Stayer has been worth the wait
Time has brought out the best in Wait A Sec with the Hastings seven-year-old in the form of his life to tackle upcoming stakes challenges.
The son of Postponed posted his fifth win from his last six starts when he came from the tail of the field to claim yesterday’s Bostock New Zealand Spring Carnival Handicap on his home track.
“He’s matured now and he’s a very happy horse, he’s going really well,” said Guy Lowry, who trains Wait A Sec with Grant Cullen.
“He’ll run in the open 2000 on the second day of the meeting and then the Livamol in preparation for the New Zealand Cup.”
Wait A Sec settled well back in the running, but a hot speed was always going to be in his favour and the gelding wound up powerfully over the closing 300 metres under rider Lisa Allpress.
“The pace was on and they all came back to him,” Lowry said. “To be fair, the others were carrying a fair bit more weight than us on 53.5kg.”
Allpress has now won three times on Wait A Sec, although she hasn’t been aboard the horse in his recent racing.
“He’s been a good horse to me and I was glad to get back on, I thought he would be a good chance,” she said.
Runner-up Woodsman strode to the front 650 metres from home and he fought on bravely in the run home while King Krovanh turned in his best run for some time with his effort for third.
Nymph Monte, another group one Livamol Classic hopeful, found the line strongly for fourth ahead of Amarula, who was sound under the topweight of 60kg.
Meanwhile Tony Pike won’t be rushed into any decision on the immediate future of the well-related Bostonian.
The Cambridge trainer was pleasantly surprised by the three-yearold’s hard-fought victory, which kept his unbeaten record intact, in the Listed El Roca Sir Colin Meads Trophy at Hastings yesterday.
“It was a good, tough effort and I thought he might have been a bit short on condition, he was coming in without a trial and he will improve a lot,” Pike said.
“There’s a lot of options so we’ll get him home and see how he pulls up and then work out a programme.”
The winner of both of his juvenile outings, the gelding also put a spring back into the step of his breederowner David Archer, whose Group Three winner Charles Road could earlier only beat one runner home when resuming at Ruakaka.
By Jimmy Choux out of a halfsister to Archer’s multiple Group One winner Mufhasa, Bostonian sat close to the pace and he rounded off strongly to nab I Got You on the post.
“I watched the replay and thought he had got the bob in,” Pike said. “He’s not a big, robust type of horse, but he’s genuine with a good will to win.”
Irish Flame ran home generously from the tail of the field to take third ahead of the previously unbeaten Getty, who wilted after setting the pace.