Rathbone scores Trentham jumps double

Wanganui trainer Jo Rathbone had a successful day at the office at Trentham on Thursday when scoring a winning double, including taking out the Trentham Supporters Group Wellington Hurdles (3200m) with exciting jumper Billy Boy (So You Think).

The eight-year-old son of So You Think won last year’s running of the race, and he was favoured to retain his crown following his placing in the Manawatu Hurdles (2500m) at the Upper Hutt track a month prior.

Jockey Will Featherstone was positive out of the gates aboard Billy Boy, sending him straight to the front where the pair took a stranglehold of the race, leading their rivals by several lengths for much of the journey. Auckland raider Roc Up Ralph charged home late to make an exciting finish, but Billy Boy dug deep and rallied again to score by a long neck.

Rathbone was pleased with the result but admitted to being slightly concerned at some stages of the race where her charge was so far out in front.

“He leads but it is not because he pulls, he just likes to do that and he relaxes and obviously finds a rhythm,” Rathbone said. “I was a bit concerned that he got quite a good break on them, but he is just tough. He gives it 100 percent each time, he is a great horse.”

It was the second time Will Featherstone had ridden Billy Boy on raceday, and he said he appreciated the extra distance compared to the Manawatu Hurdles.

“It is the third time I have ridden him, including schooling,” Weatherstone said. “Compared to the last start, it probably wasn’t quite far enough, and the ground helped him a lot today, his jumping was on point. I am very happy.

“He was very fun to ride around there, you don’t feel like you are going very fast but he keeps galloping.”

Next month’s Grand National Festival of Racing at Riccarton is now firmly on the radar.

“He will possibly go to Christchurch, we missed it last year when I decided to bypass it, so we might go down there this year,” Rathbone said.

Earlier on the card, Rathbone also celebrated the maiden jumping success of Affordable in the Stephanie Murray Mortgages Maiden Hurdles (2500m).

The six-year-old gelding had previously raced in his native Australia before heading to Hong Kong, where he won one race, before entering Rathbone’s care late last year, for whom he had one victory on the flat prior to making a transition to jumps racing.

Rathbone said he had shown an affinity for jumping early on when schooling fences and she was pleased to see that promise translate to raceday success on Thursday.

“You never know with his first jumping start but he has shown to be quite proficient over the fences,” Rathbone said.

“He does have the ability on the flat, he just doesn’t always try that hard so I was hoping that jumping would help him wake up a bit and hopefully if that’s the case he might carry on with it.”

With the win under his belt, Affordable may now join Billy Boy on the float trip south to Christchurch next month.