Proud jockey Aaron Kuru gives a fist pump as he brings Nedwin back at the head of the field following their win in last Saturday’s Waikato Hurdle.
Hastings-born Aaron Kuru showed why he is rated one of the best jumps jockeys in Australasia with sublime performances in each of the four jumping races at last Saturday’s Waikato meeting.
Kuru, 31, took out all four events to join Tommy Hazlett and Shaun Phelan as other jockeys to have achieved such a feat in New Zealand.
Kuru took out the $30,000 maiden hurdle on The Mighty Spar, the $70,000 Waikato Hurdle on Nedwin, the $30,000 maiden steeplechase on Whiskey Tango and the $70,000 Waikato Steeplechase aboard The Cossack.
The winning percentages and basic riding fees from the four mounts would have netted Kuru close to $6500, not a bad return for about three and a half hours of work.
While Kuru’s mounts were favoured runners and expected to excel, it was his skill and patience that paved the way for all four to succeed.
Kuru has an uncanny knack of being able to save every inch of ground in jumping races and this was never more evident than with his wins aboard the Hastings-trained pair of Nedwin and The Cossack in the two feature races.
Kuru was conscious of the fact Nedwin had to lump topweight of 70kg in the Waikato Hurdle so he settled him towards the back of the field and hugged the inside running. He bided his time until entering the last 800m before putting any pressure on his mount.
Nedwin looked under a ride when trying to close on the leaders coming to the home turn, but Kuru knew he still had plenty of horse under him and they were quickly there to challenge rounding the home turn.
Nedwin jumped to the front at the second-to-last fence and then fought a neck-and-neck tussle with the much-lighter-weighted Odysseus (66kg) over the final 300m before surging clear to win by three-quarters of a length.
It was Kuru’s fourth Waikato Hurdle triumph, following previous wins on Prologue (2015), The Shackler (2018) and The Cossack in 2021.
The Shackler was trained at Hastings by Paul Nelson, while both The Cossack and Nedwin are also prepared by Nelson, now in partnership with Corrina McDougal.
It was Nedwin’s fifth win from seven starts over hurdles, the other two runs resulting in fourth placings.
The eight-year-old Niagara gelding is raced by Nelson and his wife Carol in partnership with Gisborne couple Mick and Suze Gardner, and was bred by veteran Hawke’s Bay thoroughbred breeder Tom Lowry.
The Cossack last Saturday provided Kuru with his first Waikato Steeplechase success, his previous best placings in the race being a second on Mr Mor in 2017, and thirds aboard Bally Heights (2015) and Zardetto (2019).
It was another perfectly judged ride from Kuru, who settled The Cossack in third place in the early stages, sticking as close to the inside as he could.
Des De Jeu, ridden by Shaun Fannin, made all the pace but The Cossack started to stalk him entering the last 700m and quickly went up to take control approaching the second-to-last fence.
The Cossack opened up a big advantage after jumping the last fence and Kuru even had time to look behind to see where the opposition was as he let the Mastercraftsman gelding cruise to the line for a 7¾-length win.
It was The Cossack’s fourth start over the steeplechase fences and he has now recorded three wins and a close second in last year’s Australian Grand National Steeples at Ballarat.
The nine-year-old is also the winner of nine races over hurdles and four on the flat, and has amassed more than $555,000 in stakemoney.
Originally raced by his Hastings breeder Ivan Grieve, the horse is now owned by Grieve’s brother Peter along with his son Doug, Paul Nelson and John Frizzell.
Last Saturday’s win provided Peter Grieve with a special early birthday present as he celebrated his 80th on Wednesday, and got to celebrate it in style surrounded by more than150 friends and family at Jarks Restaurant in Hastings.
Penny Royal, trained by Hastings-based Guy Lowry, scored a well-deserved success in a rating 65 race over 1400m on the Awapuni synthetic track on Friday last week.
The Per Incanto seven-year-old mare was coming off an unlucky last-start fifth over 1300m on the synthetic track at Cambridge, where she suffered several checks in the running and got shuffled back coming to the home turn. She got clear running only inside the last 200m and dashed between horses.
Apprentice jockey Jim Chung had the mare trailing the leaders at Awapuni and, after waiting to get clear at the top of the home straight, he managed to drive the mare between runners and she raced away for a length victory.
Penny Royal is raced by Porangahau-based Mary Darby and spends a lot of time on her property, where she undergoes plenty of beach work.
The mare was having her 30th race start and now has a record of five wins, a second and three thirds.
Lowry said Penny Royal was now likely to head back to the Awapuni synthetic track on July 7 for a rating 75 race over 1400m.
Crouch shows he is no slouch
Crouch, a lightly raced three-year-old part-owned by Napier-based Roy Potter, added to his growing record with a dominant win in a $30,000 rating 65 race over 2100m at Awapuni last Saturday.
The Tarzino three-year-old was having only his fourth start and now has a record of two wins, a third and a fourth.
Crouch is prepared by Awapuni trainer Mike Breslin, who bought the horse for $20,000 at the 2021 Karaka yearling sales and races him in partnership with Potter.
“Roy and I have been good friends for a number of years and we have raced a few horses together in the past,” Breslin recalled this week.
“The first horse we had won one race and then went in the wind so it never raced again.
“Crouch is the second one and we also have a two-year-old called Revolt that is due to race next week, and we also have a rising two-year-old filly by Russian Revolution being broken in.”
Breslin said he was drawn to Crouch once he realised he was out of a half-sister to Klose, a horse he prepared to win four races from only 16 starts several seasons ago.
“Klose was one of the best horses I’ve trained and won a race at Rosehill in Aussie,” Breslin said.
Breslin is a former New Zealand national soccer representative, and both Klose and Crouch are named after top European soccer players.
Peter Crouch was a striker who played for a number of clubs including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City and scored 22 goals in 42 appearances for England.
“He was a big, tall and leggy fellow and that’s this horse’s body shape so that’s where he got his name from,” Breslin said.
Crouch finished fourth on debut in April ahead of his maiden victory at Otaki, and followed up with a third placing over a middle distance before doubling his winning tally against older rivals on his home turf last Saturday.
He sat in second spot and was hard ridden before the turn, but responded gallantly to the urgings of rider Chris Carmine to reel in the pacemaker Speed Call on the heavy-8 track.
“It was a good effort by a three-year-old up against older horses and I think he’ll be even better on top of the ground,” Breslin said.
“He’s a pretty exciting horse and the first Tarzino I’ve trained.”
Crouch may have one more run before a break, with Breslin keen to bring the horse back for a spring campaign.
Weanling walk schedule
The Hawke’s Bay/Poverty Bay Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s annual weanling walk on Sunday, July 2, will take in seven Hawke’s Bay properties.
It will commence at Willow Tree Farm (191 Matapiro Rd) at 9am and then go on to Guy Lowry’s property in Kawera Rd. The third property will be Chris Russell’s farm in Valley Rd followed by Richard McKenzie’s property in Rosser Rd, and then Golden Oaks in Mangaroa Rd. Elliot Cooper’s property in Longlands Rd will be the sixth venue, and finally Vicki Wilson’s Hau Ora Farms in Rochfort Rd, Kahuranaki.
There will be 32 weanlings paraded as well as the stallions Sneaking To Win, Niagara and Mongolian Falcon.
At the conclusion of the weanling walk there will be a luncheon at Off The Track Restaurant that is limited to 100 people at $30 a head. Reservations are essential and please contact either Tracy Andersen tracy@codenz.com 02041625175 or Chris Walker ypukwalkers@xtra.co.nz 021617561
Hastings races next Saturday
Hawke’s Bay Racing will stage its biggest jumps race day of the year next Saturday with the feature races being the $70,000 AHD Animal Health Direct Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase (4800m) and the $70,000 Te Whangai Romneys Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m).
There will also be a maiden steeplechase over 4000m and a maiden hurdle race over 2500m.
At this stage there are eight races on the programme, with the main flat events being a $35,000 open handicap over 2100m and a $35,000 open sprint over 1200m.
The first race is timed for noon and there will be a general admission charge of $10.
Access to the Members Stand, Birdcage, Committee Room, Sasanof and Desert Gold Room will be at a cost of $20 a head.
Frankie Venter's first headline show in Tauranga was the turning point of her career.