The Rest

Promising three-year-old Stop The Rock (NZ) (El Roca) collected the fourth win of his five-race career with another irresistible finish in Saturday’s A$150,000 Sportsbet Same Race Multi Handicap (2000m) at Caulfield. The New Zealand-bred son of El Roca is trained by Patrick and Michelle Payne and kicked off his career with a debut win at Warrnambool on New Year’s Eve. He returned from a freshen up with a fifth at Cranbourne in May, but never looked back from there. He has now strung together three consecutive victories, including two Saturday city successes. Stop The Rock scored stylishly at Swan Hill on June 8 and then again at Flemington on June 21, where he beat next-start Mahogany Challenge Final (2500m) winner Shockletz (NZ) (Shocking). Those performances earned strong support for Stop The Rock on Saturday as a $5 second favourite, and he continued his breakthrough campaign. Ridden by Billy Egan, Stop The Rock settled in second-last among a field of 12 before beginning to warm into his work from the 600m. Egan angled him to the outside at the home turn and he charged home out wide on the track, hitting the lead inside the last 50m and winning by a neck. “He really needs to build his momentum,” Egan said. “He made a long, sustained run at them the other day. “They went quick enough today that I was able to come wide and know that if I came with that same sort of run again, they would get tired and he’d be coming over the top of them late. He’s done a really good job.” Stop The Rock’s five-start, four-win career has netted more than A$214,000 in stakes for his ownership group. “He’s just answering every question that we’re asking him,” Michelle Payne said. “What a horse. He’s doing it on raceday every time for a great group of owners. “He started 35-to-one in his first start. He was always very casual in his trials, but Patrick has really liked him as a horse the whole way through. We were just waiting for him to come into his own. He’s doing that now and he’s a beauty. He shows up on raceday, gets the job done with no fuss and is becoming another stable favourite.” By Westbury Stud stallion El Roca, Stop The Rock is out of the Fusaichi Pegasus mare Shezablonde and stems from the family of Nothin’ Leica Dane. Stop The Rock is a graduate of the hugely successful New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale, purchased for $75,000 by Patrick Payne from the draft of Westbury Stud. View the full article

Progressive mare Nancy She Wrote (NZ) (Wrote) provided co-trainer Ben Foote with the perfect welcome home from a Gold Coast holiday when she came from well back to capture the Tanalised Mile (1600m) at Ruakaka. The five-year-old daughter of Wrote is prepared by Foote and son Ryan from their Cambridge stable and has always looked a promising middle distance performer for her breeder and owner, Gerald Bell. After being given a brief spell following an unplaced run over 2100m at Ellerslie in April, Nancy She Wrote resumed with a handy performance in stakes company when finishing sixth behind Cork in the Listed Tauranga Classic (1400m) at Tauranga last month. Punters were keen on her chances at longer odds on Saturday with a $1000 bet at a $10 Fixed Odds quote shortly before the race jumped, indicating a winning run could be on the cards. That judgement was proved correct as rider Courtney Barnes brought the mare down the outskirts of the track in the home straight to collar local runner Time And Tide in the final 100m as she raced away for a two-and-a-half-length victory. Sporting a handy winter tan, Foote acknowledged it was son Ryan who had done all the hard work to put the winning touches on the mare in his absence. “Courtney knows exactly how to ride this one and she is a little underrated as on her day she is a smart mare,” Foote said. “It was a lovely ride today as she got her out into the clear and she powered home. “We think she can be competitive at the stakes level as long as things go her way. “I probably have to give all the credit to Ryan as he has done the work on her while I’ve been away. “We will go back and see where we go next once she has had time to recover. “We don’t have anything specific in mind but she is suited by the big, roomier tracks.” Nancy She Wrote has now won four of her 29 starts for Bell and over $136,000 in prizemoney. View the full article

Apprentice jockey Ace Lawson-Carroll honoured his late friend Ngakau Hailey with a salute as he guided Reward Smile (Havana Grey) to a poignant win in the Northpine Waipu Cup (1400m) at Ruakaka on Saturday. Jockeys wore black armbands in the $40,000 feature in memory of the 18-year-old Hailey, who was killed in a tragic vehicle accident in Hamilton on Wednesday. Lawson-Carroll was pleased to pick up a victory that meant much more than most. “It’s quite special and I’m glad I could get that win for Ngakau,” he said. “I built up a nice friendship with him and really bonded with him over the last few years riding with him. He had better talent than I will ever have.” Saturday’s special win came courtesy of the British-bred Reward Smile, who joined Jenna Mahoney’s Byerley Park stable earlier this season after winning three races and more than $1.2 million in Hong Kong. The Havana Grey gelding had struck more than his share of misfortune in his first three New Zealand starts, but still showed promise with a close fifth at Ellerslie on May 17, fourth at Ellerslie on June 7 and a last-start fifth in the $60,000 ITM/GIB Sprinters’ Championship Final (1400m) at Ruakaka on June 28. Reward Smile’s luck finally took a turn for the better on Saturday. After settling in third-last in the early part of the race, Lawson-Carroll set him alight and began to press forward around the outside of the field coming up to the turn. Reward Smile loomed ominously on the outside straightening for home, and then he kicked hard with 300m to run. He pulled ahead of local hope Illicit Dreams and won by a length and a half. “We kind of got squeezed back a little bit going into that first corner,” Lawson-Carroll said. “Once everything unfolded after that, I knew that he might not have that much of a sprint, but if you can get hm rolling and really put them away early, he was always going to hit the line really strongly.” Mahoney was relieved to see Reward Smile’s luck change on Saturday. “He hasn’t run a bad race since he got here, but he just hasn’t had much luck, so we were pretty confident he could perform well today,” she said. “He just got too far back in his last run here, but Ace gave him a nice, positive ride today and he found the line really strongly. “We’ll probably look at bringing him back up here again for the next meeting in a couple of weeks’ time.” View the full article

Ruakaka stayer Bosch (NZ) (Pentire) added a fifth win to his imposing course record with a tough front-running performance in Saturday’s Northbeam Strong Stuff (2100m). The Pentire gelding has now recorded five wins from a 30-start career, with all of those five successes coming from 15 appearances on his home track. Saturday’s win took his career earnings past $174,000. Bosch was sent out as a $3.60 favourite on Saturday, having run a gallant last-start second in the $60,000 ITM/GIB Whangarei Gold Cup Stayers’ Final over the same course and distance on June 28. The six-year-old was ridden by Vinnie Colgan and ended up as the leader almost by default, with none of his eight rivals showing any interest in going forward. Colgan was able to give his mount a breather with some easy sectionals down the back straight. Awhina’s (NZ) (Derryn) jockey Jasmine Fawcett decided to throw down the gauntlet coming down the side of the track, spearing forward out wide and clearly taking the lead before the home turn. But Bosch rose to the challenge and found plenty more as he entered the straight. He soon shook free of Awhina and pulled away. Fly My Wey (NZ) (Sweynesse) came through in the favourite’s slipstream and produced a strong late finish to eat into the margin, but Bosch held him out by a long neck. The third-placed I’m Lulu (NZ) ( Belardo) crossed the line another two and a half lengths behind the first two, with Awhina a length and a quarter away in fourth. “That was very satisfying,” said local trainer Michelle Bradley, who also won the Northland Business Systems (1200m) with Iridescent earlier in the afternoon. “He had a very, very soft lead. I was a little bit worried that something would come up, and then I saw Awhina come up and I thought, ‘Oh, Vinnie, keep going.’ “But it was a great win and it’s great to see him back in the winners’ circle. Vinnie’s a top jockey with so much experience. It’s a pleasure to have him on and get the result today. I’m extremely pleased.” Success away from home is the only thing missing from Bosch’s CV, and Bradley is keen to change that later in this preparation. “I’ll have a meeting with the owners either next week or the week after and we’ll have a chat about where we go next,” she said. “We’ve got Ellerslie coming back up in the spring. He’s had two runs at Ellerslie this prep and was carrying big weights. I’d have no hesitation in taking him back there. I do still think he’s going to be competitive there at a nice weight. “We’ll just weigh up our options. To win a Cup with him would be amazing. It’s just about getting him there mentally and getting there the right way.” View the full article

Apprentice Gareth Lahoud made good use of his 4kg claim as he guided Reptak (NZ) (Shocking) to an all-the-way victory in the Northpine Making It Tanalised (1200m) rating 75 contest at Ruakaka on Saturday. The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-prepared five-year-old had kicked off his latest campaign with a win at Ellerslie over 1200m back in April and in two subsequent runs had not been disgraced despite not featuring in the placings. Drawn ideally in barrier two Reptak made a swift beginning with Lahoud not afraid to keep his race rivals at bay in the early stages as he claimed pacemaking duties on the son of Shocking and set up a solid speed in front. Turning for home it was evident Reptak was travelling sweetly as he put a two length break on the chasing pack and despite race favourite Judicial (Written Tycoon) mounting a strong finish from midfield, Reptak had plenty in hand as he went to the line nearly two lengths to the good of the favourite with local runner Dancing Dream (NZ) (Contributer) sticking on well for third. O’Sullivan was taking in all the action from his Matamata home and liked what he saw from both the horse and rider. “It was a good positive ride by Gareth as we told him to go forward and lead and make the best use of his claim which worked out nicely,” O’Sullivan said. “We like to give the apprentices their chance on our horses in the winter as we are firm believers in their claim giving a horse a big advantage over the higher-weighted runners. “This fellow (Repak) has always shown plenty on the training track at home but hasn’t always put that out on raceday. “He is learning all the time and has matured well which is starting to show in his performances. “I have no doubt he can get through to open class and with his liking for some cut in the tracks he will be well suited over the next few months.” Bred by the late Colin Devine and raced by his wife Jill, Reptak is out of the Carnegie mare Marley Magic (NZ) and comes from an extended family that includes three-time Australian Group One winner Desirable (NZ). The victory added to a stellar season for the O’Sullivan and Scott partnership, who sit third on the National Trainers’ premiership ladder with 82 wins and more than $4.395million in prizemoney earned. View the full article