Wood notches up 500th NZ training win in style

[Wandering Eyes]

Ellerslie’s Saturday meeting proved to be a momentous occasion for Chris Wood, with That’s Gold’s dominant win in the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) bringing up his 500^th training victory in New Zealand.

“It was a big thrill. That is 500 wins in New Zealand and to bring it up with a Group Two race was very good,” Wood said. “It was really exciting and the horse did the whole team proud.”

While he has notched up 500 wins in his homeland, Wood also experienced plenty of success across the Tasman.

“I have had quite a few (wins) in Australia,” he said. “I trained a winner on Melbourne Cup Day three times, Cox Plate Day three times and Caulfield Cup Day twice, so I have had a good run over there as well.

“I had a stable at Mornington for a couple of years but decided to close that and concentrate on New Zealand.”

Wood has enjoyed more than four decades in the industry, which all began thanks to his sister’s pony.

“My sister had a pony and Royce Dowling used to come and shoe it,” Wood said. “Royce Downing was a good trainer and he looked at me one day and said, ‘you are pretty small, have you ridden a horse?’, I said I had ridden my sister’s pony a few times, so he said I better come and have a ride on a racehorse, and it went from there.”

A career as a jockey ensued, which included flat and jumps racing, and Wood said he enjoyed his time in the saddle.

“I did an apprenticeship with Laurie Laxon for two-and-a-half years and then went to Dave Clow, the jumping trainer, and I started riding over jumps,” Wood said.

“I learned all facets of the game and Laurie was a very good teacher back in the day for us young fellas.”

Wood had 86 wins in the saddle and he was particularly successful over jumps.

“I enjoyed my riding,” he said. “I won two Wellington Steeplechases on Long Acre and Mr Hickey, and got beaten a head in a Northern with no stirrup irons in 1984 with a mare called Aurlada.”

That’s Gold winning the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) at Ellerslie on Saturday. Photo: Kenton Wright (Race Images)

Wood transitioned to a career as a trainer and he has enjoyed four decades in that role, with plenty of success on both sides of the Tasman.

“It’s a natural progression to try and be a trainer after being a jockey,” he said.

“I was in partnership with a guy in Hamilton called Graeme Marshall for about a year and then I came over to Cambridge on my own, leased a place and ended up buying the place, and that is where we are now.”

While he is enjoying a great ride with That’s Gold, looking back, Wood said a few of his former equine athlete’s standout.

“I had a couple of good three-year-olds, one year after the other, in Allegro and Al Akbar,” he said. “I had a good staying horse in Kaapstad Way who ran second in the Caulfield Cup (Gr.1, 2400m) and fourth in the Melbourne Cup (Gr.1, 3200m) in 2000.

“I have had a lot of fun in the game and I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

Wood is experiencing his best season in recent years, with the Cambridge horseman currently on 10 wins, including two at stakes level, both of which were recorded by That’s Gold in the Avondale Guineas and Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m), while his $175,000 winner’s purse in the $350,000 Sir Patrick Hogan Karapiro Classic (1600m) significantly added to his season’s earnings.

“It’s nice to have a really good team of horses around me at the moment, which is a big help,” he said.

Wood said That’s Gold has come through his Avondale Guineas run in great order and he is now looking forward to pressing onto the Gr.1 Trackside New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie in a fortnight.

“He is super, he didn’t leave an oat, he ate everything,” Wood said. “He is as bright as a button this morning. We will look at the Derby at this stage and see how we progress from now until then.”

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