 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2002
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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The Nevele R Fillies Final last Friday night was open to all-comers when the favourite Elect To Live ran out of steam at the top of the straight.
This unexpected development was a surprise invitation to the others, and it was not one of the favourites but Whanau who emerged with the commitment to get home first. It was not by much, half a head to be official, and 10 metres out it appeared as though Angela Jane had edged past. And she had; driver Mark Purdon was sure of it. But over the next 10 metres, Whanau won it back, and caused a huge upset.
The same filly had run well below her best in the New Zealand Oaks the previous week. Trainer Henry Skinner put it down to the fact she pulled hard, but in case he had missed something he got Robert Cameron to handle her when she fast-worked on the Wednesday before the race. Skinner really wasn't in the best shape because he had the flu, but Cameron reported that she worked as well as he would have liked. "I thought she was okay for the Oaks," said Skinner, "but she didn't get the best of runs. But I was dissappointed about where she finished. I had her blood done after that, and everything was right there," he said. On reflection, he thought she had had some bad luck in some of her previous races. In one, she made a break at the start, and when she was due for another she had to miss it because of a cold. It meant she had to do some catching up on what she had missed at the trials.
As good as she went on the night, Whanau also had the benefit of a splendid drive by Peter Jones who was also as good as anyone on the night. He put Lento's daughter into a nice place, midfield on the outer, then caught the back of Hot Blooded Woman who was making some headway forward at the 700 metre mark. It took her far enough for her to strike out on her own near the 500 metres, and Whanau moved into it at a quicker rate than Elect To Live who was moving back. She was not alone because Goodnight Aveross was again showing a lot of cheek and Angela Jane had made her own ground from the back and was chasing hard. Whanau stuck to her guns to give sire Sands A Flyin his second successive winner of the race, following that of Sparks A Flyin last year.
Skinner, who trains a small team at Branxholme and made his name with some wonderful horses such as Sapling, Sure Mart, Forto Prontezza and No Return, races the filly with his wife Karen and the horse's co-breeder, Alex McDonald. McDonald trained and part-owned Lento, (MR 1:56.4, 2000m), with Lorraine Coutts. She was sold last September, in foal to Dream Away, to Robert Famularo's Cavalla Breeding. Lento is also the dam of a 2-year-old by Sir Vancelot, owned by Keith and Lorraine Coutts, who bred Whanau in partnership with McDonald.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 15May02