Catherine Cameron’s stayer Raajoices (NZ) (Iffraaj) was back in the winner’s circle in dominant fashion at Rotorua on Sunday, claiming the Terry Fitzpatrick Memorial (2200m).
A son of Iffraaj, Raajoices had been finishing midfield in races throughout his current campaign, but was truly in his element when striking the heavy ten conditions later in the programme.
Trailing the field throughout behind a strong tempo set by Shocking Penny, Jay Kozaczek coped plenty of kick back aboard Raajoices but remained patient, allowing the gelding to sweep around the field effortlessly turning for home.
Descending down the outside of the track, Raajoices was far too strong for his rivals and continued to pull away by 5 ¾ lengths at the post, with a game Verry Flash running into second while giving away nearly ten kilograms to the winner.
Based at Cambridge, Cameron was pleased for Kozaczek who picked up a winning treble on the card, having been involved with her stable since arriving in New Zealand in June.
“I was very happy, Jay has had a great day and rides trackwork for us so he knew the horse well,” she said.
“This horse has been a bit disappointing this winter, but in fairness he’s been crying out for a horrible, wet and loose track that we got today so thankfully they ran the races.
“We’ll see what they give him in terms of points now, but he just needs the really wet tracks and we don’t get to run on them all that often anymore so we’ll see.
“He’ll get a good break this summer, last summer I ran him in the Waikato Cup (Gr.3, 2400m) because I thought he may have been good enough over further ground on better tracks, but, he’s just an out-and-out one-pacer who loves the mud.
“We’ll see what we can do over the next six weeks and then we’ll bring him back for next winter.”
Cameron was a highly accomplished show jumping rider before committing to racehorse training and she hasn’t counted out a possible career over fences for Raajoices in the future.
“I’m getting a lot of pressure to jump him and I know some of the owners would love him to go jumping,” she said.
“Given that Jay rides work for us, while he’s still here over the next couple of months we might get him popping over some fences.
“He could end up being one for a jumping campaign next year.”
Bred by Stephanie Hole out of her Group Three-winning mare Choice, Raajoices is raced by an ownership group including Cameron. From 24 starts, he has won three races and over $61,000 in stakes earnings.
