Patterson powerful from afar at New Plymouth

[Wandering Eyes]

He may have been away in Australia, but that didn’t stop Robbie Patterson from stealing the show on his home track on Tuesday, combining with Triston Moodley to win four consecutive races on the apprentice-only card.

The New Plymouth horseman engaged 11 runners in the rescheduled meeting and two of those stepped out in race four, where lightly-tried mare Freebelle skipped through the testing ground to break maiden status ahead of Crafty Colin and her stablemate O’Ceirins Belle.

Patterson had been confident of a bold performance from the daughter of Belardo, who resumed into second behind Flutterbelle last month at Hawera.

“She did what I thought she should do, she was always going to progress from her first start back and she’s a mare with a bit of ability,” he said.

“She likes off ground, so she should be able to kick on with it through the winter.”

In the following event, Last Souvenir delivered on both the market and his trainer’s expectations, with an overdue maiden success after sitting near the speed throughout. Moodley got the best out of the four-year-old in the closing stages, holding off his stablemate Jaegar, while Patterson’s third representative La Kwik finished tidily into fourth.

“I was expecting this horse to win really, he has the grounding and he’s got the ability,” Patterson said. “He’s probably been a shade disappointing so far, but he galloped up well on wet ground before this race.

“Hopefully he can go on with it now too.”

After the two favourites delivered, capable wet-tracker Ballroom Blitz followed suit as one of the better-backed runners in an open Rating 65 contest, fittingly named Leica Lucy 2024/25 Season Winner Filly Of The Year (1400m) in honour of the stable’s Oaks-winning star.

A daughter of Zed, Ballroom Blitz did all of the work in bridging the gap between the leaders and the remainder of the field turning for home, but she was still too good, grabbing the lead in the shadows of the post to deny I Don’t by a half-length.

“She loves bad ground and had the good grounding coming into the race, she had three jump-outs and a trial so I knew she was pretty fit,” Patterson said. “1400m is short of her best but yesterday was probably more of a staying test.

“She’ll step up to the mile next start and hopefully we can pick up a couple of wins through the winter.”

Patterson and Moodley completed their quartet of wins in the seventh event, with Beausk putting on one of the most impressive performances of the meeting when powering away with the Hilal’s Sister – Marhoona Golden Slipper Winner 2YO and Up (1200m).

“Gryllsy (Craig Grylls) has done a fair bit on him and he’s been a pretty tough horse, he rode him the other day with blinkers on and he was quite aggressive,” Patterson said. “We pulled the blinkers off which made him drop the bit a bit more and finish the race off.

“He was quite impressive and Triston said he loved the ground, so there should be a nice special maiden for him around Opunake Cup time, where he should be pretty competitive.”

Currently on holiday in Brisbane, Patterson watched the success unfold on TV and was rapt with the winning efforts, as well as Belles Fate, who went close to making it five in the last.

“It was easier watching in Brisbane than it would’ve been there, looking at the weather,” he said. “It was really good.

“Lemmy Douglas is my foreman and is in charge while I’m away, he’s doing a great job. I’ve got good staff around me, so I don’t have to worry too much.

“I’ve won four in a day a few times so I was hoping we could get five in the last, but it wasn’t to be. In saying that, Belles Fate was super and she’ll improve a lot with that, so hopefully she can win her next start and get in the Opunake Cup (Listed, 1400m) with a nice light weight.

“Margherita Veloce was a real improvers run, she’s big in condition, and Jaegar went super as well, he’s a horse that will win a race pretty smartly.”

Patterson’s team will have a quieter weekend after the midweek meeting, but it could be just as lucrative, with two live chances in Ma Te Wa and Belles Beau heading to Wanganui on Saturday.

Ma Te Wa second-rated his maiden rivals when resuming at the course a fortnight ago, and with a four-kilo apprentice claim in use, he’ll be a big threat in the Hirepool 3YO 1340.

“He’s super by all accounts, he galloped really well this morning (Wednesday),” Patterson said.

“With Sima (Mxothwa) on, he’ll be positive, and it’ll take a good one to beat him, especially around Wanganui where he’s already got the track through well.

“I think he’s a horse going places.”

Also engaged at Te Rapa, Belles Beau is likely to feature at the Central Districts meeting in the Loaders Wanganui OPN 1340, with a view of progressing towards the Listed Opunake Cup (1400m) in mid-July.

“His first-up run was super, I’m building him up to the Opunake Cup,” Patterson said.

“I was struggling to get a jockey at Te Rapa so I put him in at Wanganui, which was probably lucky because he’s drawn 19 and three on the ballot there. “He’ll get back again and run on, but he’s a good horse that can run a good race.”

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