Woodville-Pahīatua steeplechases attract big crowd

The leaders clear the last fence in the LJ Hooker Manawatū Steeplechase.

A former Woodville trainer came away with three wins at the Woodville-Pahīatua races last month.

The winning Pahīatua-Woodville Cup party, trainer Mark Oulaghan with the cup, jockey Lisa Allpress with the flowers and the Racing Club committee.

Mark Oulaghan, who trained in Woodville for 30 years and is now based at Awapuni, said his return to Woodville for the top event on the annual Woodville-Pahīatua racing calendar was a “memorable occasion”.

It’s a close result as West Coast wins from Izymydaad.

Pinkerton wins the Property Brokers Woodville-Pahīatua Cup by half a length from Masso (second) and Lurid (third).

The event, featuring the Property Brokers sponsored Woodville-Pahīatua Cup, which attracted a high-quality field, had the added bonus of hosting two Manawatū Racing Club steeplechases.

The LJ Hooker-sponsored Manawatū Steeplechase made for an opportunity to attract a huge crowd.

Two days of rain put a question mark on the track but it was better than the firm track at the planned venue, Trentham, for the steeplechases.

There was keen interest in the two events as Woodville does not host them very often.

The winning trainer, Mark Oulaghan, and family with jockey Shaun Fannin and Craig Sheridan, president of Manawatū Racing,at the presentation of the Manawatū Steeplechase Cup plate and cover.

Widely spaced fences placed around the course, one conveniently close to the crowd and the fact that it was twice round at 4000 metres made it quite a novelty and as examples they could not have been run differently.

Sponsor Keith Fergus, representing the Speldhurst Country Estate in Levin, brought his mates into a syndicate to support the steeplechase.

He said they like to support racing clubs because without them there would be no racing.

Keith Fergus, representing the Speldhurst Country Estate sponsors of Race Five, receives the bottle of wine from racing club committee member Pat Shannon for winning The Speldhurst Mates Steeplechase won by Auld Jock in the absence of the owners.

His busload of supporters enjoyed the day and congratulated the Pahīatua-Woodville Racing Club on a great day at an excellent course.

Fashion in the Field Winner Jude Challies and runner-up Kiera Bailey with Woodville committee member and judge Carolyn Bryant.

A huge crowd of punters filled the grandstand.

The crowd’s enjoyment of the day was further boosted when it was officially announced that Racing New Zealand had granted Woodville the green light to operate for the next five years, giving its committee a great opportunity to press forward with future planning.

Dave Murdoch is a part-time photo-journalist based in Dannevirke. For the past 11 years he has covered any community story telling good news about the district.