Hastings-born Hercock began her race-riding career in the 1994-95 season, but lacked for opportunities in the beginning and took a break after the first two years of her apprenticeship before returning in 2002-23.
She chalked up her first five wins that season and the following year she amassed 56 wins, her season best.
Her success continued for the next six seasons as she tallied 237 New Zealand victories before making the decision to continue her career in Macau in 2010, where she spent two years.
The decision to return home was brought about mainly by a nasty race fall in which she broke both arms and was forced to give up riding for a lengthy time again.
She returned to Matamata where she worked for Waikato Stud in a pre-training capacity before spending time at Te Akau Racing as a trackwork rider.
The desire to return to Hawke’s Bay was strong so she left the Waikato to start up her own training and pre-training business on a family property in Otane in 2016.
Kate Hercock has trained a small team of horses from her base ever since and in mid-2020, she started to think about race-riding again.
After riding a lot of trackwork in Hastings and at barrier trials, Hercock managed to get her weight down from 60kg to 53.5kg and decided to return to race riding in late 2020.
Her first comeback win was aboard Sunlit Lane in a 1400m maiden race at New Plymouth in March 2021, and it gave her great satisfaction because the horse was prepared by Woodville trainer Shane Brown.
Hercock says Brown has been one of her biggest supporters since she made her comeback, so winning last Monday’s Dannevirke Dairy Supplies Woodville-Pahiatua Cup aboard the Brown-trained Illusion Of Paris was also a special success.
Illusion Of Paris led all the way in the 1600m feature event at the meeting, keeping up a strong run to the line to beat Boston Strong Boy by 1½ lengths, with Rusty Lane a nose back in third.
Another of her wins on Monday was aboard the Hastings-trained Judge Kellie in a 1200m maiden.
The Charm Spirit three-year-old filly is prepared by Guy Lowry and was having her third start. She managed to beat only one home on debut over 1200m at Wanganui back in September, but then turned in a much-better performance when overcoming a slow start to finish a close second over 1000m at Tauherenikau on March 26.
Hercock managed to bounce Judge Kellie out well from the barrier on Monday and settled the horse fifth in the early running. She tracked up behind the leading division coming to the home turn and then pushed through a narrow gap, one of the fence, at the top of the straight to lodge her challenge.
Race favourite Angels Wings took the lead early in the home straight but Judge Kellie quickly joined her and the two went neck to neck over the final stages before Judge Kellie managed to get her head in front on the line.
Judge Kellie is owned by Australian-based Peter Blair and was a $9750 at the 2020 national weanling sale. She is out of the Redoute’s Choice mare Clemency and a granddaughter of the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks winner Eskimo Queen.
Judge Kellie was one of two winners produced from the Guy Lowry stable in the past week, with Jimmysstar also recording an impressive maiden win over 1200m at Wanganui on April 6.
The Per Incanto three-year-old was having only his second start and his first since he finished second over 1400m at Otaki back in December.
Lowry had given the gelding a thorough buildup for his resumption, including an easy win in a 750m jumpout at Hastings in early March and a good third in a 1000m Otaki trial on March 21.
Jimmysstar certainly had to be good to win as he was a shade slow to begin from the extreme outside draw and was caught three wide in the open for the entire race. He was the widest runner rounding the home turn but once rider Craig Grylls got him balanced up, he powered home to win by a length.
Lowry has a high opinion of Jimmysstar and said the horse will now head to Te Rapa on April 29 for a $30,000 three-year-old set weights and penalties race over 1600m.
HB owner savours Gr.1 success
Dannevirke racehorse owner Dean Shuker wasn’t on course to see Atishu claim her first Gr.1 success in Sydney last Saturday, but he and several of his family and friends celebrated in style at their local pub after watching the mare race away to victory in the A$1 million Queen Of The Turf Stakes.
Shuker owns a 5 per cent share in the Savabeel mare, who took her stake earnings to more than A$1.6 million from a 30-start career that has produced eight wins, four seconds and six thirds.
A Gr.1 success was the only thing missing from Atishu’s form line and the high-class mare ticked that box in superb style in the 1600m feature event for fillies and mares at Randwick.
Her G.1 victory followed wins in the Gr.3 Bill Ritchie Stakes (1400m) at Randwick in September last year and the Gr.2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m) at Flemington in November, along with five other placings at black-type level.
Atishu was bought by syndicators Go Racing for $260,000 at the 2019 Karaka yearling sales and started out in the Cambridge stable of Stephen Marsh, who prepared her for her first four wins including two stakes races as an autumn three-year-old. She was also named New Zealand Bloodstock Southern Filly of the Year.
Since crossing the Tasman to join the stable of champion expat Kiwi trainer Chris Waller for the spring of her four-year-old season, Atishu has sometimes been her own worst enemy with her barrier manners but has still forged a highly successful career.
She always looked capable of bigger things and on Saturday she delivered.
“It’s pretty special and well deserved,” Chris Waller said. “She was a bit stiff last start and just really went to a new level.”
Atishu was bred and sold by Waikato Stud, and she comes from one of their finest families. Saturday’s win brought up the 31st individual Gr.1 winner for champion sire Savabeel, while Atishu’s dam is a half-sister to the exceptional Daffodil, winner of the 2009 Gr.1 Australian Oaks (2400m).
Atishu is a full sister to Mazzolino, who won the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) at Trentham in January and finished fourth in the Gr.1 Levin Classic (1600m).
Buoyed by Atishu’s success, Shuker has decided to invest in another filly purchased by Go Racing at this year’s Karaka yearling sales.
“I’ve taken up another 5 per cent share in a filly by Savabeel out of Star Ellipse,” Shuker said this week.
“The way I look at it, everything with Savabeel blood in it is gold at the moment.”
The filly cost $250,000 and is out of a Deep Field mare who was placed as a two-year-old.
Atishu is now headed to the Queensland Winter Carnival where she will contest the Gr.2 A$500,000 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) at the Gold Coast on May 6 as a lead-up to the Gr.1 A$1 million Doomben Cup (2000m) on May 20.
Shuker is already making travel arrangements to get across the Tasman and watch her race there.
Well-deserved win for HB breeder
Hastings thoroughbred owner-breeder Ian Holloway finally celebrated success again after a long absence when Graeme John prevailed in an 1100m maiden race at Woodville on Monday.
Holloway has bred and raced horses for many years, dating right back to the 1980s when he had horses with the then-Hastings-based trainer Mike Lange.
He owns Hollies Bakery in Flaxmere, a business that will have been in operation for 30 years come August.
Nowadays, Holloway has his horses in the Woodville stable of Shane Brown and he was represented by the full brothers Graeme John and Saint Oliver at Monday’s Woodville meeting.
Graeme John scored a decisive length win while Saint Oliver, after leading in his 1200m race, weakened in the straight to finish eighth.
Holloway bred both horses out of the Spartacus mare My Favourite Recipe, who was unplaced in her only race start but is extremely well bred, being out of the stakes-winning Sir Tristram mare Tristabelle.
Holloway races Graeme John in partnership with two others — Hastings-based Allan Bartlett and his Kapiti Coast-based brother Roland.
