Hastings-trained horses have had a stellar run of success, with six winners in the space of four days.
The centre bagged three wins at the Woodville meeting on Wednesday of last week and then produced another winning treble at last Saturday’s third day of the Colliers Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival.
The stable of Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal headed the Hastings assault with three winners while Guy Lowry and Leah Zydnebos picked up two and John Bary one.
The successful roll started in the opening event at Woodville when the Nelson/McDougal trained Satomi capped off three second placings with a well-deserved victory, aided by a great ride from jockey Jonathan Riddell.
After initially being caught three-wide in the 2100m event, Riddell chose to let Satomi roll forward to take the lead in the middle stages and dictated the pace from then on.
They rounded the home turn with a handy advantage and the horse kept up a strong run to the line to win by a length.
Paul Nelson and his wife Carol share in the ownership of Satomi, who was recording his first win from 15 starts.
The other two Hastings winners at Woodville were Savachi Boy, in a maiden 1400m, and Will in a maiden race over 1600m.
Savachi Boy was following on from a win in a 1200m trial at Waipukurau on September 29, were he led practically all the way and beat Satomi by two lengths.
Jockey Kavish Chowdhoory was again positive on Savachi Boy at Woodville, punching the horse out of the barrier to take up an early lead and dictated the pace from then on.
They came under siege at the top of the home straight but Savachi Boy still had something in reserve and staved off the challengers to win in a close four-horse finish.
Savachi Boy is prepared by John Bary and added to a successful fortnight for his owners, Hawke’s Bay brothers Allan and Wayne Chittick and their Waikato-based cousin Garry Chittick.
The trio bred Savachi Boy, who is a four-year-old by Tivaci and a year younger brother of Pacific Princess, who is also trained by John Bary and won a $65,000 Rating 65 race over 2100m on the second day of the Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival, on September 26.
Patience was rewarded when Will broke through for his maiden victory at Woodville.
The five-year-old gelding was having only his fifth race start after recording a second and a third in his previous four starts.
He is trained by Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos and owned by his Hawke’s Bay breeder Tom Lowry.
Will showed a glimpse of his ability when winning a 1000m barrier trial at Hastings back in April before recording a second and a third from two starts last season. He then finished fifth and eighth, over 1200m and 1400m, in his first two starts this season and appreciated the step up to 1600m last week.
Jockey Kelly Myers got Will to settle perfectly in third before moving him up to challenge for the lead rounding the home turn. The Rock ‘N’ Pop gelding took over soon after but then had to withstand a late challenge from Terrific Guy, managing to hold on for a nose decision.
The Nelson/McDougal stable won two of the first three races at last Saturday’s third day of the Colliers Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival, with Poetic Justice capping off some useful recent performances with a game win in a $65,000 Rating 65 race over 2200m and Monroe completing a hat-trick of wins in a $65,000 Rating 75 race over 2000m.
Poetic Justice was having his sixth start for Nelson and McDougal after previously being trained at Cambridge by Tony Pike, who produced him to win in a Rating 65 race over 2400m at Te Rapa in April last year.
Poetic Justice was slow to begin in last Saturday’s race and jockey Erin Nicholas settled him third last in the early running. They were still among the rear division approaching the home turn but then Poetic Justice started to wind up and quickly ranged up, wide out, turning into the home straight.
The big gelding looked set for a comfortable win when he strode clear inside the last 300m but then wanted to switch off and Nicholas had to keep the horse’s mind on the job as they held out the fast-finishing Eliud by half a neck.
Poetic Justice was offered on the Gavelhouse auction site earlier this year and Nelson said he had to pay $40,000 plus GST for the Almanzor gelding.
He said he bought the horse for the I See Red Syndicate, a large group who have raced numerous successful horses from the Nelson stable, over many years, most of them being top class jumpers.
Poetic Justice may have been a costly buy for Nelson but Monroe looks like being a bargain buy for him as he was bought from the same auction site for just $2700 and has already won more than $57,000 from only six race starts.
The Vadamos five-year-old won a maiden race over 2200m at Te Aroha back in July and then took out a Rating 65 race over 2200m at Woodville on August 16.
He hadn’t raced for almost a month and was stepping up to Rating 75 grade when he lined up at Hastings last Saturday and was overlooked by the punters, starting at odds of 22 to one.
Jockey Kelly Myers jumped Monroe out well from the barrier to take up a trailing position outside the leader Subiaco and the two horses dictated the pace.
Monroe went up to challenge Subiaco for the lead at the top of the home straight but the latter fought back and the two horses went stride for stride until Monroe surged ahead close to the line to win by three-quarters of a length.
One of the most impressive winners at last Saturday’s Hawke’s Bay meeting was the Guy Lowry and Leah Zydenbos-trained Zorero in a $65,000 Rating 75 race over 1200m.
The big Per Incanto four-year-old was stepping up in class after taking out a Rating 65 race over the same distance on the first day of the carnival and drew the extreme outside barrier in the 11-horse field.
He was forced to travel three-wide for nearly the entire race and was giving the leaders a big head start coming to the home turn.
Race-favourite Golden Wings shot to a clear lead early in the home straight but when jockey Kelly Myers angled Zorero into the clear the horse showed an exceptional turn of foot, powering home over the top of his rivals to win by 1-1/2 lengths.
Myers was suitably impressed by the gelding’s performance.
“He had to be good to win today,” Myers said.
“It was a big step up for him and there were some pretty talented horses in the race. He drew a sticky barrier and was caught out wide but Guy (Lowry) said don’t panic because he’s got a good turn of foot and he definitely showed it.
“He’s a pretty exciting horse,” she added.
Zorero has now had five starts for three wins and a second and his trainers have always had a high opinion of the horse.
He scored a decisive 2-1/2 length win on debut over 1200m at Waipukurau in November last year and then finished second over 1200m at Trentham at his next start.
He then tackled top three-year-old company in the Group 3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m) at Ellerslie in January and, although well beaten, he was forced to cover plenty of extra ground from a wide draw and was racing the right-handed way round for the first time.
Zorero was then given a lengthy spell and has come back a much bigger and stronger horse. He showed he was ready for a winning return by easily taking out an 850m trial at Foxton in July before his decisive fresh up victory at Hastings on September 12.
Ka Ying Rising ready to step up again
Trainer David Hayes believes New Zealand-bred superstar Ka Ying Rising has returned to Australia an even better horse than 12 months ago as he prepares to defend his crown in this Saturday’s Group 1 The Everest (1200m) at Randwick.
The son of Shamexpress is a dominant $1.35 favourite for the A$20 million feature, having extended his remarkable winning streak to 21 races since his triumph in last year’s Everest.
Hayes, who has trained champions in Australia and Hong Kong, believes the world's highest-rated racehorse belongs in the same conversation as unbeaten Australian legend Black Caviar.
“Ka Ying Rising is a freak of nature, he's a generational horse,” Hayes said.
“Five times in a row he's broken the track record, I've never seen that before, and his ratings tell you he's a better horse now than when he was here 12 months ago.
“I never thought I would see a sprinter as good as Black Caviar until this horse came along.
“So, he's in rare air at the moment. You can have your opinion who's better, that's not the point, but he's as good as her anyway I think.”
Ka Ying Rising completed his final serious workout at Canterbury on Monday, working over 1000m on the course proper and quickening over his final 600m in 36.5 seconds. Hayes was pleased with the gelding's recovery following the gallop and believes his preparation has gone perfectly to plan.