By just one season, Kylie Little missed an opportunity to take a horse to the iconic Jericho Cup (4600m) at Warrnambool, and she is hoping in-form stayer Irrigate can take the Kiwi spot through Saturday’s NZB Airfreight Road To The Jericho (3210m) at New Plymouth.
The annual contest is New Zealand’s longest flat race, exceeding the traditional two-mile Cup distance, and as of 2017, the winner has been offered a trip across the Tasman to run in the Jericho Cup, and a past member of Little’s barn, Red Sunset, had won the race in 2016 by an extending four lengths.
“We won this race a few years ago with a horse called Red Sunset, and the year after, they brought the trip in,” Little said.
“We definitely would’ve gone with her, so we would take the opportunity if she (Irrigate) can win.”
A seven-year-old by Ocean Park, Irrigate is entering the race in career-best form, with back-to-back wins including a dominant from behind performance at Te Rapa on August 24 at her most recent start.
“We were actually in Australia watching the race, but we were very pleased with her,” Little said.
“It was nice to see her settling back and coming into the race like she did, I thought Tegan (Newman, jockey) may have gone a touch soon, but she obviously hadn’t.
“When she ran second at Te Rapa in July, we earmarked this race for her and have been working towards it.”
Co-owner Grant Steen purchased Irrigate via gavelhouse.com for under $2,000 in June last year as a one-win mare, and if the Jericho Cup doesn’t eventuate, Little has another long-distance target in mind for the mare.
“The boys bought her off Gavelhouse at the end of last winter and we gave her a couple of runs, we liked what we saw so we put her aside,” she said.
“She’s come up really well this year and she’s dead easy to have in the stable, she’s just a little pit pony. There’s not a lot of her, but she’s a real sweetheart.
“She holds a nomination for the New Zealand Cup (Gr.3, 3200m), so if we won on Saturday, obviously she would be pulled out of there but that’s an option.
“She also jumps really tidily, so she could be a future jumper in time."