Talented steeplechaser Raucous has continued to improve with age, and Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal are hoping to have another successful season with the 10-year-old, kicking off on Saturday at Te Rapa.
The son of Nom De Jeu lived up to his name in his early years over the fences, but a more professional version arrived at the races last year and the results followed with two victories and four minor placings, including third in the Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4800m).
“He’s a lot saner than he used to be in previous years, so hopefully that’s a good sign,” Nelson said.
“He’s had a couple of jump-outs and had a good school this morning with Hamish McNeill (jockey), Hamish came down and did about 12 others as well.”
Te Rapa has been a happy hunting ground for Raucous, and he will travel from Nelson and McDougal’s Hastings base to carry the 70.5kg topweight in the Ken & Roger Browne Memorial (3900m).
“He’ll probably need this run, there’s a couple in there that have had a run already and he could be found wanting a bit at the end,” Nelson said.
“We’ll be looking to possibly head back up to the Waikato Steeplechase (3900m) or something similar.”
Six-year-old mare Foxalot will also make the journey north to contest the Modern Transport Group Hurdle (2800m), her second start over the fences and will carry the bottom-weight of 63kg under Portia Matthews.
“I don’t like starting a maiden in with open horses, but she needs a run, and she’ll be running with experienced horses in a small field which will be good for her,” Nelson said.
“Some of them are only one-win horses, so that makes it slightly easier.”
Meanwhile, back in Hastings, Nelson’s star jumpers The Cossack and Nedwin are also in work, but will appear on the scene slightly later with the more lucrative features in mind.
A son of Mastercraftsman, The Cossack is one of the highest-earning jumpers in recent years to come out of New Zealand, recording 17 victories, nine of those at prestige level, and north of $610,000 in stakes.
“The Cossack won’t start jumping for a little while, we might give him a couple of runs on the flat if we can find a wet track for him and then he’ll start a bit later on in the season,” Nelson said.
“Hopefully he’ll be there at the end of the season when all the money comes in.”
The nine-year-old’s stablemate Nedwin made a strong case in his own right last season, adding the Waikato Hurdles (3200m) and Great Northern Hurdles (4200m) to his burgeoning resume, which also includes six successes on the flat.
“He’s getting in the same position as The Cossack in being up in the weights, and we may just have to look after him a bit,” Nelson said.
“He’ll be aiming for some of those later jump races, he may have two or three runs on the flat as well.”
A newcomer to the stable this season is The Bambino, continuing a long association between Nelson and Ben Foote, a part-owner and former co-trainer of the Rock ’N’ Pop gelding.
A half-brother to Australian Group Two winner Wymark, The Bambino broke maiden status over the fences at Te Rapa in his first attempt at the tail end of last season.
“He’ll get a flat run then be ready to go. We’re just waiting for a bit of easing in the tracks for a lot of our horses, we don’t want it too firm and it hasn’t eased up too much around here yet,” Nelson said.
“We’ve had a good association with Ben for a number of years now, and his flat stable is getting bigger and bigger, so he asked us to take the horse. Training a jumper at the track is not that easy as well.”
Foote, who now trains in partnership with son Ryan, prepared talented jumper Amanood Lad to win the 2014 Great Northern Steeplechase (6400m), before transferring him to Nelson’s care in 2017 where he added the Wellington Steeplechase (5500m) and Pakuranga Hunt Cup (4900m) to his record.
“He (Foote) has been great,” Nelson said. “Amanood Lad came to us in his later years and won a couple of good races, and before that we trained a horse called He’s So Vain, which we got to the Wellington Cup (then at Group One level), but he broke down after that unfortunately.”