Horse racing: Pender goes ton-up at home

Tauranga trainer Jim Pender, pictured with Johnny Bravo, trained his 100th winner at his home track on Friday. Photo/Peter White

It was a red letter day for Tauranga horse trainer Jim Pender at the Racing Tauranga meeting on Friday when he trained his 100th winner on his home track.

Racing historians were set scurrying for their record books to compare the rare feat of 100 winners at home base, with suggestions Dave O'Sullivan (Matamata) and Bill Sanders (Te Awamutu) are the only North Island trainers to reach the magical mark on their home turf.

There was jubilation in the Pender camp when Sea Major stormed home to win the second race on the card at the Gate Pa course on Friday.

"I gave her a great chance of bringing up my century on our home course, as we had been racing her out of her class to get a weight allowance and we felt that she just needed a good draw to grab her second win," Pender said.

"It was probably the biggest thrill of my training career and especially gratifying to have my wife Cheryl and family on hand to share in the jubilation."

Pender entered this season sitting on 98 wins, with Ohope Prince providing another home winner early in the new season.

"There was no pressure until commentator George Simon made our quest for the 100th winner public, with plenty of punters wishing me luck every time I went up the hill to the stables to saddle up our runners."

The road to Pender's 100 wins at the Gate Pa course started in the 1988/89 racing season, when Shakamuni was first past the post to give the then fledgling trainer just his second training success. The horse was owned by Terry Tsunoda from Japan, who had a number of horses in the Pender stable in his early days.

Since his start in the training ranks, Pender has fashioned an impressive record, having trained 244 winners overall, with stake money approaching $3 million. However, it is at the Tauranga course thathe has reigned supreme.

In his second season, the Pender-trained Power Chief accomplished every Tauranga trainer's ambition to win the Group Two Japan International on the Gate Pa track. The Tauranga Group 2 victory set a new race record, beating high-class miler Corndale and the Dave O'Sullivan-trained Kiss.

Pender won the Japan International race on three further occasions, winning the only Group 2 held annually at Gate Pa with Ginga Dude, Cassabella Lane and Our Star Pupil.

"We were denied a chance to win a fifth when Ella Sierra, who we had primed to win the race, had the starting blanket buckled up at the front instead of the back. She left the barrier carrying the blanket and took no part in the race."

Two other Tauranga feature wins came in the Kiwifruit Cup with Crown Prince and the Bay of Plenty Cup with O'Toole, while another real thrill was training four winners in a day at Gate Pa.

Pender summed up his desire to continue his home-course success: "While there is always additional pressure when racing at home with the majority of our owners on hand, as a committee man of our club I like to support the local meetings and with no travel involved that is one less cost for the owners."