KEY POINTS:
The Pooka is still learning about racing as rider Lisa Cropp discovered when the horse won the $325,000 Two Thousand Guineas on Saturday.
The Pooka slugged it out with Alamosa from the top of the straight in the group one classic for three-year-olds at Riccarton but didn't help his own cause.
Cropp said Alamosa put half a neck on The Pooka with about 150m to run but she was impressed by the way her horse responded when she gave him one good crack with the whip.
"It was the first decent shot I got at him and he really lifted," Cropp said.
"As soon as I got that one round him he bounced straight back to the front. He lifted very quickly."
But Cropp wasn't so impressed at what happened next.
"As soon as he got to the front again he waited for the other one to have another look at him," she said.
"He's still learning. He's definitely on his way up."
Cropp said the beauty of The Pooka was his laidback nature.
"He's that relaxed. There's no waste of energy with him," she said.
Taranaki trainer John Wheeler could understand Cropp's comments.
"He is just sort of a big kid really, but he's always been a good horse," Wheeler said.
He has long trumpeted The Pooka as a rising star, making the prediction first after The Pooka won the group two Wakefield Challenge Stakes for two-year-olds at Trentham in January at his second start.
He led all the way that day after starting from the outside barrier and clocked the good time of 1:08.75 for the 1200m down the straight.
At the time Wheeler told NZPA: "You can't cross them from nine at the gates then kick their brains in, can you, unless they are a good horse?"
Cropp says there's better to come.
"He's not tops yet. There's still more there yet," she said.
Wheeler said The Pooka would start next in the Levin Classic (1600m) for 3-year-olds at Otaki on November 29 before having a break.
Then he'll be set for the New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie on March 1.
The Pooka was unplaced over the 2040m of the Kelt Capital Stakes at Hastings in October but Cropp had no doubt the horse would cope with 2400m. Wheeler was impressed by the horse's courage after Alamosa kept fighting.
"I actually thought the other horse was going to come past us," Wheeler said. "But when she [Cropp] really went for him, he dug deep. It was a great effort."
The Pooka now has a record of 12 starts for five wins, a second and a third. Saturday's winning stake of $193,750 took his earnings to more than $415,000.
The Australian-bred gelding, by Tobougg, was bought by Wheeler for $35,000 at the 2006 National Yearling Sales at Karaka. Wheeler retained a 25 per cent share after forming a syndicate of owners: Phil Holland and Glen Rutherford of Auckland, and Markwood Lodge in Waikato.
Alamosa, the second favourite in the Guineas, was game in defeat, while third favourite Rios, who raced mid-field on the outer, was 1 1/4 lengths away third.
- NZPA
