Dark brooding clouds on the horizon

BOXING DAY @ PUKEKOHE 2022

By Sally Blyth

(This article appeared in the Summer 2023 Owners Bulletin).

Much as I would love to have attended Boxing Day Races at Pukekohe, I decided to stay put at the beach north of Auckland, balancing family time in the morning with racing time in the afternoon. I spent a few happy hours in the Rusty Tui Sports Bar/TAB in Matakana. I often call in on a Saturday afternoon and have befriended a fabulous crew of keen racing people there. It’s a helluva lot of fun and Boxing Day was no exception.

Auckland Association Committee member Virginia Healye was keen to see the horses on course, so she headed along to Pukekohe with a group of racing friends, including some more recent owners. She shared with me her overview of the day.

After arriving around 11:30am and finding a good table in the Members’ area, they settled in to watch Race 1 get under way. Under blue skies, and with a perfect Good4 track, the place was humming pleasantly. There was a bouncy castle for the kids and ATR Marketing Manager Laura Madden was out and about offering Kapiti ice-cream to patrons, among other duties.

With a strong focus on the horses, Virginia didn’t get time to engage with the Fashion in the Fields, but she did get to witness a hirsute man in an ill-fitting tank top who obliviously blocked their view. No prizes for his sloppy ensemble or inconsiderate behaviour!

The racing action kept everyone captivated. Te Akau Racing had the thrill of three wins on the day – Tokyo Tycoon (R2, jockey Opie Bosson); Synchronize (R5, jockey Craig Zackey) and Wild Night (R6, jockey Opie Bosson). 

There were some other nice wins for NZTROF members including:

• Thunder, Race 3: Part-owned by Waikato Member Judith Ridley-Smith. A fantastic, albeit narrow, win – and an ominous bet for some as stormy weather approached the Auckland area prior to the race.
• Habana, Race 8: A strong 2L win for Brendan and Jo Lindsay.

The real highlight of the day was the phenomenal run by hot favourite Legarto in R6, the ATR Eight Carat Classic 3YO SW 1600m race. Virginia shared with me her immense thrill at being there in person to watch Legarto win the race. He had plenty of ground to make up after Wessex got away from the field but, with fast final sectionals from the 800m, this unbeaten and hugely talented 3YO filly by Proisir bounded to the front and ran away to win by 1¼ L. That makes five wins in a row. Jockey Ryan Elliott must have been wondering if there would be enough time and space to get to the front so there’s no wonder he had a grin of relief on his face when they passed the winning post first.

Virginia couldn’t stop yelling and cheering as a very special racing moment unfolded. I, on the other hand, watched the Trackside footage in the TAB utterly spellbound. None of us said a word, we just looked at the screen in a kind of awed and catatonic silence – followed by admiration and some intense analysis !

Congratulations to Waikato members Philip and Catherine Brown of Ancroft Stud who are in the ownership group for this exciting filly out of Geordie Girl. Congratulations also to trainer Ken Kelso and his team. It looks like NZ might have its next significant racehorse champ.

By 4:30pm dark clouds had arrived and the course emptied out a little after Wild Night’s impressive win. Race 9 was run under a black and foreboding sky but that was no deterrent to capable and in-form jockey Warren Kennedy who guided Defibrillate home to win the Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic, his first Group 1 win here after relocating from his native South Africa. Warren notched up three wins on the day so would have gone home a happy man.

Just prior to the final race of the day, huge raindrops began to fall. Owners out viewing their horses got wet and had to take shelter but no deluge eventuated and the track remained in great order all day long.

John Thompson and the team at Rich Hill Stud will be on “Cloud 9” after a superb day – they stand Shocking (Defibrillate), Proisir (Legarto) and Vadamos (Uderzo - R10).

With both Legarto and Wild Night clocking up five wins in a row, Virginia assured me it was well worth the effort to be there in person. It was indeed a day to remember and a great way to wrap up the final Premier race meeting of 2022.

L to R: Helen Boyle, Anne Fulton, Claire Fergusson*, Jan Hawkins and Virginia Healey* with Tina Troughton* standing behind with binoculars. (* denotes Auckland Association members)

Laura Madden with ice creams

Habana in winning form on the day