Pep Torque exceeded expectation
Bargain purchase retired as injury forces change of plan for trainer
Consistent open-class galloper Pep Torque has retired from racing after suffering a tendon injury when finishing third in the $40,000 Wairoa Cup at Hastings on February 18.
The 10-year-old Nadeem gelding, trained and part-owned by Waipukurau’s Kirsty Lawrence, was twice galloped on during the running of that 2100m race and pulled up with lacerations to the near hind leg.
Lawrence said the injury was such that it would take a long time to heal and the horse will be 11 years old on August 1, so it was a clear choice to call time on what has been a great racing career.
“It is a shame that his career should end like that, but he has been a great horse for us and has given us a great ride,” Lawrence said.
Pep Torque won 10 races and more than $328,000 in stake money, a fantastic return on the $2600 Lawrence and her husband Steve outlaid to buy the horse from the Gavelhouse online auction site.
He showed longevity by competing for six years between 2018 and 2024. He had a total of 91 starts and, besides his 10 victories, he also recorded 13 seconds and 10 thirds and competed against some of the best gallopers in the country.
Lawrence said one of the most remarkable things about the horse was that in eight of his 10 wins, he was ridden by an apprentice jockey.
“It just showed what a great horse he was for an apprentice to ride, and when they brought it in that apprentices could claim in open staying races, it made all the difference to him,” Lawrence said.
He won the Listed $65,000 Feilding Gold Cup (2100m) at Awapuni in October 2022 and had previously taken out two other cup races, the City of New Plymouth Cup (1800m) at New Plymouth in December 2019 and the Ashhurst-Pohangina Cup (2000m) at Awapuni in February 2021.
“We worked it out that he averaged a return of $3500 from every start he had, which isn’t a bad return,” Lawrence said.
She said although two of Pep Torque’s early wins were on soft tracks, he grew to hate rain-affected tracks as he got older.
“Sometimes, you could see if it was a wet track he would get to about the last 800m and say ‘no, I’m not going to give my best today’.”
Pep Torque was raced by Kirsty and her husband Steve in partnership with their loyal stable employee Susan Best and Gisborne sisters Christina and Dinah Newman.
“They have been tremendous owners and we have had a great time.”
While his racing career is over,
Lawrence now has a future plan for Pep Torque.
“I’d like to rehab him here at our place and hopefully, he can be a clerkof-the-course horse for someone.
“He’s so quiet that I’m sure he would be perfect for a job like that.”
Lawrence said Pep Torque’s nickname is “Aussie” because when they bought him they were tossing up whether to buy a horse or have an Australian holiday.