Raucous and jockey Frank Power clear one of the big live fences at Te Rapa last Saturday on their way to a dominant win in the 3900m steeplechase. It was the horse’s second steeplechase win and Irish-born Power’s second success on New Zealand soil.
Hawke’s Bay thoroughbred owner-breeder Ken Browne thinks his horse Raucous is finally starting to reach full potential after the nine-year-old scored a dominant win in the 3900m steeplechase at Te Rapa last Saturday.
Browne, who bred the son of Nom de Jeu and races him in partnership with the horse’s co-trainer Paul Nelson and Hawke’s Bay sisters Rose Sellwood and Jeanann Hercock, is the first to admit the gelding was more than a handful as a youngster.
Raucous started his racing career in the stable of Jeanann Hercock’s daughter, Kate, who always knew the horse had ability but had trouble trying to get him to conserve all his nervous energy and settle down to be a racehorse.
Browne said Kate told him one day that the horse has got it there but his legs were going faster than his brain.
So she suggested he be transferred to the Hastings stable of Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal to be tried as a jumper, hoping that would settle him down.
Ken Browne said this week it had taken a fair bit of time to get Raucous to be more tractable as a racehorse, but thinks he is now starting to put it all together.
“He jumped well last Saturday and settled a lot better, and I thought the boy that rode him [Jack Power] also did a great job and his 3kg allowance certainly helped,” Browne said.
“It has been worth the wait and I think this season could be his go.”
Raucous certainly measured the big live fences at Te Rapa well, putting in some spectacular leaps.
Irish-born jockey Jack Power got the horse to settle just in behind the pacemakers from the outset and kept him in the clear, something that Browne said helped him to succeed.
Raucous went up to challenge the leaders coming to the home turn and took control soon after entering the straight before working clear to win by 4¼ lengths.
It was the horse’s third win from 27 starts and his second over the big fences after he also won a hurdle race two years ago.
“He’s only won three races but he’s finished second seven times so his record should probably read a bit better,” Browne said.
He bred Raucous out of the Star Way mare Dizzie Limit, who he bought off the late Doug Ancell, a prominent owner-breeder in the north.
Dizzie Limit, who is now deceased, never raced after suffering a tendon injury and has not been that successful as a broodmare either. Raucous was the last of six foals she produced, with King Dan and Kininmont being the only other winners out of the mare, both recording a win apiece.
Power was recording his second New Zealand win after steering another Nelson/McDougal-trained runner, Taika, to victory in a maiden hurdle race at Hastings the previous Saturday.
The 23-year-old, and his partner, are on a working holiday in New Zealand and attached to the Nelson/McDougal stable.
The Nelson/McDougal stable will now turn its attention to today’s Wellington meeting where they have a strong hand in the two feature jumping events.
Nedwin and Suliman will be the stable representatives in the $75,000 Wellington Hurdle (3400m) while champion jumper The Cossack and stablemate Argyll are among only six horses entered for the the $75,000 Wellington Steeplechase (5500m).
Although lacking in numbers, the Wellington Steeplechase will feature one of the most anticipated match-ups in New Zealand jumps racing with The Cossack and West Coast set to clash.
The Cossack has carried the mantle of Champion New Zealand Jumper for the past two seasons while West Coast has quickly risen through the ranks and is coming off a commanding last-start win in the Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase (4800m) on July 1.
The black-and-white chequered stable colours of Hastings trainer Guy Lowry were carried to victory on both sides of the Tasman last weekend.
Consistent mare Penny Royal showed her liking for the Awapuni synthetic track when scoring another game win there last Friday, while Wewillrock capped off two good minor placings in Sydney with a decisive success in a $163,000 rating 88 race at Randwick last Saturday.
Penny Royal won a rating 65 race over 1400m on the Awapuni synthetic track on June 16 and stepped up to rating 75 grade over the same distance last week.
Apprentice jockey Jim Chung bounced the mare out quickly from the barrier and soon had her travelling kindly in the lead. They put a break on the field coming to the home turn and it proved a winning move as Penny Royal kept up a strong run to the lie to score by three-quarters of a length from the odds-on favourite Stonybreck.
Penny Royal, who was recording her sixth win from 31 starts, is by Per Incanto out of the Perfectly Ready mare Mint, who was the winner of four races.
She is now owned by Porangahau-based Mary Darby who does a lot of work with the mare on the beach that borders her property.
Wewillrock brought up his fifth win from only 13 starts when recording his first Australian success over 1200m.
It was the El Roca gelding’s third start in Sydney, having previously finished second in a rating 78 race over 1200m at Rosehill in May and a third in a listed stakes race over 1100m at Randwick on June 10.
In those two races, Wewillrock had set the pace and been run down in the home straight.
Lowry has always maintained that the horse is best ridden just off the pace and suggested this to Wewillrock’s temporary Australian trainer, John O’Shea.
O’Shea decided to give Wewillrock a 950m barrier trial on the Canterbury Park track on June 26, where he sat behind the leading division and went to the line full of running in fifth place.
Apprentice jockey Tyler Schiller adopted similar tactics aboard Wewillrock last Saturday, settling the horse in a trailing position before angling him into the clear at the top of the home straight.
The horse quickened impressively in the home straight, out-finishing the front-running Much Much Better to score by half a length.
It was an impressive performance by Wewillrock, who was stepping down in class but had to deal with a 6kg rise in weight.
“He’s a really nice horse,” said O’Shea.
“One thing about him, he’s really enjoyed Randwick. He’s a big, tough fellow. Some horses struggle with the transition but he hasn’t, he’s really enjoyed it.”
From his 13 starts, Wewillrock has recorded five wins and six placings, earning more than $200,000 in stakemoney.
The four-year-old is owned by Hawke’s Bay brothers Mark and Paul Apatu in partnership with Waikato Stud’s Mark Chittick, and was purchased by Lowry for $35,000 as a yearling at the 2020 Karaka sales.
Lowry said this week Wewillrock may have one more Australian start before he heads home, that being in the Gr.2 A$300,000 Missile Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on August 5.
“Otherwise he will have another trial over there and then come back to New Zealand for the Gr.2 $150,000 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) at Te Rapa on August 26,” he said.
Crouch, part-owned by Napier’s Roy Potter, added to his growing reputation as a stayer of the future with a runaway win in a $30,000 rating 75 race over 2100m at Awapuni last Saturday.
The three-year-old Tarzino gelding, who is trained on the Awapuni track by Mike Breslin, was following on from a length win in a rating 65 race over 2100m on his home track on June 17 and was even more impressive last Saturday.
Crouch, who is big in stature, clearly overpowered his rivals as he raced away for a 3¼-length victory in the hands of South Island apprentice Tina Comignaghi.
After settling fifth in the early running Crouch cruised up, four-wide, to take a clear lead rounding the home turn and was always in control after that.
It was the horse’s third win from only five starts, his other two runs resulting in a third and a fourth.
Potter races Crouch in partnership with Breslin, who paid $20,000 for the horse at the 2021 Karaka yearling sales.
The pair have raced a number of horses together over several years and Crouch has the potential of possibly being their best.
Breslin said he was drawn to Crouch once he realised he was out of a half-sister to Klose, a horse he rated as one of the best he has trained after he won four races from only 16 starts, including one at Rosehill in Sydney.
Crouch is now expected to head to the spelling back and will be brought back for a spring campaign.
Although the horse managed to get through the heavy-10 track conditions at Awapuni last Saturday, Breslin expects him to be even better on firmer footing.
Hastings races next Thursday
Hawke’s Bay Racing will stage its last race day of the season on the Hastings track on Thursday, July 20.
It is called the Stockies Raceday and, at this stage, there are eight races programmed with the first timed for 11.53am and the last at 3.53pm.
The main races on the card will be the three rating 65 events, over 1200m, 1600m and 2100m, while there will also be a maiden two-year-old race over 800m.
The gates will open at 11am with free admission and access to the Members Stand.
'They won’t increase it as our population grows, so we all need to get better.'