Low-priced Faultless lands Trentham upset

[Wandering Eyes]

A trip to Trentham for Saturday’s Life Direct 2YO (1300m) was something of an afterthought for Peter, Kim and Shaun McKay, but the Matamata family struck gold in the $35,000 race with their bargain buy Faultless (NZ) Tivaci .

The McKays and the late Trevor Luke paid just $6,500 to purchase Faultless from the 2024 National Online Yearling Sale on Gavelhouse Plus. The talented Tivaci gelding has now earned $22,070 from a four-start career.

Faultless went into Saturday’s race as the $17 outsider in a six-horse field. His three previous races had produced a sixth behind Romanoff (NZ) Belardo at Otaki in November, an eighth in a Te Rapa race in December won by Sweet Ice (NZ) (Frosted), and a last-start fifth to The Espy (NZ) (U S Navy Flag) at Tauranga on March 30.

Apprentice jockey Amber Riddell used her 3kg claim to good effect on Saturday, sending Faultless straight to the lead and dictating terms out in front.

Faultless looked vulnerable turning into Trentham’s long home straight, hanging out under pressure as challengers loomed alongside him on both sides. But Faultless refused to be passed and lifted again. He hung on for a tenacious half-length win over Rufus (NZ) (Circus Maximus) and Justice For All (NZ) (Turn Me Loose).

“He’s not the complete package yet,” said Shaun McKay, who shares ownership of Faultless with his parents and trains in partnership with his father Peter.

“He probably needed Amber’s claim to be able to beat these horses today, and she rode him perfectly. She got him to the front and set a nice tempo, and the horse won well.

“He’s still very green. We weren’t sure whether to bring him down here for this race today or put him in the paddock, but he was really well in his work. It ended up being the right decision to come here, and I think this trip is going to really bring him on.”

Faultless became the 11^th winner at Trentham for the McKay training partnership, with five of those wins coming this season. That list is headed by Wolfgang, who won the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m) and the New Zealand St Leger (2500m).

Riddell, who has now racked up 25 winners in her promising career, had her first ride for the McKay stable in Saturday’s juvenile race.

“He jumped out well, got to the lead and was just doing it easily,” the 23-year-old said. “He wanted to hang out a bit coming around the bend, then got a bit lost in the straight and hung out some more. But he did it well in the end.

“They came up to him, but he fought them off well. I guess the bit of weight off his back helped him.”

Faultless is out of the Sacred Falls mare Without Flaw (NZ), who is a half-sister to the stakes winners Kiwi Karma (Fast ‘N’ Famous) and Seaway (Ocean Park). Kiwi Karma was a multiple black-type winner in Singapore and is the dam of two Group Two performers in South Africa.

View the full article