Azawary’s Cup win completes great Sydney carnival for N.Z.

Press, 19 April 1982, Page 28

Azawary’s Cup win completes great Sydney carnival for N.Z.

NZPA staff correspondent Sydney Sydney's autumn racing carnival proved a boon for New Zealand horses which raced away with more than half a million dollars in prize money. The New Zealand success was capped on Saturday when Azawary, which eight months ago had never won a race, romped home for a two and three-quarter lengths win in the $150,000 Sydney Cup at Randwick. For the winning jockey, Nigel Tiley, aged 22, it was a dream come true. He arrived in Sydney two weeks back to ride Prince Majestic in just one race' — the H. E. Tancred Stakes. The Takanini jockey had enough clothes to last only the four days he expected to be in Sydney. . But instead he stayed two weeks and rode five outstanding winners. Prince Majestic in the Tancred and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the. classy mare. Gold Hope, in the Doncaster Handicap and All Aged Stakes and then late last week gained the mount on Azawary and brought the five-year-old gelding in to victory in the Cup. “It’s unreal. When the luck's with you I suppose anything can happen,” he said after the Sydney Cup win. For Alan Jones, who trained Azawary and -the fourth placed Chimbu, it was a case of eating humble pie. "Azawary had 23 trials before he ran a race and 23 starts before he won. I had told his owners he was no

good and to get rid of him. He would have had to be the worst horse racing,” said Jones. But last September Azawary, owned by the Kinross Stud Syndicate, started to come right and won seven races in the season, as well as being runner-up to Ruanuku in the Wellington Cup at Trentham. “Now everyone in New Zealand will be hanging onto their scrubbers hoping they're going to turn into an Azawary,” Jones joked after the win. He said that Chimbu, the 3-to-l favourite, had an unlucky race and was still the belter horse. Chimbu, ridden by Philip Aiderman, had been at the back of the field for most of the distance but got up from being fourteenth at the turn to run a close fourth to third place-getter, World Vision. Once again the New Zea-land-bred horses dominated over the two miles and in Saturday's Sydney Cup, took the first four placings. Azawary, an Azemann gelding, was followed in by Allez Bijou (Noble Bijou — Time Lass), the Bart Cumm-ings-trained World Vision (Zamazaan — Conmara Queen) and then Chimbu (Head Hunter — Topaz). Tiley, who picked up the ride on Azawary after Ron Quinton asked to be allowed to be switched to Our Planet, said he had to sweat about 2.5 kilos in the night and morning before the race to get his weight down. He said he had a “dream run” behind the experienced Roy Higgins on Allez Bijou.

“And you can’t do better than to trail Roy Higgins,” he said. About 200 m out he got the break and rode Azawary through for her easy victory. It was the culmination of a great autumn carnival for the New Zealand horses which started their streak when the unlucky McGinty won the $25,000' Todman Slipper Trial. McGinty beat the eventual Golden Slipper winner Marscay but then went lame, losing the opportunity to be the first New Zealand horse in the 25-year-old history of the race to win the $250,000 sprint for two-year-olds. Then Isle of Man recorded his first-up Australian win in the $125,000 Rosehill Guineas and was followed over the next weeks by Sean's Pride taking out the $25,000 N. E. Manion Cup (2400 m Prince Majestic the $200,000 H. E. Tancred Stakes (2400 m and $50,000 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000 m Gold Hope, the $125,000 Doncaster Handicap (1600 m and $50,000 All Aged Stakes (1600 m and Azawary the Sydney Cup. In all, the winners’ stakes totalled $486,600 and with other placings, have exceeded half a million Australian dollars. The biggest beneficiary of this was the Takanini trainer, Ray Verner, who brought $277,000 for his stable after the wins of Prince Majestic and Gold Hope. Both Verner and Alan Jones look forward to more racing in Australia. Verner intends to take Givenchy to Melbourne in ■

the spring; Jones said that Azawary would be going to Adelaide and the trainer, Philip Read, to be prepared for the 3200 m Adelaide Cup in May. The Adelaide Cup was won last year. by Just a Dash, which went on to win the Melbourne Cup in the spring. Jones also had his eyes on the Brisbane winter racing for Azawary and possibly Chimbu. PA Wellington (T.A;B. code: RC) SYDNEY CUP, $150,000; 3200 m. 4-3 AZAWARY (6) 51 N. Tiley. . 1 2- ALLEZ BIJOU (1) 55.5 R. Higgins ....... 2 3- WORLD VISION (9) 49.5 J. Mar5ha11....... 3 Others in finishing order: 1-1 Chimbu. 6-6 Our Planet, 12-12 Granite King, 18-17 Bay Legend. 10-9 Noble Comment. 11-10 High Drifter, 8-8 Sean's Pride, 17-18 Le Galleon, 9-11 Mr Digby. 7-7 Bianco Lady, 15-16 Mother Courage, 14-14 Whisky, 16-15 Pavillion, 5-5 Rama, 13-13 Marlborough. 2 3 /i len, I’-i len. Time: 3:22.8. Win: $10.25. Places: $2.65, $1.75, $2.80. Quinella: $22.80.