Summer Cups targets are on the horizon for stakes winner Ess Vee Are following his bold win in the SkyCity Hamilton Waikato Cup Prelude (2400m) at Te Rapa on Labour Day.
In a small but select field, jockey Sam Weatherley took Ess Vee Are straight to the front where they were able to dictate terms throughout. The pair started to apply pressure from the 600m mark and opened up several lengths on their rivals turning for home, and Ess Vee Are was able to hold onto his advantage, running out a 1-3/4 length victor over Canheroc, with Diamond Jack a further four lengths back in third.
Darryn Weatherley, who trains the six-year-old gelding in partnership with his daughter Briar, was pleased with the winning performance.
“Before legging Sam on I said just make sure he is in a nice rhythm,” Darryn Weatherley said. “My old boss Jim Gibbs used to tell me, if they are in a good rhythm they are happy horses.
“He executed it perfectly, he skipped off the corner and held on. It was nice to see.”
There were a few anxious moments post-race, with Ess Vee Are having slipped and lost a shoe at the top of the straight. However, following a track inspection, the decision was made to proceed with racing.
“We went out with the Stewards, Bart (Cowan, track manager), and a few of us jockeys,” Sam Weatherley said. “You could see a couple of little marks (on the track), which happened after he lost his shoes. We put our heads together and made a decision that with the drying weather that there was no real concern going forward and we are happy to race.
“He is such a big gangly horse, and he has never led in his life, so as soon as he got let off the bridle his legs went everywhere. Losing the shoe and putting it altogether, he has moved a little bit and probably made it look a little worse than what it actually was.
“With the protocols now, we all come together and if one person is not happy then we are not happy, but everyone is sweet and ready to go.”
Weatherley was impressed with Ess Vee Are’s performance, and said he could have won by more if it wasn’t for the slip.
“It was a good win,” he said. “If that (slip) didn’t happen, he could have maybe made it a little more impressive, but he was still impressive enough and it was good to see a good horse back to his best. He lost his way a bit last season, he went to Australia and a few things didn’t go quite right. Today with the small field, he was able to jump and dictate, and bring back his old form.”
Initially nominated for next month’s Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) at Riccarton, his Matamata-based trainers have opted to keep the son of Shocking closer to home, eyeing the Gr.3 Waikato Cup (3200m) and Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m) over summer.
“We won’t have to hammer him, he is a horse that keeps himself pretty fit,” Darryn Weatherley said.
“Between now and the Waikato Cup I don’t know what we are going to do, but that is the plan – Waikato Cup and then Wellington Cup.”
Out of O’Reilly mare Reiveke, Ess Vee Are has now won five of his 26 starts, including the Listed New Zealand St Leger (2600m) at Trentham, and earned more than $200,000 in prizemoney.