The Oysterman breaks his duck
STEPHEN Nickalls is not one to do things by halves.
The Awapuni trainer delivered another one of his now trademark celebrations when The Oysterman won yesterday’s Awapuni Steeplechase and with good reason.
Nickalls left nothing in the tank as he cheered his pride and joy home and neither did the horse as he scored his maiden steeplechase victory in a $50,000 open company race.
‘‘It just doesn’t get any better than this,’’ an excited Nickalls told Trackside TV in a post-race interview after the impressive one and three-quarter length win.
‘‘The horse really deserved it, Hamish rode him beautifully,’’ he said after Hamish McNeill’s measured ride.
Nickalls was not wrong when he said The Oysterman deserved the win.
He ran second to Just Ishi at Trentham one week earlier - one of his three seconds over steeples.
A perennial bridesmaid, The Oysterman ran second to Mr Mor in the 2015 Wellington Steeplechase. In that same jumping season he finished fourth in the Great Northern Steeplechase and fifth in the Pakuranga Hunt Cup.
The now nine-year-old son of Yamanin Vital returned to the Wellington Steeplechase last year where he ran third.
Nickalls hinted that a third shot at the Wellington Steeplechase would be The Oysterman’s next assignment when he said ‘‘bring on another round’’ referring to the extra lap in the 5500m Prestige race.
Race favourite Wise Men Say made up ground to late to finish third, three-quarters of a length behind the second placed Joking.
The incident-packed race was a tame affair compared to the crazy events of last week’s steeplechase at Trentham but there was still plenty of drama.
For a fleeting moment, it looked as though a repeat of last weeks shambolic start was on the cards when The Big Opal was fractious before the flag start but thankfully the field got away safely.
Will Gordon had a life aboard Kings Kite at the second fence but it was short lived. Gordon pulled Kings Kite up soon after when he could not regain his irons.
Just a couple of jumps later, early leader Nells Belle made a mistake that threw Emma Goodinson to the turf. A lap later the field had to be directed around the same jump as Goodinson remained on the track.
By that time, second favourite The Big Opal and Shaun Fannin had lost their chances when they fell on the second jump of the double as the field made their way through the centre of the Trentham track for the final time. RACE IMAGES
Neither The Big Opal or Fannin were injured in the fall.
Goodinson was transferred to hospital by ambulance but reports from Trentham suggested it was just a precautionary move.
Meanwhile, Kings Deep scored a well-deserved win in the maiden steeplechase in the first race on the card.
The Paul Nelson-trained jumper was a victim of the rogue Highly Likely at Trentham last week.
The riderless Highly Likely came sideways through the double and collided with Kings Deep. The impact dislodged Shaun Phelan and ended the chances of Kings Deep.
But yesterday’s steeplechase was incident free for the $1.60 favourite and he went on to win by five and a quarter lengths.
One race earlier, the Harvey Wilson-trained It’s A Wonder made the perfect start to his jumping career when he won the maiden hurdle on his jumping debut in the hands of Will Gordon by one and a half lengths. IT was a small field but a big battle evolved in the open class sprint at Ruakaka on Saturday under sunny skies on a perfect track..
Just six runners faced the starter but there was plenty of quality headed by firm favourite Lewis Caroll winner of five from eight starts, course specialist Amarula winner of four on the track, and Fully Funded a horse going places.
Lewis Caroll had a big pull in the weights from his two main adversaries and young apprentice jockey Sam Weatherley shot the favourite to the front from barrier rise in a move guaranteed to make use of the advantage.
Turning for home the pair looked in control but the challenges emerged and an exciting battle developed.
Lewis Caroll looked all out, but under his rider’s urgings he responded and momentarily resumed control.
Amarula was lodging his claim wider on the track with Fully Funded poking up one off the rail.
In the drive to the line Sam Spratt got Fully Funded home by a short head from Shaun McKay and Amarula with the same margin to Lewis Caroll with just a half-length to Silverdale in fourth.
Fully Funded is trained by Joanne Surgenor at Ardmore for high profile owners Sir Patrick Hogan, Peter Walker and Alistair Sutherland and the team has big plans for the 5-year-old son of Fully Fledged.
‘‘Wait until next year,’’ Walker said. ‘‘He’s a serious horse.’’
Maybe serious enough to tackle the Group I Railway Stakes on New Year’s Day at Ellerslie where he has performed well in the past.
‘‘He will go for a break now,’’ Surgenor said. ‘‘He’ll have a freshen up and come back for the spring.
‘‘I think he’s a Railway horse - he fought hard today and it was a gallant win.’’
It was a commendable training achievement as the horse hadn’t raced since April 1 and had been kept ticking over with Saturday’s $30,000 race in mind.
‘‘He hasn’t raced for a while,’’ Spratt said. ‘‘He almost came to the end of it the last little bit but he fought hard.’’
The day’s second feature the open 1600m, was won decisively by home town hero Kaharau.
Trained by Ken and Lisa Rae and ridden by Samantha Collett, the 5-year-old gelding notched win number seven in his career.
The Whangarei Cup next month is on his agenda.
‘ It just doesn't get any better than this’ STEPHEN NICKALLS