Major Trentham race meetings have been a happy hunting ground for South Island raider Our Echo (NZ) (Echoes Of Heaven), who scored another upset victory in the TAGS Accounting & Taxation (1400m) on Saturday’s Wellington Cup undercard.
The $65,000 open handicap was the eighth win of a 45-start career for Our Echo, who has placed on another 15 occasions and has banked just under $280,000. But the son of Echoes Of Heaven has saved his very best for the big occasions at Trentham, where his seven starts have produced three wins and two placings.
Our Echo’s first visit to Wellington was on Telegraph Day in January of 2022, where he defied $14 odds to win a Rating 74 handicap over 1400m with a $40,000 stake. He returned for Oaks Day in March 2023 and placed in a $50,000 race, then finished seventh in the Gr.3 Anniversary Handicap (1600m) and eighth in the Gr.1 Thorndon Mile (1600m) during the Wellington Cup Carnival last January.
He made two further visits to Trentham in the autumn, taking his career to new heights with a win in the Listed Lightning Handicap (1200m) on Oaks Day and a placing in the Listed Flying Handicap (1400m) on Manawatu Sires’ Produce Stakes Day.
The eight-year-old seemed to be well below that form through the early stages of this season, finishing outside the placings in all of his first four starts. Our Echo hinted at a turnaround with a last-start win in the Kurow Cup (1400m) on December 30, and on Saturday he returned to his home away from home and delivered again.
Ridden by fellow South Island visitor Tina Comignaghi, Our Echo settled in third spot as Fame Star and Conor O’Ceirin showed the way through the early stages of the race.
Favourite Bedtime Story came from behind Our Echo to pounce and take the lead early in the run home, but Comignaghi never panicked. She moved across heels into clear air on the outside of Bedtime Story, gave her mount time to balance up and then went for the whip.
With an explosive late burst, Our Echo dashed to the front inside the final 50m and scored a $15 upset win by half a length. Topweight Kopua charged home into second, a head in front of Bedtime Story.
Our Echo is trained at Balcairn by Danny Frye, who shares ownership with eight others.
“We love this horse to bits,” Frye said. “This race was very important. His first few lead-up runs had been disappointing, so we started to question ourselves with regard to our training and feeding. We changed a few things around and we seem to have got it right now. He was really good today.
“It was quite a soft win at Kurow the other day, but the pressure was really on today and he’s won again.”
Frye has ruled out an attempt to defend Our Echo’s crown in the Lightning Handicap on March 22.
“We think 1400m and a mile suit him better than 1200m this time around,” he said. “His legs aren’t quite as sharp as they used to be.
“But he’s really earned his stripes today and we’ll have a go at some other races that are coming up. I’d quite like to get him up to Ellerslie and see how he goes there.”
Comignaghi has now had 11 rides on Our Echo for four wins and four placings.
“He’s a pretty good horse on his day and he showed that today,” she said. “We had a pretty good run in transit, and then he showed what he can do in the straight. This is very special and I’m grateful to Danny and the other owners for keeping me on the horse. If he goes to Ellerslie, I might have to practise riding with the whip in my left hand!”
