Wins highlight loss of mare

Press, 3 April 1989, Page 28

Wins highlight loss of mare

By

David McCarthy

There was a bleaker side to the shining success of the half-brothers, Red Back and The Snob, at the Canterbury Jockey Club’s meeting on Saturday, one felt keenly by Steven Hurst, a part-owner of the latter and a previous owner of the former.

Hurst and his partner, Peter McKenzie lost the dam of both horses, Formcast, last week at the age of 12 years.

Formcast suffered a back injury at the Galaxy Stud, near Levin, operated by Mr McKenzie and had to be put down. She has a weanling colt by Mr Illusion and was in foal to Tom’s Shu at the time of her death. Messrs Hurst and McKenzie have no filly to carry on the line, though two of the mare’s earlier foals were fillies and are owned by Paritai Stud manager, Rod Fulton.

Fulton imported Formcast for a syndicate which included the New Zealand cricket captain, John Wright. Formcast is a granddaughter of the great race filly, Meld, the dam of Mellay, and her dam, the stakes-winning Canasta Girl, Meld’s best performed daughter, was a half-sister to the 1966 English Derby winner Charlottown. Red Back which Mr Hurst and his partner, Mr Bob Kyle, sold to Dave Kerr as a youngster has now won four of his eight starts and Saturday’s win was achieved in his usual dashing fashion of running straight to the front and dictating the terms. Saturday’s win did not have the ease of his effort on the second day of the meeting on Wednesday but suggested he will be hard to beat in the Countdown Foodmarket Stakes, the $30,000 South Island Three-Year-Old Final at Wingatui on Anzac Day. The Snob gave the Kerr stable, and Lorna Cook, their second win when he outfinished Buller Bay and Summer Express in the Metropolitan Handicap. The Snob has also done well in a light career, Saturday’s win being his fourth from 12 starts. His two earlier runs on the present campaign had not reached great heights but both had been over less ground.

The Kerr stable lined up the most runners they have fielded in one day’s racing and had most satisfactory results from seven starters. Time Flies went an outstanding race in the Meadow Mushrooms Stakes looking a likely winner inside the 100 m peg before being swamped with late claims. He is to be put aside now until the spring. Wessex managed fifth in the Tasman after meeting trouble in the running while The Cantabrian was a bold second in the same race. The Kerrs are threatening to dislodge Paddy Busuttin from his perch as the leading Riccarton trainer this season even though their resources will be limited in terms of numbers for the rest of the season.

Busuttin experienced a lean spell on the current trip and with 18 wins is just two ahead of the Kerrs, the leading trainers on averages in New Zealand this season.