Horse racing: Epic finale to New Zealand jumping season could be decided by drying Te Rapa track

NZ Herald·

15 Sep, 2023 06:00 PM3 mins to read

West Coast is a wonderful showjumper. Photo / Supplied

The epic finale to the New Zealand jumping season could be decided by the drying Te Rapa track.

Both the Great Northern Hurdles and Steeples will be run there tomorrow as Te Aroha, which is supposed to be the new home of the iconic races since Ellerslie closed for jumps racing, is still having rebuild issues.

While that means a flat track rather than any undulations, a more telling factor in the outcome of the $150,000 Steeplechase could be the arrival of spring and Te Rapa possibly getting back to a Soft 6 for tomorrow’s meeting.

The Steeplechase brings two wonderful jumpers together in The Cossack and West Coast, who share the 73kg topweight but have been so dominant winning their recent major steeplechases it is still hard to make a case for one of the pair not winning.

They have only met once over the big fences, when West Coast was magnificent winning the Wellington Steeplechase but The Cossack lost no fans when a brave third after being flattened at the 600m.

With the pair also sharing each other’s fan clubs, the track could be the factor that moves the market most heavily toward The Cossack.

Both are at their best ploughing through winter mud, the natural habitat for most jumpers, but West Coast has never won on anything but a heavy surface, albeit he has never contested a Steeplechase better than heavy.

He is a huge, raw-boned throwback type of a jumper whose brute strength is perfect for heavy tracks but his trainer Mark Oulaghan believes tomorrow’s likely improved surface won’t bother him.

“I think he will handle it okay and he will love the distance [6500m],” says Oulaghan.

The Cossack also revels in the heavy but absolutely destroyed many of his rivals (West Coast excluded) on a Soft 7 in the Pakuranga Hunt Cup here last month and even won a flat race over 2200m on a Soft 6 in June so is the Te Rapa track keeps drying it should favour him.

Earlier in the programme the weather could also decide the $150,000 Great Northern Hurdles in which Nedwin is clearly the best horse but trainer Paul Nelson is adamant he prefers heavy tracks.

“If the track gets back to the soft range I think our other horse Taika becomes our better chance of winning,” Nelson told the Herald.

“He is a real up-and-comer and I think a soft track will suit him so it, and the weight, would really close that gap between him and Nedwin.”

The Te Rapa meeting, which also sees the return of high-class sprinting mare Bonny Lass, is by far the highlight of the domestic racing weekend but there are still some serious races on the cards at New Plymouth and Riccarton today.

New Plymouth’s open sprint is deep but should suit Mustang Valley while there is plenty of North Island interest in the Canterbury Belle Stakes at Riccarton as the fillies start chasing that valuable black type.