Thenamesbond, I won’t give up
HE’S no secret agent but Thenamesbond is tough and can jump and he might be warming up for his best season yet.
The Stephen Ralph-trained hurdler was falling back through the field late in yesterday’s $50,000 Waikato Hurdles but, like a boxer climbing off the canvas, he found his second wind to claim his second Prestige hurdle scalp.
Ralph described the half length victory at Te Rapa as special following last season’s near misses and disappointments.
To make it even sweeter, Ralph and his partner Melanie Sutton, race the eight-year-old son of China Cat.
‘‘She does plenty of the work so it’s great to win it together,’’ Ralph said.
But the couples winning was not done there.
In the last race on the card, the Ralph-trained Thunder Down Under brought up a memorable double when he caused a major boilover at 45-1.
Ralph and Sutton are part owners of the four-year-old son of Street Sense who won the rating 75 1400 by a head.
Thenamesbond, unsurprisingly known as James around Ralph’s Te Awamutu stable, is likely to chase another Prestige win at Ellerslie on June 5 with his third crack at the K S Browne Hurdle.
He brought up his first Prestige victory in the 2015 edition and was fourth last year.
‘‘He loves Ellerslie and he loves heavy tracks so it’s a good race for him.’’
The overnight rain that turned Te Rapa into a slow 7 on Saturday played right into Thenamesbond’s hands and Ralph said the inclusion of top-weight Sea King, to help bring Thenamesbond’s weight down to 65kg, was another plus but he reserved the highest praise for his jockey Will Gordon.
Unhappy with how some jockeys were trying to settle the natural frontrunner back in the field last season, Ralph went to Gordon on the advice of prominent jumps jockey Shaun Phelan and has never looked back.
‘‘He rode him perfectly. I couldn’t believe the race was turning out exactly how we had talked about,’’ Ralph said.
‘‘When I saw Will attacking them down the back straight I was really pleased. That was the plan to get them all chasing and under pressure and try and run them out of gas.’’
But when Thenamesbond ($8.40) was picked up by race favourite Ooee and 56-1 outsider Yardarm with 450m to run he TRISH DUNELL
‘ He's a real fighter that knows where the line is. He's a very good last 100-metre horse’ STEPHEN RALPH
looked beaten.
‘‘We always knew he would get back on the bit when they straightened up.
‘‘He’s a real fighter that knows where the line is. He’s a very good last 100-metre horse.’’
The Waikato Hurdles win, at his third attempt, was a redemption of soughts for Thenamesbond.
He looked a strong winning chance in the 2016 edition but lost ground when he clipped the third to last jump before running home strongly for fourth.
Thenamesbond, unbeaten in one start over steeples, will get his chance over the bigger fences but it is unlikely to come until this season’s feature hurdle races are done.
‘‘Physically and with a bit more experience now I really think he can go on with it this season.’’
Sea King, second favourite on the tote and final field favourite, never got into the race and was pulled up before the last jump.