Richard Cully gets Jack Romanov over the final fence. Photo / Trish Dunnell
Richard Cully gets Jack Romanov over the final fence. Photo / Trish Dunnell
Mark Brooks is looking forward to going the extra mile with Jack Romanov when they return to Auckland in a fortnight for their season's goal.
The Cambridge trainer has supreme confidence in the seven-year-old's reserves of stamina, which will be put to the ultimate test in the Meadow Fresh Great Northern Steeplechase on September 5.
Brook's hopes of success were further boosted at Ellerslie yesterday when Jack Romanov returned a flawless dress rehearsal to win the Pakuranga Hunt Cup.
"I didn't think the three miles would worry him at all and another round in the Northern will suit him even better," he said.
"He looks better now than he has all season so we're all pretty happy."
Jack Romanov's rider Richard Cully kept the frontrunner and favourite Amanood Lad within his sights all the way and served it up to the topweight 800 metres from home.
They had his measure at the top of the straight and, after clearing the last fence safely, they had three and a half lengths to spare on Snodroptwinkletoes with Amanood Lad a further 14 lengths back in third.
"It was great and that's my first Pakuranga Hunt Cup, but it's the one I want in two weeks' time," Cully said.
The 33-year-old established himself as a top jumps jockey in New Zealand when he won the premiership in 2010-11 and shared the title the following season with Richard Eynon before he moved to Victoria in 2013.
Nells Bells, left, and Stagecoach come to grief leaving the way for Harvest Gold to win the BGA Marketing Steeplechase.
From a Great Northern perspective, runner-up Snodroptwinkletoes also did his prospects no harm while Amanood Lad is expected to strip a fitter horse in a fortnight. Saturday's outing was only his second over the big fences since he won the prestige event 12 months' ago.
Meanwhile, final fence chaos at Ellerslie on Saturday highlighted the unpredictable nature of jumps racing with late drama in successive events.
The first recipients of a healthy dose of luck were Awapuni trainer Mark Oulaghan and jockey Michael Mitchell when they combined for Harvest The Gold's first success over the big fences in the BGA Marketing Steeplechase.
He was in a race of his own until both Nells Belle and Stagehand crashed at the last obstacle.
"He was only going to run third, but that's the jumping game," Oulaghan said. "It was his first time over the hill so it was good to win, but it is a bit of a flat performance."
Next up in the Tractor Centre Open Hurdle and it was the turn of Pukekohe conditioner Rudy Liefting and rider Aaron Kuru to be gifted success when likely winner Boy crashed at the final flight to hand victory to Just Got Home.
"Obviously, he likes Ellerslie but we were a bit lucky with that other horse falling," Liefting said.
