Invercargill’s Ascot Park may have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in recent years but there is no doubt that the Southland Racing Club Committee deserve great credit for fixing their distinctively-shaped piece of real estate.
It’s hard to believe that a 17.1 hand thoroughbred could navigate his way around such a tight course in record time but that’s exactly what happened on Saturday. The giant son of St Reims La Nouvelle Vague outfinished the gallant Oor Wullie by three-quarters of a length in an impressive 2:39.67, beating Sea Swift’s 1986 mark of 2:40.51 by some 0.84 seconds. It’s also worth noting that La Nouvelle Vague’s impost of 57 kg was 6kg more than the weight carried by the previous record holder.
What’s really remarkable is that I can find no record of any other thoroughbred in Australia or New Zealand breaking the 2:40 barrier. The distance is not uncommon at Randwick in Sydney; the record there was set by Balciano in the Group 1 Metropolitan H. in 1987 when he carried 50.5 kg to finish in 2:40.8.
La Nouvelle Vague doesn’t look very fast but he has a huge stride and considerable reserves of stamina. He also has that wonderful quality in a racehorse – an aversion to getting beaten. Leah Hemi again rode him superbly, ensuring that he never lost momentum and getting him into a position to win the $40,000 feature. The grandson of Zabeel has not always been the easiest horse to train but Graham and Michael Eade must be well pleased that their efforts have been well rewarded over the last fortnight.
Now we have a problem which many owners would envy. What do we aim at now? Do we chase the New Zealand two-mile Cups or do we have a crack over the Tasman?
