A perfectly patient ride from leading jockey Kozzi Asano left no excuses for Xcuses Xcuses not to deliver in yesterday’s Kurow Cup.
The 8yr-old powered home from off the speed to score a deserved win in the 1400m feature on a big day for her Rangiora trainer, John Blackadder.
Blackadder made sure his long trek back to Canterbury was a sweet one when winning the next event at Kurow with I Am A Rock.
“It certainly makes the travel worth it,” Blackadder said.
The trainer will seek more cup success with Xcuses Xcuses now his mare has capped a run of placings.
Xcuses Xcuses brought excellent form into yesterday’s event, placing twice after her good second on the middle day of the New Zealand Cup carnival.
Blackadder plans to keep the mare’s momentum going at another country race meeting.
“I will take her to the Reefton Cup next; she likes these kind of tracks.”
Xcuses Xcuses scored by a length over El Bee Darci.
Waimate Bill was a further head away in third.
Rider Jason Laking also stayed out of the early speed with I Am A Rock in race 9.
The jockey found a position in the running line for the 5yr-old before peeling him out for his winning run in the home turn.
Blackadder is sure there are more wins in store for the horse.
“He is a very nice horse — we have had to be patient with him.”
I Am A Rock scored by three-quarters of a length over Celine.
Liam held on for third, a further neck away.
A dead heat in race 5 kept plenty of punters among the large crowd that attended yesterday’s Kurow meeting happy.
The judge could not split joint winners Crop and Magnolia Man after they hit the line together in their 1200m event.
The crowd that piled into Kurow racecourse, estimated to be about 5000 people, sent a clear message to New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing administrators on behalf of the Kurow Jockey Club.
Attracting that number of racegoers will rank the annual Kurow race day as one of the most attended meetings in Otago and Southland this season.
Despite that, the meeting is under threat after NZTR slated the Kurow course for closure.
- The Kumara racetrack has received the all-clear for the annual Gold Nuggets meeting early next month.
NZTR gave the track the green light yesterday following concerns after prolonged wet weather and damage caused by wild pigs uprooting sections of the back straight.
A spell of fine weather had improved the track and the meeting will go ahead on January 11.
