Stewart defends Waimate Cup title on eve of 90th birthday

[Wandering Eyes]

Timaru trainer Len Stewart has no interest in paying any attention to any notion that he should be slowing down as he gets older.

On the contrary as he prepares to take the biggest team he has ever taken to the races for Sunday’s Waimate Cup meeting at Timaru’s Phar Lap Raceway which falls just three days before his 90th birthday.

Among the 11 entries Stewart has for his home track meeting are three runners – Vague, Ekstrememiss and Diamond Riviere – in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Waimate Cup (2200m), a race he won last year with Take The Deel.

“It’s just a number and besides, they tell me I can’t go back the other way,” Stewart quipped about hitting 90.

“I’ve been pretty lucky with my health. My granddaughter Lacy is a very big help. She’s always been big on her horses. 

“I remember leading a horse around when she was four or five years old and I said ‘Lacy, we must get you a pony’ and her bottom lip went out and she stamped her foot. ‘I don’t want a pony, I want a racehorse’. And it’s been the same ever since. She’s very good though. She reads a horse very well.”

Lacy Stewart and her partner Aaron Tapper operate South Canterbury’s Clearview Stud, which stands Gr.1 Australian Derby (2400m) winning stallion Jon Snow.

Veteran Timaru trainer Len Stewart (centre) will be well represented at the Waimate Cup meeting on Sunday.
Photo: Race Images South

She shares in all three Cup runners on Sunday, the trio all sourced as future consorts for Jon Snow.

“Aaron and Lacy have been buying mares for the stud to go to Jon Snow and they’ve been fortunate to buy some very good bloodlines so all the credit goes to them. They’ve got some nice mares around them,” Stewart said.

“It’s a pretty reasonable field and the small field will help Ekstrememiss and Diamond Riviere. They are both backrunners. Their racing pattern doesn’t make it easy because they’ve got to come from the back, which means a lot of the time they have to be ridden for luck or else they’ve got to come around them.

“Diamond Riviere is a beautifully-bred little mare and Ekstrememiss’ dam (Ekstreme) was a Group One winner. 

“Looking at the field, Dee And Gee has got young Megan Taylor on so they might try and lead but Vague doesn’t have to be in front. She can sit anywhere really. She can run on the pace or trail and that’s her advantage and she’s really well. I don’t think I’ll be far away. The run of the race will be a big thing.” 

A tendon injury suffered in this year’s Gore Cup cost Take The Deel his chance to defend his title, though Stewart was optimistic he would return to the racetrack later this year.

“In the Gore Cup, when he angled out halfway down the straight, he got hit and he got a hole in his tendon sheath,” he said.

“X-rays showed the hole so we had to put him out. He’s just on the point of coming back into work. We’ll just take him quietly and maybe look at the spring with him.”

Stewart’s other runners at Timaru on Sunday are Nellie Grey, Harleen Quinzel, Tennessee Rock, Annexception, Belle De Val, Show Us Plenty, Miss Harley Quinn and Play The Field.  

“Miss Harley Quinn and Play The Field run on the pace and go fairly well here,” he said.

“This time next year, Show Us Plenty will be a really handy horse but even this weekend despite his wide draw, I don’t think he’ll be far away.”

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