Century of wins for McDougal

[Wandering Eyes]

Corrina McDougal had to wait on a protest before earning her first training success, but on Sunday at Woodville, her 100^th was never in doubt.

The Hastings horsewoman, who trains in partnership with Paul Nelson, had the $2.50 favourite in Kwanza (NZ) (Zed) engaged in the MacDougalls (2100m) and he justified that price with a dominant performance.

In the hands of Jonathan Riddell, the son of Zed settled just worse than midfield, but cruised through the pack turning for home and powered clear in the straight, putting three lengths on his closest rival in Sweet Ada.

McDougal was pleased to bring up the milestone, particularly having been a part of Kwanza’s journey since he was just a foal at Nelson and his wife Carol’s property.

“Not too long ago, we were looking through the Hawke’s Bay trainers and what their winners were, and I had 97 at that stage, so it was coming up,” she said. “It was nice to get there.

“He (Kwanza) was really good, he was quite handy then went back a bit, and I thought ‘uh oh’, but when you’ve got Jonathan, he knows what he’s doing. When he came around the corner, he just ran away from them really.

“Jonathan has played a huge part in my career, he used to show jump ponies when I was young too, and he’s been there all the way along. He rode for me before I came to Paul and Carol’s, so it was quite nice to get that 100^th winner with him.

“I love seeing the horses come through right from a foal, as Kwanza did. He actually had cellulitis early on in his leg, so we had to fix that up, then seeing him through breaking in, training, racing, and now winning, it’s pretty cool.

“There’s a saying that as long as there’s a horse in the paddock, there’s a reason to live, and I think that’s quite right.”

The race proved a much easier watch than her first winner, Kipling, who had finished into second position in a highweight at Foxton, before being promoted into the top spot. The gelding carried the familiar chocolate, blue and yellow colours of Peter Grieve, a long-term supporter of McDougal.

“My first winner was a horse called Kipling, but he was actually second past the post and was promoted,” she said. “I trained him for Peter Grieve and Johnny Frizzell, and I’ve had a lot of winners in Peter’s colours.

“Peter has given me a go right from the start, just when I was getting my trainer’s license, and backed me all the way through, and then with Paul and Carol as well.”

Before joining Nelson in partnership in 2018, McDougal prepared 17 winners in her own right, with another legend of the jumping game in Mark Oulaghan initially showing her the ropes during university.

“I was about nine or 10 when I got a pony when we were living in the middle of town in Marewa,” she said. “Then Mum and Dad bought 10 acres out in Mangatahi, near Maraekakaho, so we started going to lessons with Murray Thompson, going to the shows and I hunted a young horse for him.

“I took a year off after school because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I ended up going to teachers’ college in Palmerston North. Murray suggested I go and work for Mark Oulaghan while I was there, so that’s where I first got into racing.

“I remember my first gallop, thinking that was really fast and quite scary, but I’d done a lot of round the ring so Mark got me schooling with Jonathan and Chris Allen.

“I decided I didn’t really enjoy teachers’ college, so I left after about nine months and came back to Hawke’s Bay and ended up working here.”

McDougal was 21-years-old when she first stepped through the gates at the Nelson’s property ‘Airhill’, with a mix of show jumpers and racehorses to work with at that stage.

She stepped out on her own for a couple of years, working and training for Grieve, but her life as she knew it came crashing down in 2007, when she was diagnosed with haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), a blood condition that leads to renal failure.

It was later realised that she would require a kidney transplant, and on the first occasion that failed, meaning McDougal was maintaining self-managed dialysis on a daily basis, while waiting on a combined liver and kidney transplant.

Three years later, she was able to have the second transplant, which has been successful and led to McDougal enjoying a normal life, where she is active and able to ride their talented team of horses in training.

“Everything has been really good, since the transplant I haven’t had any issues and the doctors have been happy,” she said. “I am more susceptible to skin cancers and bits and pieces like that, but that’s about it.

“I’ve been here for 10 years permanently and I love riding every day, I think I would find it hard training from the ground. I like jumping on and getting a feel for the horse.

“I’m probably not as brave as I used to be though.”

Of the 83 victories she has collected alongside Nelson, 24 of those have been prestige races, including five of the last six editions of the Wellington Hurdle (3200m), and three of the last five runnings of the Great Northern Hurdle (4200m), with names such as The Cossack, Nedwin, No Tip and Perry Mason associated with the stable.

They were consistently among the country’s leading jumps trainers, and in the 2021/22 season, took the top spot with 19 winners, and an incredible strike rate of 2.37.

“I do love the jumpers because you spend more time with them and there’s that much more work that goes into them,” she said. “With the shorter space of the season as well, you’ve got to be spot on.

“You get your horses that you have a soft spot for, and sometimes even if they don’t win, you still get such a thrill out of it.

“Winning the Ferguson Gold Cup with No Tip was a really big highlight for me. It was run at Hastings, but it’s actually the Gisborne Steeplechase, and Paul and Carol had spoken about it, with Carol being from Gisborne.

“It was meant to be run at Ellerslie, but they moved it to Hawke’s Bay, so the club decided to call this race the Ferguson Gold Cup. It was really cool to win with Carol’s connection, and with a horse of their own breed.

“One of my best memories was at Foxton, before I was training with Paul. One of Peter’s horses called Noess liked the better track and he won the first race, then it rained, and his half-brother, Our Destiny, won the last.

“Racing is also a good leveller because you can go into a race and think I’ve got this, and something could always go wrong or not as you’d expected. You’ve got to keep telling yourself that the horses, while amazing, aren’t invincible or machines.”

Reflecting on her milestone, McDougal shared her gratitude to the Nelsons, Murray and Sue Thompson, and her partner Richard Fenwick.

“Murray and Sue Thompson helped me out show jumping when I was younger, and Sue is still great to listen to and learn from,” she said.

“Richard has been through a lot with me, so I’m very grateful to him.”

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