Grand National Festival awaits Lord Spencer
Lord Spencer (NZ) (Zed) has sealed his berth across the Cook Strait next month to compete at Riccarton’s Grand National Festival of Racing following his gutsy win in the Farmlands Pahiatua Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase (4800m) at Woodville on Sunday.
The winner of two races on the flat, Lord Spencer has shown a talent for jumping, posting three hurdle wins, including the 2024 edition of the Great Northern Hurdle (4200m) at Te Rapa, before transitioning to chasing this season where he finished runner-up in his steeplechase debut at Te Aroha last month before winning his maiden steeplechase at the Waikato venue three weeks later.
Off the back of those performances, Lord Spencer was backed into a $3 second favourite in the Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase behind Foxton jumper Never Look Back at $2.40.
Under regular pilot Lemmy Douglas, Lord Spencer was put to sleep at the back of the pack early on, with the pair leaving the pace making duties to Saint Bernard and Never Look Back.
Heading down the back straight for the final time, Douglas began to improve his charge to be handier to the two frontrunners, and he quickly drew alongside the pair.
Douglas got busy on Lord Spencer and the trio entered a three-way duel a long way from home. They jumped the second-to-last fence on even terms, but Lord Spencer started to get the better of his rivals and drew clear just before the last, which he jumped well, and he quickly dashed away to score by 7-3/4 lengths over the fast-finishing Prince Turbo, with a further length back to Saint Bernard in third.
“It was awesome and it was a great ride by Lemmy,” trainer JJ Rayner said.
“He let him have a breather around the back and then he got on his bike and got cracking in the straight each time, and then he really let down and came at them, which was great.
“I was a little worried (when he took off a long way from home) but then I thought Lemmy knows the horse, he knows what he is doing. It turned out well and he jumped beautifully.
“He tends to jump those live ones (fences) a lot better, and that is why I was worried today, but he really stood off them and jumped nicely.”
Rayner said track conditions were her biggest concern heading into the race, but she needn’t have worried.
“I thought he would go a nice race, but I was very worried because I thought it would be quite puggy, and he doesn’t really like that, but he coped with it really easily, so I am really pleased,” she said.
Rayner was also chuffed for his owner-breeder Dennis Dravitski, who was trackside for the win.
“I am pleased for the owner, it is the first time he has been on track when he has won a race, so it was special,” Rayner said.
Rayner is now looking forward to heading to Riccarton next month with Lord Spencer, who will contest both the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge Koral Steeplechase (4250m) on August 1 and Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge 151st Grand National Steeplechase (5600m) seven days later.
“We will head there, we just wanted to get through today and make sure everything was A-okay,” Rayner said. “He likes it down there, so that is the plan at the we moment.
“He will have a few days off, he is pretty fit and he is ready to go, so we will just keep ticking him along and his first race will be the Koral on the first day.”
Lord Spencer has long been a stable favourite and Rayner said he is quickly catching her former multiple Group One winner Start Wondering (NZ) (Eighth Wonder) as one of her all-time favourites.
“He is very exciting and we love him dearly,” she said. “He would have to be up there (with the best horses I have trained), he is neck and neck with Start Wondering.”
While Kevin Myers and jockey Will Featherstone were runner-up in the Hawke’s Bay Steeplechase with Prince Turbo, they would not be denied earlier on the card when they teamed up to take out the Buckley Contracting Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3000m) with Happy Star (NZ) (Fabulous).
The 10-year-old gelding raced just behind the speed in the early stages before Featherstone asked his charge to improve three-wide to sit outside leader Dictation when heading out of the home straight.
The leading pair went head-to-head down the back straight before Happy Star started to draw clear of his rival and entered the home straight with a one-length advantage. Jockey Kylan Wiles took the short way home along the rail aboard Quid and the stablemates entered a dogfight down the home straight, with Happy Star showing his class in the concluding stages to get up to win by half a neck, while The Bambino finished off strongly for third.
Happy Star won the Hawke’s Bay Hurdle in 2023 at Hastings and was runner-up in last year’s edition, and his connections were pleased he was able to reclaim his crown on Sunday.
The winner of the 2022 Grand National Hurdles (4200m), and placegetter in the 2023 and 2025 editions, a return trip to Riccarton next month is likely to contest the time-honoured race once again.
Happy Star has now won 13 races, including six victories on the flat, where he also placed in the Listed ANZAC Mile (1600m) and Listed Rotorua Cup (2200m), and his earnings have now surpassed $400,000.
