Trentham’s feature jumps races have been a happy hunting ground for Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal in recent seasons, and the Hastings trainers are heading into the 2024 edition on Saturday with the firepower to continue that trend.
Nelson and McDougal’s stable star The Cossack is the -222.22 favourite with horse racing bookmakers for Saturday’s Wellington Steeplechase (5500m), while stablemates Taika and Nedwin head the betting for the Wellington Hurdle (3200m) at +180 and +210 respectively.
Nelson and McDougal have trained five of the last six Wellington Hurdle winners with The Shackler (2017), No Tip (2019), The Cossack (2021), Nedwin (2022) and Suliman (2023). Nelson’s name also features on the Wellington Steeplechase roll of honour through his victories with Storm (1987) and Amanood Lad (2017).
The Cossack will attempt to join that latter group on Saturday when he carries a 73kg topweight in the Wellington Steeplechase. The 10-year-old son of Mastercraftsman heads into the race as a 14-time winner over jumps, with nine wins from 15 hurdle starts and five wins from eight starts in steeplechases.
The most recent of those was a tenacious performance in last month’s Waikato Steeplechase (3900m) at Te Rapa. He fought back superbly after being headed by up-and-comer Hey Happy, pulling away from that rival late in the race despite a 7kg difference in weight.
Nelson and McDougal gave The Cossack a hit-out on the flat at Hastings last week, where he finished a close fourth behind Aljay, Marroni and Never Look Back in a Rating 89 handicap over 2200m.
“He was good in the Waikato Steeplechase, it was a very tough win, and I just hope that we’ve been able to keep him up to the mark in between times,” Nelson said.
“He raced on the flat the other day, where I thought he ran quite well. We had to do something. There wasn’t much around for him, so we needed to give him a run. I think we’re quite happy with where he’s at.”
The Cossack has some unfinished Wellington Steeplechase business to attend to on Saturday. He lined up in the race last year, meeting fellow superstar jumper West Coast for the first time. Just when the pair seemed set to fight out a thrilling finish, The Cossack was badly hampered when his stablemate Argyll fell in front of him around 700m from the finish. The Cossack lost all momentum and had to settle for third behind West Coast and Izymydaad.
“He had no luck at all in this race last year and we’re hoping for a different story this time around, although it’s never that easy in jumps racing,” Nelson said.
Nelson and McDougal will shoot for their fifth Wellington Hurdle win in a row with well-credentialled runners Nedwin and Taika.
Nedwin won the race by 10 lengths in 2022, but his attempted defence of that title last year ended when he fell around 1000m from the finish.
The seven-year-old Taika is an emerging talent who has recorded two wins and four placings from nine starts over hurdles. The most recent of those was the Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m) on June 29, where he pushed standout hurdler Berry The Cash all the way down the Hastings straight. Taika ended up finishing second, beaten by a half-head.
“We gave Nedwin a ran on the flat last weekend and he’s ticking over nicely,” Nelson said. “But the way the weights are (Nedwin 73kg, Taika 66.5kg), I’d probably favour Taika on Saturday. He made Berry The Cash work hard at Hastings last start, and he’s improved with that run as well.”
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