Horse racing: Spaced races help Grail Seeker complete double

Kevin Stott rode Grail Seeker to victory in the Telegraph at Trentham on Saturday. Photo / Race Images

Grail Seeker completed one of the most unusual Group1 doubles in recent New Zealand racing history at Trentham on Saturday but she won’t be asked to attempt our glamour sprint double as well.

The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained mare blew away her rivals in the $550,000 TAB Telegraph at Trentham, overcoming fears that early-morning rain would make the track too wet for her.

As the track dried, her chances improved, and when British jockey Kevin Stott pushed the button on the 4-year-old mare at the 200m mark, she exploded clear to beat Sacred Satono and Navigator with a career-best third.

Grail Seeker was even more impressive than when she arrived on the Group 1 scene with a similarly stunning performance in the Tarzino Trophy at Hastings on September 7 but the most surprising aspect of this win was Grail Seeker didn’t race between.

That nearly four-month gap was part of her trainers’ plan, as they think Grail Seeker is best kept fresh, which is why she will be allowed to bypass the Sistema Railway at Ellerslie on January 25.

“We know her pretty well now and she loves her races spaced,” said co-trainer Lance O’Sullivan, who won the Telegraph seven times as a jockey.

“We came up with that plan a few months ago, but she almost got away on us, because at one stage, she was 23kg heavier than she was the day she won at Hastings.

“That’s why she has been to a racetrack every weekend for the last month – not to race, but for the travel and to get her right.

“She’s been to Ellerslie for a day out and walk around the parade ring, she has trialled at home [Matamata] and been for an exhibition gallop.

“So a lot has gone into getting her ready for [the Telegraph] and then Kevin [Stott] did the rest.”

Stott is no stranger to success in world-class sprinting races, having ridden the Cambridge Stud part-owned Hello Youmzain to win the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot in 2020.

He has come to New Zealand during the English winter, when all their major races are over jumps, and joins the growing number of overseas jockeys riding full-time or seasonally in New Zealand.

While Grail Seeker will not head to the Railway, she will race again here this summer, heading to the BCD Sprint at Te Rapa on February 8 before overseas options are discussed.

“There are plenty of options in Australia if her owners want to chase a group win there, including Queensland in the winter, which would mean we could keep her fresh again,” says O’Sullivan. “But she is a one-race-at-a-time mare, so we’ll get through Waikato first.”

Grail Seeker’s case was definitely aided by the improving track, which was being touted as bordering on heavy before the races started, but improved so much, she galloped 1m 07.7s for the 1200m, suggesting it was more like a soft6 or even 5 by the time the Telegraph was run.

The expected heavy track saw Crocetti scratched on race morning and he will head to the Railway as second favourite behind Alabama Lass, who was also absent on Saturday.

One of the reasons for their market moves was Saturday’s second and third favourites Luberon and Waitak were well beaten, so they have drifted in the Railway market.

And it is a lot easier to make a case for those who weren’t in Saturday’s race winning the Railway than it is for those who were.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.