Hastings race horse owner rejoices after dazzling double

WINNING FEELING: Hastings owner-breeder Megan Harvey and jockey Samantha Collett discuss Kaipawe's successful performance.

It has been a long time between celebration drinks for Hastings thoroughbred owner-breeder Megan Harvey and so it is little wonder she was overjoyed after sharing in two winners last week.

Harvey and her husband Jim are members of the H.O.T. Syndicate which owns 30 per cent of the mare Chic. The 5-year-old daughter of Savabeel went some way towards fulfilling her early promise with a game win in a $10,000 Rating 65 race over 1600m at Waipukurau on December 10.

Four days after that Harvey was again in the winners' circle as the co-breeder and owner of Kaipawe, who led all the way to win a $10,000 maiden race over 1300m at Hastings.

"It's been wonderful," a delighted Harvey said this week.

"To get two wins within a week is marvellous, especially since I haven't had a win for two years."

Chic had also provided Harvey with her last success, when she took out a Rating 65 race over 1400m at Hastings in December 2015.

That was the horse's second victory from her first six starts and, at that stage, she was held in such high regard that her connections decided to target some of that season's 3-year-old fillies' classics.

She contested both the Group 2 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) at Trentham and Group 3 Lowland Stakes (2100m) at Hastings but was unplaced in both and her form then dropped away.

Chic was trained at that time by the Hastings partnership of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen and Harvey admits the horse was starting to develop behavioural problems which were making it difficult to get the best out of her in trackwork and on race day.

At the beginning of this year it was decided that Chic needed a new training environment to hopefully settle her down and she was transferred to Whanganui trainer Kevin Myers.

Harvey said Myers has finally managed to curb the horse's wayward tendencies and his stable apprentice Sarah MacNab has also built up a close affinity with the horse.

"That girl Sarah has been riding her ever since she went to the Myers stable and, although she has been dropped off her a few times, they are now a real team," Harvey added.

MacNab has ridden Chic in her last two starts, for a close second over 1800m at New Plymouth on December 7 and the Waipukurau win three days later.

Chic was bred by Cambridge-based Tony Rider and is out of the O'Reilly mare Misspro O'Reilly.

Taupo's Pat Lowry and the estate of his late wife Jane now own 50 per cent of the horse, with the H.O.T. Syndicate owning 30 per cent and two other Hastings people, Joanna Lowry and Charlie Bridgman, each having a 10 per cent share.

Megan Harvey manages the H.O.T. Syndicate, with the other Hawke's Bay members being her husband Jim, Mick and Dawn Small, Pat Walshe, Patrick O'Rourke, Robert Kale, Sam and Jenny Nelson and Margie-Anne Klinginder.

Sam Nelson and Megan Harvey bred Kaipawe and race the mare together from the Hastings stable of Sue Thompson and Mick Brown.

She was having her third start when successful at Hastings last week and was following on from an unlucky fourth over 1200m on the same track last month.

Kaipawe is another who has not been an easy horse to train and it speaks volumes of the skills of her trainers that they have been able to get the best out of the Prince Conti mare.

She has dropped Mick Brown more times that he would probably like to remember.

The season's leading jockey Samantha Collett was aboard Kaipawe at last week's Hawke's Bay meeting.

She took the mare straight to the front in the 1300m event and dictated the pace, keeping her just a length or so clear until early in the home straight and then asking her to extend.

Kaipawe accelerated away to win by four and a half lengths from Soulsana.

Harvey and Nelson bred Kaipawe out of the Fiesta Star mare Meander, who was the winner of one race from only 10 starts.

She descends from the family of the good racemare Roaming, whose racetrack performances included a second behind Fury's Order in the 1974 New Zealand Cup (3200m).

Harvey and Nelson have an unraced 2-year-old full-brother to Kaipawe coming on and Harvey has also been breeding from Kaipawe's half-sister Airbird, who is by Hawkeye.

Kaipawe is expected to start next in a Rating 65 race over 1400m at Hastings on New Year's Day and could then head to Trentham for a $40,000 Special Conditions 1400 on January 20.

Burne shares in two wins
Hastings-based Kelly Burne may be taking a break from racehorse training at the moment but she is still heavily involved in the industry and has shared in the ownership of both a thoroughbred winner and a harness winner in the past week.

Burne is a part-owner of Real Beach, who broke through for a maiden victory over 1600m at last week's Hawke's Bay meeting.

She is also a member of the Go Harness Trotting For Fun Syndicate that races Harriet Of Mot, who brought up his 11th win when successful at Addington last Saturday night.

Burne said this week that she got down to having just three horses in work and found that it wasn't financially viable to keep training.

"It was a hard decision to make but I think it has been for the best," she said.

"I've taken up other employment and I'm really enjoying it."

Burne is now working in the stock yards at a local freezing works and, before that, she was riding work for the Hastings training partnership of Guy Lowry and Grant Cullen.

"I also enjoyed riding work for Guy and Grant and the job that I have now is only seasonal so I'd like to go back and work for them again if I'm laid off."

The Lowry/Cullen partnership have taken over the training of Real Beach and the mare was having her second start from their stable last week.

The first was over 1400m at Rotorua on November 29, where she finished sixth after covering plenty of extra ground in the running.

Real Beach was slow to begin in last week's 1600m race and was four lengths last at the end of the first 200m.

She was still in the rear division approaching the home turn, when rider Masa Tanaka angled her to the outside.

Once in the straight the Nadeem mare stretched out well and unleashed a strong finishing burst to win by one and a quarter lengths from True Enough.

Burne owns Real Beach in partnership with Wellington's Pat Baker after the pair bought the horse off her Hawke's Bay breeder Don Gordon.

She is out of the Grosvenor mare Mayfair, who recorded two wins and two seconds from 15 race starts.

The grandam is Secrecy, who won seven races, and it is also the family of this year's Group 1 Livamol Classic winner Wait A Sec.

Burne and Baker race Real Beach in partnership with Burne's son Vinnie Meenehan, along with Kevin Papuni and Trevor Burbery from Hastings, Paul Toothill (Wairoa) and Mike Taylor (Wellington).

Real Beach has come through last week's win in great order and will now head to Taupo on December 30 for a Rating 65 race over 1800m.

New Year's Day races
Hawke's Bay Racing will stage its popular annual family race day at the Hastings racecourse on New Year's Day.

The meeting, run in conjunction with the Interislander Summer Festival and supported by Russell Roads, promises to be a fun-filled day with free activities for children, live music and great racing action for the adults to enjoy.

Eight races are programmed, with the first timed for 1.01pm and the last at 5.07pm. Gates will be open from 10.30am.

There will be a general admission charge of $10 for those buying tickets up to 2pm on December 31 and then for $15. Members Stand tickets can be bought at $30 each until 2pm on December 31 and then for $35.

A Punters Club will operate on the day, with tickets $10 each.

Bi-monthly award
Waipukurau couple Iain and Eva Gollan are the recipients of the Kevin Wood Memorial bi-monthly award for the months of October and November.

The Gollans share in the ownership of Meeska Mooska, a 7-year-old gelding by El Hermano, who is trained at Cambridge by Graham Thomas and Mathew Gillies.

The horse won a $35,000 open sprint over 1400m at Ellerslie on October 28. That was Meeska Mooska's seventh win in only 25 starts.