Wild Willow blossoms at Waterlea

Wild Willow, cleverly driven by veteran reinsman Ricky May, overcame a 10m handicap to take out the feature race at the Marlborough Harness Racing Club’s two-day summer meeting.

On Sunday afternoon, at a sunny Waterlea course, the five-year-old gelding bounced back from a mediocre fifth placing on Friday to claim first place in the Donegal House Marlborough Cup, raced over 2850m.

Ricky pushed Wild Willow hard after a sluggish start and they had caught the leading group of 10 by the time they had passed the winning post for the first time.

After biding their time in the pack, Ricky found racing room halfway down the finishing straight and the duo shot clear, holding off a fast-finishing Tempo Warrior, driven by Wilson House, who finished second by half a length. Third was Homebush Lad, driven by Ben Hope.

Wild Willow was trained by Warren Stapleton in Rakaia.

The 2400m Marlborough Cup Prelude was Friday’s feature race and highlighted a day of close racing, with good dividends for the punters who were able to pick winners from among large fields.

Piccadilly Pete, a four-year-old gelding out of Matt Purvis’s Woodend stables and driven superbly by Samantha Ottley, won by a length from Dennis Denuto, with Ted’s Legacy another length back in third.

However, Friday’s standout effort came in the day’s first race.

Manakau Blaze, a seven-year-old mare piloted by Kaikoura trainer-driver Barry Ford, won the opener by a massive 15 and a half lengths.

But there was more to the story. Not only was it Manakau Blaze’s first race win, the trotter was also having her first career start and went into it without a trial in eight months. Add in the fact that Barry hadn’t driven a winner for four years, and only three in the last 10 years, and it provided a remarkable beginning to the two days of racing.

It was Barry’s 22nd career training win dating back to 1990 and his 14th in the sulky. The duo did not race on Sunday, preferring to set their sights on the Amberley meeting in early February.

A familiar visitor to the Waterlea track is John Dunn, a member of the premiership-winning Dunn training dynasty, who continue to bring a large team north each year.

John, a prolific winner in the sulky and a punters’ favourite, says he always enjoys his trips north from the family’s training base at Woodend Beach.

The attraction of two-day meetings on consecutive weekends at Nelson, then Marlborough, is one of the factors that brings the Dunn team north, plus the fact it gives them a chance to test their charges on the grit in Nelson and the grass at Waterlea.

“It’s just a nice set of races for the horses we have brought up here,” said John, “and it’s good for the owners to have a weekend away.

“Their horses race twice in three days and it gets them out of Christchurch and a chance to get among the nice vineyards up here.”

The Dunns have enjoyed plenty of top results at Waterlea, including doing the Prelude/Cup double last year with Double Time.

“We have been lucky to have had so much success here,” said John, “the old saying is that a trip can actually make a horse … a couple of races in a row, a trip away, some go back and go on … so hopefully a few of these can do just that.”

Although John relishes the big meetings and venues, such as Addington, he also has a strong affinity for the country meetings.

“I love the country racing, the country feel … it is good to see the crowds out there having picnics and enjoying themselves. That’s what it is all about that. We need to attract more people back to the races to enjoy these kind of meetings.

“People don’t realise how much work goes on behind the scenes to get these one-off race meetings organised and the facilities looking so good, it takes an awful lot of work. It’s a credit to them and I will certainly keep supporting meetings like this,” John added.

The leading driver crown was shared by Samantha Ottley and Wilson House with five wins apiece, while Michael House and Mark Jones were the top trainers with four stable wins each.

Local trainer Alan Shutkowski enjoyed success on Sunday, his mare Ha’penny winning race four on her home track, providing a thrill for those following local pacers.