Te Akau Racing’s The Mighty Spar (NZ) (Savabeel) made it back-to-back wins in the Holster Engineering Lally And Symes South Waikato Cup (2000m) at Matamata on Wednesday.
Piloted by apprentice jockey Jessica Allen, The Mighty Spar settled in the one-one early on behind Langkawi (NZ) (Helmet) and enjoyed an economical trip before Allen asked her charge to improve three-wide from the 300m and the pair quickly hit the lead, with the Mighty Spar able to hold out the late challenge of Arby (NZ) (Proisir) to win by a short-head.
Mark Walker, who trains the gelding in partnership with Sam Bergerson, was delighted to see The Mighty Spar defend his crown in the Matamata feature and was full of praise for their stable apprentice.
“It was great to see him win the South Waikato Cup two years in a row and a lovely ride by Jess to get him into the perfect spot,” he said.
“She pinched a break to gain the winning margin and rode a perfect race. I think Jess will really come into her own over the next few months, especially with the three-kilo claim.”
Following the Mighty Spar’s win in last year’s edition of the South Waikato Cup, the son of Savabeel spent the winter months jumping over hurdles, highlighted by a placing in the Hawke’s Bay Hurdles (3100m), and he may return to that discipline in the coming months.
“He’s a bit of a marvel The Mighty Spar, winning five races on the flat and one over hurdles, and we’ll decide whether we keep him on the flat or go back over jumps,” Walker said.
Te Akau Racing principal David Ellis, who purchased the gelding as a yearling, was pleased to see him back in winning form.
“He’s come back to racing in great fettle and I’m thrilled for the owners to win this race again, which had a pretty good mid-week stake,” Ellis said.
“They way he hit the line fresh-up over a mile at Hastings suggested that he was in the right shape to go 2000m second-up, and it’s a really good training performance by Mark and Sam to have the horse spot on.”
