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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Simon and Katrina Alexander could be in for a healthy payday when they head to Ruakaka on Saturday with a couple of leading chances in the ITM/GIB Northern Winter Championship Finals. The husband-and-wife training duo have two warm favourites in Major Major and Acapelago, who will both be vying to secure the $60,000 purse on offer in their respective finals. Seven-year-old Pins gelding Major Major has won two of his last three starts and will meet a similar line-up in Saturday’s ITM/GIB Whangarei Gold Cup Stayers’ Final (2100m), for which he is currently a $2.60 favourite. “I am very pleased with the way this part of his preparation has tracked to date, he has delivered each time,” Katrina Alexander said. “I can’t fault the way he has trained on between runs, nothing has changed for him, he has just kept up his momentum. “I think he has well and truly settled into that distance now fitness-wise and it should be very comfortable for him to get around over the 2100m again.” Major Major has drawn barrier 11 and Alexander said they will most likely push forward from that gate. “He has proven now as he goes along that he is a lot more tractable than what he used to be, so having to go hard and get a lead, I think that will still potentially be our focus and get him into his rhythm where he is comfortable,” Alexander said. “Kelly (Myers, jockey) knows him well enough now to know what she can and can’t do with him. We will just have to see how the track plays throughout the day as to what our game plan may be closer to the race. I don’t think it will bother him too much, let’s just hope he doesn’t get stuck wide for too long.” Saturday’s run will likely be Major Major’s season swansong, with Alexander looking ahead to the spring with her charge. “If we can match a likewise performance as last time, I will be absolutely rapt and he can go out off the back of that for a little breather,” she said. “Then we can plan what the spring may look like for him.” The Alexanders also have a leading hope in the ITM/GIB 3YO Winter Championship Final (1600m) in the form of Acapelago. The three-year-old filly has been a model of consistency this preparation, winning one and placing in three of her four starts this time in. She will jump from barrier three on Saturday, with jockey Kelly Myers donning the silks of owner-breeder Haunui Farm. Alexander is confident of a bold showing, which is matched by TAB bookmakers, who currently have her sitting atop of the market as a $2.50 favourite. “She is a filly that just tries so hard,” Alexander said. “I am really keen to get her to this mile distance, I think it is probably where she is better suited going forward. “As she gets older and matures a bit more, I think it will be more likely the case than staying at the lower distances for too much longer. It’s just the fact that there have been the three-year-old races on offer that we have maintained her down a little bit further. “Her work suggests that she is ready to go up in distance now. It will be very interesting to see how she deals with that little bit of extra distance, but I think it will be within her range quite comfortably.” Acapelago will be joined in Saturday’s contest by stablemate Vadanova, who will jump from barrier two, with apprentice jockey Elen Nicholas aboard. “She really does prefer wider draws,” Alexander said. “I think that she has shown to me a few times now that when she gets shut down on the rail, like she did last time at Matamata, that she is not 100 percent comfortable there, she likes room to see where she is. “It is a shame Elen has to jump on her for the first time in that situation, but we will have a chat about that beforehand. It is a small field, so if she has to manoeuvre her a little bit, there are not a lot of horses that she has to deal with. “She may jump away nicely, she can do that, but I am more so wary of pushing her out of her comfort zone. She may not take advantage of that inside draw, but we will see how the racing plays out.” Alexander is looking forward to racing for the prizemoney on offer this weekend and said the Winter Championship Series is a great initiative over the colder months. “It is nice to have those stakes up for grabs in the winter,” she said. “Our winter horses are just as important. Just because they race on the wet doesn’t mean they are any lesser animal, it is just what they need to be comfortable. It’s great to have this series and having that sort of money up for grabs.” View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Champion jumps jockey Shaun Fannin has tasted success in the Grant Plumbing Wellington Steeplechase (4900m) on two occasions, and on Saturday he will attempt to claim his first title as a trainer. The Awapuni horseman will ride his rising stable star Jesko, who is making waves in the jumping scene, having won a hurdle race before transitioning to the bigger fences where he has accrued a faultless record, winning both of his steeplechase starts, including the Manawatu Steeplechase (4000m) at Trentham earlier this month. He will return to the Upper Hutt venue this weekend where he will face his stiffest test to date against former New Zealand Champion Jumper The Cossack, and befitting the match-up, the race will be called by renowned race caller Matt Hill. Fannin, who trains in partnership with his wife Hazel, has been pleased with Jesko’s progression since his last start triumph, and he is looking forward to tackling the infamous figure-eight circuit this weekend. “He had an exhibition gallop at Otaki last Friday and he went well there, so he is tracking pretty well,” he said. “He has performed quite well on the way through, and it is another step up again to face a horse like The Cossack who has got such a wonderful record. “It is another test for him on Saturday, but he seems to be going the right way and we are pretty hopeful he will run just as well.” Jesko is a sentimental favourite of Fannin’s, who bought him off Gavelhouse a few years ago as a foundation member of his burgeoning stable. “I saw him on Gavelhouse in November 2021. He was there as an unraced four-year-old and they said he was quite tough and one that they couldn’t do a whole lot with,” Fannin said. “He looked like he had a bit of size to him in the photos so I thought he might be a good one to start off with. He was the first horse that I bought, and I thought I could get him going and maybe tip him off as a jumper, but that hasn’t eventuated.” While he hasn’t sold Jesko as first planned, he has introduced several parties to the ownership group, the most recent being the Frac Club, with Fannin now sporting their gold colours aboard Jesko. “I have had him since I started training and I have brought in a few different owners, and Hazel has joined the partnership,” Fannin said. “He is quite a special horse to us all.” While he has partnered a number of top jumpers, Fannin said it is special to train one himself. “It is quite exciting,” he said. “Everything that I have learned through my career I have been able to put that to use, and to see it come off is quite rewarding.” All going to plan after Saturday, Fannin has his eyes on the $200,000 Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 150th Grand National Steeplechase (5600m) at Riccarton in August, a race he has won the last three editions of aboard reigning New Zealand Jumper of the Year West Coast. “As long as he goes well and pulls up well, we will have to have a look at the Grand National with him,” Fannin said. “It is worth very good prizemoney down there.” Fannin said it will be a bittersweet moment when he eventually meets West Coast with Jesko, but he is looking forward to the challenge of attempting to usurp his previous charge. “It would be very special,” Fannin said. “He (West Coast) has won the last three of them (Grand Nationals) and it is where he goes best, so it will be a good clash. I am hopeful that we can give West Coast a good race.” The Mark Oulaghan-trained West Coast will continue his path towards defending his crown in the Riccarton feature when he appears on the Trentham undercard in the Wellington Lunch Club Supporting Racing At Trentham 2200, where he will be ridden by amateur jockey Tylah Mercer. View the full article -
By Wandering Eyes · Posted
Zeefa Zed’s record hasn’t always emulated his talent, and John Wheeler is hoping the gelding can put his true ability on display in Saturday’s Norm Bevan Memorial Maiden Steeplechase (4000m). A 10-year-old by Zed, Zeefa Zed has won seven races including one over the hurdles last season, but hasn’t kicked off this term how Wheeler would have anticipated, losing the rider at Te Rapa on two separate occasions. “He’s a bit of an arrogant horse, but also he’s a pretty good horse that hasn’t had a lot of luck,” he said. “His last start, he jumped the jump itself well, but he slipped on landing as it’s pretty slippery down the back there at Te Rapa, and the rider fell off. The start before that, it was basically a rider error, so I’ll be disappointed if he doesn’t get around on Saturday. “If he does, he’s a winning chance.” The race will be Zeefa Zed’s debut around Trentham’s unique figure-eight circuit, with Emily Farr back in the saddle on this occasion. “I think every horse likes the figure-eight, it’s more like a steeplechase with the open country,” he said. “It’s really interesting, it would be disappointing if we ever lost it.” Wheeler’s familiar colours will also feature over the smaller fences, with the consistent Sir Maverick chasing a maiden success in the Autotech Doors Maiden Hurdle (2500m). “He’s only four and he’s got a fair bit in front of him,” Wheeler said. “He’s a gifted jumper, he may not have the biggest ticker in the world, but I think as he matures, he’ll get a lot tougher. “I’ve been pretty happy with his runs, he’s come through the last one terrific and he looks fantastic.” On the flat, impressive last-start winner Keen On Bubbles will relish the heavy track conditions, but Wheeler holds concerns around her 66.5kg impost in the Wellington Lunch Club Supporting Racing At Trentham (2200m). “I’m a little bit worried about having an amateur on, with the weight they have to carry,” he said. “She’s not a very big mare, so that’s a negative. “But she won super the other day and she’s going very well at the moment. It’s just her stature that will be a disadvantage this time.” Completing his representatives will be Jetalal, who he is hoping for an improved performance from when she contests the Sport Of Kings Upper Hutt Cossie (1600m). “I’ve been disappointed in her, I thought she was going to be a reasonable horse, so I’ll be disappointed if she doesn’t go well on Saturday,” he said. “She’s a big, grouse mare and takes a bit to get fit, so hopefully, fingers crossed we can get a result.” View the full article
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