Gallant steeples pair locked together
AFTER 4800m— 21⁄ laps of 2 the Hastings racecourse — and having jumped 21 testing fences, two horses crossed the finish line locked together in the 2012 Livamol Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase. The naked eye couldn’t separate Penstar and Volkswagin, and it was left to the judge and the best photo-finish technology available to split them and determine the result. They couldn’t. After a suspenseful wait the first dead-heat for first place in the 133-year history of the Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase was announced.
It came about after a spectacular last 100m in which the race changed dramatically. For most of the race, there was a margin of more than half a dozen lengths between the two eventual dead-heaters. Volkswagin was in a prominent position throughout, settling in third for most of the event. He jumped more and more confidently as the race progressed and loomed as a massive winning chance.
In contrast, Penstar’s prospects looked bleak for much of the race.
Trainer Bob Baker had doubts going into the race about the Pentire gelding’s chances on reasonably dry footing, and those doubts seemed well-founded as Penstar dropped back to be
‘‘It’s also worth noting that the five jumping races on the Hastings programme were run without a single fall.’’
several lengths behind the main pack. But rider Shelley Houston took a shortcut as the field rounded the final turn, making up a load of ground and commencing a big late run through the field.
He’d moved up to equal third at the last fence, but was still several lengths adrift of Volkswagin, who had swept to the lead, jumped the last fence brilliantly and had what looked an unassailable lead.
But then Penstar produced a turn of foot that was truly remarkable for the final stages of a race this long. He charged home along the inside, blazing past favourite Zagata and eating into Volkswagin’s lead. But it still looked like he wasn’t quite going to get there and Volkswagin would hold on to win. But Volkswagin was starting to stagger, and Penstar’s big late run was not waning.
He kept coming, becoming a distinct threat in the last two or three strides, and he lunged at the line determinedly. It looked like there was little or nothing between them, and it turned out that it was indeed the latter.
It was a result that gave Taranaki two reasons to celebrate, because, both horses are trained in the region— Penstar by Baker and Volkswagin by John Wheeler.
The performance by Morpheus to win the Te Whangai Romneys Hawke’s Bay Hurdles also deserves praise. Carrying 69.5kg, he produced a powerful finish down the home straight to draw away to a convincing victory. It was a performance that put his position atop New Zealand’s hurdling ranks beyond any doubt.
It’s also worth noting that the five jumping races on the Hastings programme were run without a single fall — a considerable boost for jumps racing, which has been the subject of recent protests over the safety of its equine participants.