By MIKE DILLON
A love of showjumping meant trainer Jeff McVean missed seeing his biggest winner for a while, Leica Guv, in the $35,000 Westbury Stud Breeders Stakes at Ruakaka.
McVean was in England watching his highly talented daughter 15-year-old Kate compete in major horse shows.
He left last Wednesday and tomorrow moves to Germany for another of Kate's competitions.
Jeff McVean represented Australia in the showring at three Olympics and his daughter, as a member of the New Zealand Young Riders Team, looks as though she is heading along the same path for this country.
"She's outstanding," said 26-year-old Catherine Cameron, who saddled Leica Guv on Saturday. "She's right on the heels of the top riders already.
"I work in the stable with the racehorses, but I also work with the show horses and try and compete against Kate, but that's difficult."
The impressive feature of Leica Guv's win was that he was backing up only a week after a tough run to win on debut at Te Awamutu. He also had to cope with his first trip away from home and the journey from the Waikato.
"It was a toss-up whether to take him to Ruakaka or wait until the Ryder Stakes, but the idea with this race was to see how he coped with a better track than he struck at Te Awamutu," said Cameron.
"We thought he would cope with it because he didn't seem that happy in the sticky footing when he won his first race."
That theory proved right when Leica Guv sprinted past the leaders in the home straight for Opie Bosson, where he had only battled to the lead at Te Awamutu.
Leica Guv may not have the most fluid galloping action, but he gets the job done.
"It was a pretty good run," said Bosson, who has had to battle weight problems after being twice suspended in recent weeks. "He'll keep improving as he learns."
Cameron said the youngster was pig-headed before he trialed for the first time only a month ago, but has settled down with experience.
"On Saturday I thought he'd get a bit stirred up being away from home. When I walked him into the birdcage he was so quiet I was actually worried there was something wrong with him.
"He'd totally gone to sleep - he thought it was a beach holiday at Ruakaka."
Leica Guv is being spelled for three weeks.
Racing: Showjumping dad misses win
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