taking out a $40,000 Rating 75 race over 1200m at last Saturday’s Hawke’s Bay meeting.
The six-year-old son of Time Test took his winning tally to four from only 12 starts with a game victory and had to overcome traffic problems in the running to do it.
Jockey Kelly Myers bounced Testwin out well from the barrier and then settled him just in behind the leaders.
The big gelding was clearly travelling well as the field approached the home turn but was then momentarily held up when the field bunched, with a wall of horses in front of him.
Myers did not panic and, once in the straight, she managed to push Testwin through an inside gap and the horse put in some giant strides late to score by a long head from Procul Boy.
It was Testwin’s first start for the new season and his first race since finishing fourth over 1200m at Te Rapa in May.
He is trained on the Hastings track by Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos and indicated he was ready to perform at his best with some impressive training gallops in recent weeks and an impressive win in a 1000m jumpout at Hastings earlier this month.
“We were pretty confident he would be hard to beat,” Guy Lowry said this week.
“I was worried when he got stopped in his tracks rounding the turn but he picked up well and probably could have won by a lot more.”
The win was also an emotional one for the Lowry family as Testwin was bred by Guy Lowry’s uncle, Tom Lowry, who died suddenly in June 2024 and only got to see Testwin win his maiden race at Hastings in January of that year.
The late Tom Lowry was an immensely influential figure in the New Zealand thoroughbred industry, as a breeder, owner and racing administrator. Testwin is now raced by his four children.
Guy Lowry said Testwin is likely to start next in another $40,000 Rating 75 race at Te Rapa on September 13, where he will be stepped up to 1400m.
“He needs the extra 200 metres now,” Lowry added.
Testwin is out of the unraced Don Eduardo mare Edwina and a half-brother to Nedwin, a highly successful performer from the Hastings stable of Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal who is the winner of 16 races, including 10 as a jumper.
Hastings track passes the test
The Hastings racing surface was given a tick of approval after an incident-free seven race programme on the course last Saturday.
It was just the second time racing has taken place at the Hawke’s Bay Racing venue in nearly two years, with the track undergoing remedial work, which included recambering three of the bends, after a horse slipped in the first race on the second day of the 2024 Spring Carnival.
Racing resumed on the track with a six-race meeting in May, when the track provided extremely heavy footing after it had been extensively watered and then hit with heavy rainfall in the days leading up to raceday.
The track was rated a heavy-8 for last Saturday’s meeting, which was a slight improvement from the heavy-10 rating at the beginning of the week.
A Verti-Drain aerator had been used on the track which punched holes in the surface. Those holes filled with water after 45 millimetres of rain fell on the track in the space of a week and there was little in the way of drying weather before raceday.
The heavy nature of the track meant that nominations for the meeting were light on numbers and one race, the Rating 75 event over 1400m, was scrapped because of insufficient entries.
Although the racing surface provided heavy footing it was totally safe with several senior jockeys spoken to saying racing was conducted without incident and that the surface was even right across the track.
The next race meeting to be held on the Hastings track will be the first day of the Colliers Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival, on September 12, followed by the second and third days of the carnival on September 26 and October 10.
Aussie raider could be at Hastings
An Australian-trained horse could add interest to the Group 1 $400,000 Howden Insurance Mile, feature race on the second day of the Colliers Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival at Hastings on September 26.
Cranbourne trainer Gavin Bedggood, who pulled off a successful New Zealand Group 1 win last season with Kingswood, is now eyeing more spoils on this side of the Tasman with another stable runner.
Bedggood is seriously considering bringing Just Folk to Hastings for the Howden Insurance Mile as the now 10-year-old continues to belie his age, recording minor placings against strong company in his last three Australian starts.
Just Folk finished third in the Listed Winter Championship Series Final (1600m) at Flemington on July 4 and followed that up with a second in the Listed Winter Challenge (1500m) at Rosehill, in Sydney.
His latest outing was over 1600m at Caulfield a fortnight ago where he finished third behind the highly promising Darkbonee and tough competitor Detonator Jack.
Just Folk has established a solid record over six years of racing, winning 10 of his 54 starts and earning more than A$1.7million in prizemoney.
“He has been a great money-spinner, and I think he has won about six stakes races. He is obviously in the twilight of his career but, providing he gets the right surface, he is never far away,” Bedggood said.
Track conditions are what led Bedggood to put in a nomination for the Howden Insurance Mile with Just Folk needing more forgiving ground a New Zealand spring can provide compared with Australia. If that looks like being the case next month Bedggood said he will be eager to cross the Tasman with the horse.
Just Folk is down to start in this Saturday’s Listed Heatherlie Stakes (1700m) at Caulfield, which would likely be his last start before heading to New Zealand.
His stablemate Kingswood is also expected to line up in Saturday’s Heatherlie Stakes, in what will be the horse’s first start for the new season.
Bedggood is pleased with the way the grey entire is coming up, with the horse placed in a 1000m trial behind Sheza Alibi at Pakenham earlier this month.
Kingswood had three starts in New Zealand last season, beginning his campaign by taking out the Group 1 Zabeel Classic (2000m) at Ellerslie under a masterful ride by expat New Zealand jockey Rory Hutchings.
He then finished second to Legarto in the Group 1 Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) at Te Rapa in February and fifth in the Group 1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on Champions Day in March.
Bedggood hasn’t ruled out a return to New Zealand shores for the son of Roaring Lion.
“If he was going to be a rung below our top-tier races here in Victoria over the spring, it would be a definite consideration to back off a little bit and make the trip over again,” he said.
Just Folk is currently a $10 sixth favourite in the TAB’s futures market for the Howden Insurance Mile, with last season’s outstanding three-year-old Well Written favourite at $3.
Major jumps carnival at Te Aroha
Racing Te Aroha is preparing to welcome the country’s jumps racing community back under the mountain this September, with the Great New Zealand Jumps Carnival returning for its second running following a successful inaugural event in 2025.
Taking place across Friday, September 18 and Sunday, September 20, the two-day carnival will once again bring together two of New Zealand’s most iconic jumping races, alongside hospitality, entertainment and a celebration of the people and horses at the heart of the sport.
Racing Te Aroha is delighted to confirm the continued support of the carnival’s two major sponsors, with J Swap returning as naming rights sponsor of the J Swap Great New Zealand Hurdle (4200m), while Ben and Ryan Foote Racing will again sponsor the Great New Zealand Steeplechase (6200m).
The Inaugural carnival marked a new chapter for two races steeped in New Zealand history, with the former Great Northern Hurdle and Great Northern Steeplechase becoming the Great New Zealand Hurdle and Great New Zealand Steeplechase and finding a permanent home at the Te Aroha track.
Two appointed to new Racing Board
New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing has appointed current NZTR Chairman Paul Humphries and NZTR Director Dean Lawrence as its representatives on the newly formed racing industry Establishment Board.
The Board, independently chaired by Dean McKenzie, brings together representatives from NZTR, Harness Racing New Zealand and TAB NZ. It will assess options for a more sustainable and efficient industry governance and operating model.
Paul brings extensive commercial and governance experience, alongside a lifelong involvement in thoroughbred racing as an owner, breeder, sponsor and administrator. He has previously held administrative roles at a club level and as Chairman of the NZTR Members’ Council.
Dean combines racing administration experience with a strong public-sector and international background. He has held senior roles with Inland Revenue and is currently on the panel of experts for the International Monetary Fund in revenue and tax administration. His racing experience includes serving as President of the Otago Racing Club and as a Board member of Gallop South, as well as longstanding involvement in thoroughbred ownership and breeding.
Recommended proposals developed by the Establishment Board will remain subject to the approval of the relevant organisations and any applicable governance, consultation or statutory requirements.