Enigmatic gelding scores at Wanganui
Shaun and Hazel Fannin may be without their star jumper Jesko this year, but Fourty Eight (NZ) (Ekraar) may fill that void following his impressive win in the Dr John D. Moore Memorial Open Steeplechase (3800m) at Wanganui on Sunday.
It was a pleasing result for the Awapuni trainers, with the Ekraar gelding having a Jekyll and Hyde personality, which reared its ugly head last start when he faded to a distant last in a 2200m high weight at Woodville.
“He has thrown in runs like that before, so you can’t be totally surprised. He is a bit of an enigma at the best of times,” Hazel Fannin said.
“He came off the truck after Woodville and was putting on a right performance when he got back to his box. We figured it couldn’t have been too hard on him.”
While favourite punters were burnt on that occasion, they were quick to forgive Fourty Eight, backing him in their droves into a $2.30 favourite in his first jumping assignment of the season on Sunday.
Jockey Kylan Wiles took a positive approach on Fourty Eight, leading aboard the seven-year-old for most of the journey, and they kicked clear of their rivals down the back straight for the final time to open up a commanding lead, eventually running out a 4-1/4 length victor over Super Flash, with a further 3-3/4 lengths back to Mr Fabulous in third.
Hazel Fannin was pleased to see Fourty Eight return to winning form and said he had been impressing them in his work in the lead-up to his weekend run.
“Sometimes it is pretty hard to know who is going to show up on raceday with him, and I am glad the best version of himself was there today,” she said.
“He had a couple of schools where he jumped super so we didn’t have any knock coming into today. We chucked a tongue-tie on, we weren’t sure whether it would help or not, but maybe it did the trick today.”
Fourty Eight has won five races on the flat and three jumping races after Sunday’s result, and Fannin is hoping he can bring his A-game for the rest of the season and fly the stable’s flag after Great New Zealand Steeplechase (6200m) hero Jesko has been ruled out for the season following a tendon injury.
“It is disappointing not to have Jesko this season but Fourty Eight has always shown that he has plenty of ability, but he has also made it pretty clear that it is his mind that takes more training than his actual ability,” Fannin said. “It was encouraging what he did today.”
Some prestige jumps races have now entered calculations, with the Signature Homes Waikato Steeplechase (3900m) at Te Rapa on June 13 the first target in their sights.
“The semi long-range target would be the Waikato Steeplechase,” Fannin said. “Whether he goes to Te Rapa or Trentham between now and then will depend on the strength of the fields and what the weather does, he does like the better going.”
