The famed Kevin Myers magic was clearly on display at Riccarton on Saturday when Little Thief, the most inexperienced jumper in the field, headed home a Myers trifecta in the Hospitality NZ Canterbury 136th Grand National Hurdles (4200m).
Myers has never been afraid to take a different approach when preparing horses for a major event, and Little Thief was no different as the five-year-old son of Dundeel opened his Riccarton campaign last Saturday with an eighth placed finish in a 1600m contest on the flat followed by a narrow victory midweek over 2200m in an amateur riders contest on the polytrack at the venue.
Those runs had him super fit for just his third start over fences and he proved that with a strong staying performance to come from second last with 800m to run and race away in the home straight for rider Lemmy Douglas.
Douglas was happy to adopt a patient approach as Little Thief settled with just The Bambino behind him as Dictation and then Taika set up the pace out in front. Those two were joined by the other Myers-trained runners in Happy Star and Quid at the 1000m to form a line of four at the head of affairs as the pressure came on with just four fences to clear.
Douglas got on his bike at this point in the race and Little Thief was soon on the heels of the leading quartet before looming three-wide on the home corner as Quid and Happy Star shook off the other pair.
Despite laying in over the last two fences, Little Thief looked like he had just joined in to race clear once he jumped the last fence and win easing down by five lengths from Quid with Happy Star a further four lengths away.
Stable representative Jason Myers was thrilled with how the race panned out, along with the ride by Douglas.
“He is a super little horse and has shown a lot of promise from the day we started schooling him,” Myers said.
“He won well in the amateur race (Wednesday) and today Lemmy rode him an absolute treat as he was told just to follow them around and his (Little Thief) improvement from his first two jumps races has seen him talking the next step up.
“I was happy with the positioning of all our horses during the race as I thought they were being given their best chance to win, and turning for home I thought Quid was going pretty well, but when Little Thief jumped the last he just took off on them.”
Douglas was delighted with the victory in his first ride aboard the winner, although he admitted to a near mistake late in the contest.
“It is the first time I’ve sat on him and I was told to just sit dead quiet and he was pulling my arms out most of the way,” he said.
“I thought he might be a little tired after Wednesday, but he travelled up beautifully and he jacked up over the last and he did what he did.
“I almost got a bit too excited coming around the top corner as I had forgotten how long this straight is, but he was so responsive and full credit to the Myers team as they really get their horses ready for this week.”
Out of the Snitzel mare Stolen Gem, Little Thief is a half-brother to multiple Group One performer To Catch A Thief, who finished third in the 2023 Gr.1 Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) along with filling the same position in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) later that year.