The champ is back
West Coast (NZ) (Mettre En Jeu) showed his champion qualities at Te Rapa on Sunday when he chased down runaway leader Whiskey Tango to score his first win in 20 months in the Waikato Hunt Cup (3900m).
The Mark Oulaghan-trained 10-year-old has an unblemished record at the Hamilton track, winning both of his previous starts at the venue, including the 2023 and 2024 editions of the Great Northern Steeplechase (6500m), but he has been winless since his 2024 triumph.
Following a seven-run campaign last year, Oulaghan gave West Coast a longer than usual break over summer, which he believes has helped the evergreen jumper, who had pleased the Palmerston North horseman ahead of his first jumps assignment of the season on Sunday.
With regular rider Shaun Fannin having retired from jumps racing, Oulaghan utilised the services of Joshua Parker, rewarding the Auckland hoop for coming down to school some of his horses.
Parker didn’t let Oulaghan down, following instructions to the letter, stalking his rivals for much of the journey, while pacemaker Whiskey Tango set a solid tempo upfront.
Parker gradually worked his charge into the race from the 600m, but it looked like he was running for second at the top of the straight when ranging up alongside Jakama Krystal, with Whiskey Tango five lengths in front.
However, West Coast belied his age and 72kg impost when he responded to Parker’s urgings and started to eat into Whiskey Tango’s lead, nabbing the Bill Thurlow and Sam O’Malley-trained gelding on the line to win by half a length.
Parker was in awe of West Coast following the win.
“What a horse,” he said.
Parker was full of praise for Oulaghan’s horsemanship and said he followed his instructions and they were rewarded with a winning result.
“A big thanks to Mark and the owners for giving me the opportunity,” Parker said.
“Mark is a man of few words but a lot of intelligence. We all questioned whether the ground (Soft5) was too firm, but Mark said to me ‘don’t worry about it, leave it to him’. I left it to him and look what he has done.
“He may be an older horse, he may have a lot of weight, but he is so game.
“He felt unreal. I had to keep pulling him back a few times, he was going too good.
“He has just done the job beautifully, he was travelling nice throughout the whole race.”
Parker is looking forward to continuing his association with the Champion jumper and said you’ll need a crowbar to get him off.
“I am very happy and fingers crossed he is all good tomorrow and we will see where it takes him next,” he said. - Joshua Smith LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
Winner: West Coast (NZ) 2015
Owners: Mrs G T & H A E Williamson, Mrs J M & R M Williamson
Trainer: Mark Oulaghan / Awapuni
Breeding: by Mettre en Jeu out of Testament by Grosvenor
Breeder: Letham Stud Ltd
Waller ramps up Joliestar’s Royal Ascot assault
Champion trainer Chris Waller will this week ramp up Joliestar’s (Zoustar) assault on the Gr.1 The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes (1200m) at Royal Ascot on June 20, with the five-time Group One heroine to contest a jumpout down the straight at Flemington on Friday.
Joliestar hasn’t been seen since her brilliant victory in the Gr.1 T.J. Smith Stakes at Randwick on April 4.
Since then, the five-year-old had a tick-over trial at Warwick Farm on May 8, then a jumpout at Rosehill on Tuesday, before being transferred to Waller’s Melbourne stable at Flemington.
Cambridge Stud chief executive, Henry Plumptre, told Racing.com Joliestar is in good order and will head to the UK on June 3, assuming all goes to plan.
“I was there on Tuesday at Rosehill; she had a jumpout with a few others. With these jumpouts, Chris is just trying to keep a lid on things. The track was very wet, it was a Soft 7 or Heavy 8 and the jockey didn’t really let her go,” Plumptre said.
“She went to Melbourne on Thursday night and she will trial on Friday morning, which we will be there for, and then she’s on the plane on June 3.
“At the moment, all is going well.”
Joliestar will be based at Charlie Hills’ yard in Lambourne, ahead of her quest for a sixth top-flight victory.
“Chris went and stayed there with Nature Strip and he likes it because it’s quiet,” Plumptre said.
“Newmarket is quite a busy place and probably the more peaceful the surrounds, the better, because it’s going to be completely unfamiliar to her. Chris is quite confident that is the right place for her.”
A daughter of boom stallion Zoustar, Joliestar boasts an exceptional pedigree. She is from the Group Two winner Jolie Bay and closely related to the stakes winners Merchant Navy, Setanta and Legally Bay. Coupled with five Group Ones and nine stakes triumphs overall, she is already one of the most attractive broodmare prospects in the world.
Plumptre said a win at the elite level in the northern hemisphere would see her value skyrocket.
“If she can add that international Group One to her domestic CV in Australia, I think it adds an enormous amount of value to her,” he said.
“Some people think that once they get past three Group Ones, they’re value doesn’t increase by much, but if you’re an international breeder and you’re looking at a mare that’s got form in England and for in Australia at Group One level, you’re thinking, well, that’s absolutely the pinnacle.
“The prizemoney is ok, but getting another Group One is the most important part of it.”
James McDonald will ride Joliestar in The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes. - Racing.com
Desert Lightning poised to strike again
The recent run of veterans winning the elite sprint races has emboldened trainer Peter Moody to chase Saturday’s Gr.1 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1300m) at Eagle Farm with Desert Lightning (NZ) (Pride Of Dubai).
Moody and training partner Katherine Coleman initially had the last start Gr.1 Goodwood winner aiming up for another shot at next month’s Gr.1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m), but Moody said at Sandown on Saturday that the rising seven-year-old was up for the weight-for-age challenge this Saturday.
“You’ve got Jigsaw (seven-year-old), Desert Lightning (six-year-old) and Rothfire (eight-year-old) have won the last three feature sprints, so you are not going to run and hide the three-year-olds with 56.5 (kilograms),” Moody said of the Kingsford-Smith.
“The T J Smith winner Joliestar has gone to England as a six-year-old mare so where are the boom sprinters?”
Desert Lightning, who will again be ridden by Luke Nolen, has firmed in markets from $18 to $11 for Saturday’s feature and Moody said a repeat of his Goodwood effort should see him fighting out the finish.
“I was very confident in Adelaide so if we can win another one, it’s a bonus,” he said. - Racing.com
Joshua Smith
Joshua Smith
Kevin Robertson
