A last-gasp triumph in Saturday’s The Frac Club New Zealand St Leger (2500m) completed a rare Trentham double for Wolfgang (NZ) (Puccini), whose connections are now daring to dream of even bigger things next spring.
Wolfgang is the 11th horse to win both the Wellington Cup (3200m) and the St Leger, and only the third to do the double in the same season – joining Concentrate (1930) and Waisake (2021).
Saturday’s $110,000 St Leger was the final start of a remarkable campaign for Wolfgang, who has earned more than $490,000 from his 13 appearances this season. He kicked off with back-to-back wins at Hastings and Matamata in September and October, then crossed the Tasman and ran sixth in the Gr.2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) and fourth in the Gr.3 Geelong Cup (2400m).
The Puccini gelding returned home and finished second in the Gr.3 Balmerino Stakes (2000m), 10th in the Gr.3 Counties Cup (2100m), second in the Gr.3 Manawatu Cup (2300m) and ninth in the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2400m) before his outstanding come-from-behind triumph in the Wellington Cup.
Trainers Peter and Shaun McKay picked out the Listed Kaimai Stakes (2000m) and Gr.1 Bonecrusher New Zealand Stakes (2000m) for Wolfgang’s next two assignments, running second and eighth, then took him back to his favourite track for Saturday’s St Leger success.
Wolfgang faced a small but high-quality field on Saturday, coming up against the likes of this season’s Gr.2 Auckland Cup (3200m) winner Trav, Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) winner Mehzebeen, $350,000 Remutaka Classic (2100m) winner Titicaca and multiple feature-race placegetter Final Return.
Jockey Joe Doyle settled Wolfgang in second-last as Final Return cruised around the Trentham circuit with an uncontested lead.
Final Return turned for home and produced a powerful kick, moving two lengths clear of the second-placed Mehzebeen. Wolfgang was still out the back of the field, more than half a dozen lengths off the lead.
Doyle moved Wolfgang through his gears and he began to eat into the margin out wide, but Final Return was still well clear. With time rapidly running out, it looked like he would remain out of Wolfgang’s reach.
That all changed in the last 50m. Wolfgang roared home down the outside, charging up alongside Final Return and Mehzebeen and snatching a thrilling win by a short head. Final Return took second, a head in front of Mehzebeen.
“He’s had a great season,” said Peter McKay, who also shares ownership with his wife Kim along with breeder Simms Davison. “I’m actually surprised he won the race today, because it looked like we were definitely second from where I was sitting.
“That was a huge run against a very strong field, with all those Cup winners. I’m very happy with that. He loves this track here at Trentham, he grows another leg here.
“He was up against really good horses in the Bonecrusher last start, but he just doesn’t have that same turn of foot going right-handed. I don’t know what it is. Shaun had warned me that it doesn’t suit him to race that way around. I tried to defy the odds, but he was right and I was wrong.
“This is a nice way to finish off his season. He’s come into this race as good as earlier in the season, still strong and happy, but he’ll definitely go out now.”
McKay is hoping to take Wolfgang back to Melbourne later in the year.
“We’ll hopefully get a couple of runs in New Zealand under his belt before heading back over,” he said. “We’d love to get him into one of those races, the Caulfield Cup (2400m) or the Melbourne Cup (3200m). I don’t usually like to run a horse in a race simply because they make it into the field, but the Melbourne Cup – if we can get in, we’re going.”
Wolfgang has now had 45 starts for eight wins, 11 placings and $647,667 in stakes. He has saved his best performances for Trentham, where his nine starts have produced three wins and four placings.
“He loves this place,” Doyle said. “The nice long straight gives him time to really get into gear and use his stride.
“We thought we had the quickest horse home today, so we were happy to go back in the running. There was a chance he might get a bit keen if we attempted to go forward. It worked out well.
“This is a fantastic training performance by Peter and Shaun McKay. He’s a fun horse and I’m really excited for next year with him. He’s going for a break now and he well deserves it.”
