Racing: Sharrock counts the days till Great Northern

As far as miserably winter weekends go, they don't come much sunnier than the one Allan Sharrock has just celebrated.

Just hours after watching stable stars Wahid and Don't Ya Lovett work brilliantly on a New Plymouth beach, strengthening hopes for next-up black-type wins, the Sharrock-trained Bogeyman defied the odds to win the Grand National Steeplechase at Riccarton.

And then yesterday, just a little before midday at Foxton, Sharrock's big Great Northern Steeplechase hope Stitched turns on the kind of trial that has both trainer and jockey Jonathan Riddell counting the days until Ellerslie's September 9 feature.

A month after winning in Wellington chase, mud up to his knees over 5400m, a super-fit Stitched turned in a terrific Northern trial when third in a maiden 2800m hurdle.

That run left Taranaki's 29-3 loss to Auckland in the Air NZ Cup as the only glitch in rugby-mad Sharrock's weekend.

"I couldn't be more pleased with Stitched; to run third over 2800m after running in mud up to his guts was a fantastic effort," he said.

"He's exactly where I want him. He'll go straight into the Pakuranga Hunt Cup now [on August 26], but I may even squeeze in another hurdle race between the Pakuranga and the Northern if I feel he needs it."

Stitched will be Sharrock's first Northern chase runner; he's won the Northern hurdles before with Tawhiti Road more than a decade back.

But Bogeyman proved that no race is beyond Sharrock right now, from the glamour 2- and 3-year-old races, courtesy of Wahid, to the country's toughest chases.

"That's what made Bogeyman's win so satisfying," he said. "It just shows the versatility, from the 2-year-old races to the chases, if you target them they are achievable.

"People queried Bogeyman only having four runs going into the National but I knew he had the fitness regime behind him."

Sharrock, who left the race-day saddling duties to trainer David Haworth at Riccarton on Saturday, only had two minor concerns going into his first National.

The first was the water-logged track - the flat races were clocking some of the slowest times in Riccarton history - and also that Bogeyman may end up in front too soon.

But Sharrock need not have worried about the latter with Tom Hazlett in the saddle.

He rode the perfect race, restraining Bogeyman in third for most of the race before letting the 10-year-old slide effortlessly to the lead down the back straight on the final lap.

"He [Bogeyman] tugged a bit early on but I thought Tommy did a marvellous job," said Sharrock, who had tried to entice Melbourne-based Brett Scott to ride the horse.

Hazlett's masterly ride earned him the National double after partnering the Mark Oulaghan-trained Yourtheman to victory in the Hurdles 90 minutes earlier.

It was just the 10th time in National history that a rider has won both features in the same year.

"It means a lot to win any big race, but to win two on the one day - it's unbelievable; it's a day I'll never forget," said Hazlett, 36.

Hazlett won't get the chance for a repeat on Bogeyman this season; he now goes out for a well-earned spell.

But Oulaghan said yesterday that Yourtheman will now be set for the $100,000 Great Northern Hurdles at Ellerslie on September 9.

While he's now won most of the country's top jumps races, the Northern hurdles still eludes Oulaghan.

His 18-race winner Goliath has come closest, finishing third and being brought down close to home when looking a winning threat.

"He [Yourtheman] is sparingly raced until now so he should have one or two races still left in him this season," said Oulaghan.

Surprisingly, Yourtheman was the trainer's only runner at the National carnival.

Oulaghan won 20 races during Riccarton's feature week from 1996 through to 2003, with almost half of those victories coming in major races, including the National Hurdles with Rand six years ago.

But for the last couple of seasons Oulaghan said he simply hasn't had the talent to send south.

Yourtheman, though, was always National-bound, despite failing as favourite in the Hawkes Bay Hurdles on July 1.

Oulaghan said the sticky track was the 7-year-old's undoing that day, and the conditions were again the major concern after heavy rain forced the postponement of last Wednesday's National to Saturday.

"I actually set him [Yourtheman] for the National thinking we'd get better tracks at Riccarton, which he prefers," he said.

Hazlett said he could not believe how easily Yourtheman was travelling with 1000m to run on Saturday.

"I was just hoping that nothing would go wrong," he said.

Two-time winner Just A Swagger rallied late for second but his hopes of a hat-trick were gone the moment Hazlett released the brakes on Yourtheman with 200m to run.