Wilson recalled this week that Dez's sire Zed was standing at Little Avondale Stud in Masterton and the stud proprietors, Sam and Catriona Williams, donated a service fee to the stallion as part of first prize in the Grand Prix jump at a Wairarapa show.
"Doug Isaacson won the Grand Prix and had a mare that he put to Zed and then had a foal running around in the paddock that he didn't want to carry on with," Wilson said.
"He offered the horse for sale to myself and a couple of mates and we'd had a few horses before so we decided to race him together."
Dez didn't start racing until he was a late 3-year-old but showed instant ability, winning two of his first three starts before suffering a tendon injury.
Wilson said Rangitikei vet Tim Pearce gave him an intense programme to follow to hopefully repair the tendon, which involved keeping the horse being confined for three to four months and then a lengthy spell.
Wilson, who operates a sheep and cattle farm, said he gave the horse a year out running around the hills to strengthen the tendon and then gave him a lot of slow work and more than two months on a treadmill at Sam Lennox's property before he put any real pressure on the leg again.
Dez finally returned to the races at his local meeting at Waipukurau on May 3 and showed he had lost none of his ability by scoring an impressive win over 1600m. He followed that up with a couple of minor placings and sealed his Riccarton trip with a win in the Whyte Handicap (1600m) at Trentham last month.
Dez finished a good third behind Platinum Command and She's Poppy in the Group 3 Winter Cup (1600m) on the first day of the Grand National meeting and improved on that run to score a decisive win last Saturday, aided by a great ride by jockey Lisa Allpress.
Allpress made the most of the horse's inside barrier draw to settle him fourth, just in behind the leader, and hugged the inside rail rounding the home turn while other jockeys scouted out wide.
Dez shot to a clear lead early in the home straight and, despite getting his head up and wanting to run around, he maintained a strong finish to the line to hold out Elfee and Platinum Command.
Allpress believes there is still plenty to come for Dez once he improves his racing manners.
"He's still so green and does a lot wrong but he just tries so hard," she said.
"He charged along quite hard early on and it took a lot to get him to come back underneath me.
"He's the sort of horse who doesn't like to be hit by the whip as he runs around. When I got to the fence I really made him hit the line as having the fence inside him made him run straight.
"He's still just figuring out what it's all about but in time I think he will come right."
Wilson is unsure where Dez will start next but thinks it could be in the Group 3 $80,000 Boehringer Ingelheim 1550 at Awapuni on September 15.
Thompson to be honoured
Murray Thompson, an important official at Hastings race meetings for more than four decades, died last week after a battle with cancer. He was 72.
Thompson was the regular Clerk of the Course for Hawke's Bay Racing, leading in thousands of winners while also ensuring the jockeys and horses were safe on the track. He took over the role from his father Hugh Thompson in the mid 1970s and had his last day of officiating at the Hawke's Bay meeting on April 28 this year.
A successful amateur jockey in his younger days, Thompson was also in national teams for showjumping, representing New Zealand at competitions in Australia. He was a brother of Sue Thompson, also a former national equestrian representative and now a Hastings thoroughbred trainer.
Murray Thompson was a member of the Hawke's Bay Hunt for 59 years and the Huntsman for the last 44. He was made a life member of that body at the last hunt for this season, on July 7.
"Murray was a wonderful horseman and an iconic figure at Hastings race meetings for decades," said Hawke's Bay Racing CEO Andrew Castles.
Castles said Hawke's Bay Racing recently took the opportunity to initiate a trophy in honour of Thompson which will be competed for at the upcoming Bostock New Zealand Hawke's Bay Spring Carnival.
"It will be known as the Murray Thompson Memorial Trophy and awarded to the leading rider on a points system over the three days."
The three-day meeting comprises of the Tarzino Daffodil Trophy raceday on September 1, Windsor Park Plate meeting on September 22 and Livamol Classic meeting on October 6.
Castles said Hawke's Bay Racing felt it was only appropriate to present a trophy for jockeys in recognition of Thompson's many years of dedication to their cause.
The winning jockey will also receive a $500 voucher from Winiata Saddlery.
Nelson bags another three
Hastings trainer Paul Nelson continued his great recent run with three more winners at different venues in the space of a week.
Nelson was in Christchurch last week campaigning a team at the Grand National meeting and saddled up Peso to win the final race on the middle day, on August 8. The next day he was also represented by runners at Woodville and took out the opening event with No Tip.
He then lined up two horses at Wednesday's Te Aroha meeting and took out the $20,000 restricted open steeplechase with Perry Mason.
Peso brought up his fifth win when taking out a $30,000 Rating 82 race over 2000m at Riccarton. The 7-year-old Colombia gelding is raced by Nelson and his wife Carol and has now won them more than $79,000 in stakemoney.
The Nelsons also bred and own No Tip, who was having just his second start when he lined up in a 2100m maiden at Woodville, while Perry Mason is raced by the I See Red Syndicate and is now the winner of six races, two of them in steeplechase events.
No Tip was only home by a long head in a close three-way finish and it was mainly due to an inch perfect ride from jockey Lisa Allpress. She had the horse trailing second in the early stages before taking him to the front with 1300m to run and dictated the pace from there. They were headed early in the home straight but No Tip rallied again in the final stages, under a vigorous ride, to outlast Our Charli's Angel and Grand Rex.
No Tip is a son of Mettre En Jeu and added to the outstanding record his dam Grosveness has had as a broodmare.
Grosveness, by Grosvenor, has now ceased breeding but has also left the winners No Change (8 wins), No Credit (2 wins), No Governance (3 wins), No Cash (7 wins), Ho Down (8 wins) and Dash For Fame, who was successful in Singapore.
Tarzino entries down to 28
Twenty-eight horses are still trying to make the final field of 16 for the first Group 1 race of the new season at Hastings on Saturday, September 1.
This year's Tarzino Trophy looks certain to attract one of the best fields ever carded for the 1400m weight-for-age feature on the first day of the Bostock New Zealand Hawke's Bay spring carnival.
The order of entry for the race is determined mainly by the entrants' performances in stakes races in the past 18 months, with preference given to Group 1 placings.
Jon Snow, winner of the Group 1 ATC Derby and Group 2 Tulloch Stakes in Sydney as a 3-year-old as well as last season's Group 3 JRA Cup in Melbourne, heads the order of entry ahead of the three-time Group 1 winner Start Wondering.
Start Wondering is currently second favourite at $8 on the TAB's Futures market for the race while the horse that is favourite, Julius ($7), is currently 21st equal in order of entry and probably needs to win tomorrow's Group 2 Lisa Chittick Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa to be assured of making the final 16.
Melody Belle is on the next line of betting at $9 while Jon Snow is at $10 and Francaletta, Hiflyer, New York Minute and Scott Base are all at an $11 quote.