Olympics rider down to earth

FORMER OLYMPIC showjumper Harvey Wilson has had so many highs and lows in his career with horses, the sight of blood streaming down Venerate’s near foreleg after yesterday’s open hurdles at Te Rapa came as no surprise.

And while Venerate’s bold display to beat a classy field had pundits already talking about him as a genuine Grand National Hurdles contender, Wilson was much more circumspect as he dealt with a nasty gash just above the horse’s knee.

‘‘Horses ... they give you a thrill then bring you down to earth with a thud,’’ said Wilson who these days trains a small team of racehorses at Waverley, with his wife, Ann.

Venerate needed a few stitches to the wound, in exactly the same spot as a previous knock he suffered at a jumping trial earlier in the season.

‘‘No wound is good at this stage but I doubt we’ll be going to Riccarton anyway - that was only his third jumps race today.’’

Wilson rated Venerate the best jumper he has had in 10 years as a racehorse trainer and said, on type, he would not look out of place on the showjumping circuit in England.

Wilson represented New Zealand in the showjumping ring at three Olympic Games, teaming with Mark Todd and Bruce Goodin at Barcelona in 1992, when he rode his favourite horse May Day, and also competing at Seoul in 1988 and Montreal in 1976.

‘‘I rode for 30 years, and we had a lot of fun, won most classes.’’

Wilson created history with Bruce Goodin, Maurice Beatson and Mark Todd when they won the inaugural Commonwealth Cup against Australia and Great Britain at the Windsor Royal Show in 1992.

The Wilsons switched their focus to racing after a bad flood on their Wanganui property in 2004 when they had to swim some of their horses to safety.

"It just slowed us down a little and we changed direction. We had done it at that top level for a very long time," said Wilson, who was master of the local hunt for more than 20 years.

Venerate had done plenty of hunting too, Wilson said, and been round the sports arenas showjumping during his education for the racetrack.

But while a proficient jumper, that didn’t stop him from making a serious mistake at the third last fence yesterday when Wilson said only rider Isaac Lupton’s skill saw him stay in the saddle.

‘‘Isaac takes a bit of dislodging and I don’t think the horse would have got round without him.’’

But Wilson thinks so much of Venerate, he has bought the horse’s younger four-year-old brother, who was due to arrive at his stables yesterday.

The Wilsons got Venerate after his former trainer Grant Laursen was hurt in a bad spill.