Damask Rose will carry the hopes of little known Hastings racehorse owner Kieran Pollard in next month’s $3.5million NZB Kiwi at Ellerslie.
John Jenkins is a longtime racing journalist based in Hawke’s Bay.
OPINION
Kieran Pollard, a Hastings factory worker, is already enjoying the ride of a lifetime as a 10 per cent shareholder in star filly Damask Rose and now stands to win a sizeable share of the $3.5 million on offer in next month’s NZB Kiwi.
Damask Rose, already the winner of more than $1million in stakemoney, is presently equal favourite for the inaugural running of the NZB Kiwi, New Zealand’s first slot race and the richest race ever run in this country.
The 1500m event has even attracted Australian interest and will be just one of the highlights on Champions Raceday at Ellerslie on March 8.
Te Akau Racing owns a slot in the race and has selected Damask Rose, who is prepared by their trainers Mark Walker and Sam Bergerson, as their representative.
The field is limited to 14 starters with stakemoney paid from first to last.
The winning stake is $1,200,000; second $575,000; third $375,000; fourth $250,000; fifth $200,000 and from sixth to 14th is $100,000.
Damask Rose, a Savabeel filly that cost $200,000 as a yearling, is a $5 equal favourite for the race along with the Australian-trained Evaporate. Checkmate and another Australian-trained three-year-old, Perfumist, are on the second line of betting at $6.
Pollard will be at Ellerslie on March 6, along with family members and friends, cheering home what has become the horse of his dreams since he started out in racing ownership several decades ago.
“I’ve had little shares in about half a dozen horses over the years but with very limited success,” Pollard revealed this week.
“In fact you could say that most of them were well below average.”
Pollard did, at one stage, have a 10% share in a Go Racing Eclipse Syndicate that raced Lord Ardmore, who won one race in New Zealand when trained by Stephen McKee and was then transferred to Chris Waller in Australia, where he has won another four races.
“When Damask Rose came along I suddenly had two 10% shares in syndicates and it was a bit too much,” Pollard said.
“Lord Ardmore was getting towards the end of his racing career and Damask Rose was just starting out so I decided to just concentrate on her.”
Pollard said he was mainly drawn to Damask Rose because he wanted to race a filly.
He went on to the Te Akau Racing website and, after what he described as a good phone conversation with Te Akau principal David Ellis, he decided to sign up for a 10% share.
“I thought if I’m going to have a go I might as well have a decent crack at it,” he added.
Damask Rose has now had six starts for three wins, a second and a third, her only unplaced performance coming in the Auckland Guineas (1600m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day, where she raced a little flat second up from a spell.
She won her race debut over 1100m at New Plymouth in December 23 and then finished second behind Velocious in the $1million Karaka Millions Two-year-old (1200m) the following month.
Her second win came in the $65,000 Wentwood Grange Three-year-old (1200m) at Te Rapa last December and then she scored a last start win in the $1.5million Karaka Millions Three-year-old (1600m) at Ellerslie on January 25.
Pollard said he was at Ellerslie when Damask Rose finished second in the Karaka Millions Two-year-old and again when she won the big one last month and said the thrill he got from both runs was amazing.
“We didn’t know until the Friday before the Karaka Two-year-old whether she would get a run so we quickly chucked a few clothes in the car and were gone,” he recalled.
“We were able to plan things a bit better for her last start and I actually watched her win from the Go Racing Stand at Ellerslie.
“Australian jockey Blake Shinn rode her and I was happy last week when Mark confirmed he would ride her again in the Kiwi.
“Blake rode her perfectly and I actually kissed him on the forehead after the win.
“He said to Mark [Walker] there are obviously a few hard case owners involved.”
Pollard is certainly one of those hard case owners, just an average bloke who has a passion for racing, enjoys a beer or two with friends and family and has finally struck gold as a racehorse owner.
Winning double for John Bary
Hastings trainer John Bary enjoyed a successful day at last Sunday’s Otaki meeting, producing two winners and a third from five starters over the seven race card.
Bary, who has scaled down his training operation in the past six months, won early races at Otaki with Detrimental and Psyclone before his runner in the last event, Pacific Princess, was unlucky not to finish closer than third after being late getting clear in the home straight.
The addition of blinkers obviously brought out the best in Detrimental, an expensive three-year-old colt who was having his third start since winning a maiden over 1000m on the Awapuni synthetic track in October last year.
He finished sixth two starts back over 1200m at Tauranga on November 2 and then beat only one home in the Group 3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m) at Ellerslie last month.
Detrimental was opposed by only four rivals in last Sunday’s 1200m three-year-old race at Ōtaki and, after being slightly slow to begin, he quickly went up to sit outside the leader Colour Chart.
The pair rounded the home turn on level terms but Detrimental responded to a vigorous ride from jockey Jonathan Riddell to forge clear in the final stages and won by two lengths.
Detrimental is Australian-bred, being by the champion sire I Am Invincible out of the Lope De Vega three-race-winning mare Lope De Lope.
The colt was a $580,000 purchase from the 2023 Ready-To-Run Two-year-old sale and is owned by Auckland’s Narendra Balia and his family trust.
Psyclone is owned by Hawke’s Bay couple Greg and Donna Miller and was a much cheaper purchase, with the couple paying just $1600 for her from the online auction site Gavelhouse.
The Millers own Valley d’Vine Restaurant, which is part of Linden Estate Winery in the Esk Valley.
The winery and most of the surrounding buildings were devastated by the widespread flooding caused by Cyclone Gabrielle exactly two years ago but fortunately, the restaurant, which is two stories above ground, was left high and dry.
However, with no access in or out, the restaurant had to temporarily close for several months before it was operational again.
At the time the cyclone struck the Millers had just purchased a Rageese filly out of the Savabeel Sensibility from Gavelhouse and named her Psyclone, being a play on the word cyclone.
The now four-year-old mare has recorded two wins and five thirds from 15 starts and has amassed more than $57,000 in stakemoney.
Psyclone drew the extreme outside in last Sunday’s 1600m Rating 65 race and Australian jockey Harry Grace let the horse drift back to the tail of the field in the early stages before improving three-wide when the pace slackened mid-race.
Psyclone ranged up to challenge the leaders, four-wide, rounding the home turn and kept up a strong run down centre track to win by 1-1/4 lengths.
The mare’s win made up for an unlucky last start third over 1600m at Wanganui on January 20, where she came from last on the home turn to finish less than 1-1/2 lengths from the winner.
Australian Guineas for Savaglee
Classy New Zealand three-year-old Savaglee got his first taste of Australian racing on home soil last Saturday when placing behind Aussie raiders Here To Shock and Bosustow in the Group 1 BCD Group Sprint (1400m) at Te Rapa, and his connections are now looking forward to testing his talents across the Tasman.
Raced by The Oaks Stud, Savaglee has been an unstoppable force against his own age group this season, winning five of his six starts, including the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), before being tested at weight-for-age for the first time last weekend.
The Oaks Stud general manager Rick Williams was satisfied with the performance of the Pam Gerard-trained colt and said he didn’t get all favours in the running.
“We knew they [Here To Shock and Bosustow] were good horses and it is always hard for a three-year-old at weight-for-age. It was a hell of a race and I am very proud of the horse,” Williams said.
“He went a little bit keenly once Babylon Berlin crossed him. He usually drops the bit and relaxes nowadays, but he was a little bit fierce and just got held up for a while in the straight, which was probably the difference of running second.
“He would never have beaten the winner, who was brilliantly ridden by Nash Rawiller and sat outside us, and older horses can lean on you a bit and dominate three-year-olds.
“It was his first time against the older horses, so it was a good experience for him, and I am sure he will improve off it.”
Williams is now looking forward to heading to Melbourne with his colt where he will take his place in the Group 1 A$1million Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on March 8.
“I am certain now that he prefers a mile to 1400m and we are going on to the Australian Guineas, there is no reason not to go,” he said.
“The form analysts are telling me we are right in the mix. I think he has dropped down to third favourite, but the bookmakers don’t worry me, I am quite sure he will go over there and he will be right in it.”
OPINION: Demolition in the months after the earthquake, continued into the night.