The Hawke’s Bay Spring Carnival has been a happy hunting ground for Peter and Shaun McKay, who returned to Hastings on Saturday and pulled off a training masterstroke with the resuming Wolfgang (NZ) (Puccini) in the Livamol International Health Products Premier (1600m).
The blue and gold colours of the Matamata stable have become a familiar sight at Hastings every spring, landing the Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas (1400m) with Antonio Lombardo and Amarula, the Gr.3 Spring Sprint (1400m) with Antonio Lombardo, and numerous other bold performances by the likes of Sagunto, Langkawi and Cavallo Veloce.
The McKays flew under the radar on Saturday with Wolfgang, who went out as one of the outsiders of the seven-horse field at $10.50. The son of former McKay stable star Puccini had not been seen since April and went straight to 1600m in a fresh state.
The build-up to the race was dominated by last season’s Gr.2 Awapuni Gold Cup (2100m) winner Nereus, who was on trial for a potential Melbourne campaign. The betting market was one-way traffic, with Nereus tightening from $4 right into $1.80.
Most of the race appeared to be following that script. Nereus enjoyed a comfortable run in second before cruising up alongside the leader with ease at the top of the straight.
But Wolfgang and Australian jockey Matt Cartwright came through in the favourite’s slipstream, then angled to his outside and outsprinted Nereus down the straight to win by three-quarters of a length.
“He jumped lovely and we got into a nice spot behind a genuine tempo,” Cartwright said. “He tracked up into it nicely and then let down really well in the straight. That was a good performance first-up.
“The way he was travelling coming into the straight, I knew it was going to take a nice horse to beat him. It’s a great training effort by Peter and Shaun.”
Wolfgang was bred by Mapperley Stud’s Simms Davison, who shares ownership with Kim and Peter McKay. The six-year-old has now had 33 starts for five wins, eight placings and $194,285 in stakes.
“We were a little worried about him first-up at 1600m today, but he’s a pretty good horse on his day,” Shaun McKay said. “Matt rode him beautifully. It’s really good to have him riding here in New Zealand.
“We’ve just taken this horse up quite slowly in this preparation, and he seems to be in good order. We’ll just take it one step at a time with him from here.”
Nereus held on for second, more than two lengths clear of the third-placed The Odyssey.
