Change of plan for Martinet?

Press, 19 December 1989, Page 37

Change of plan for Martinet?

By

DAVID MCCARTHY

Martinet, the Air New Zealand Hazlett Stakes winner nobody wanted as a three-year-old, may be set for the Kumara Gold Nuggets instead of the Timaru Cup next week. Trainer Roydon Bergerson said the Marceau mare has come through Saturday’s race in good order. Martinet is a successful, if fortuitous, entry into racing for the Wairio Syndicate, a 12-strong band comprising the executive of the Wairio Jockey Club and secretary Hilary Sutherland. Bergerson recalled when he brought Martinet south with him last year there were no takers to lease the mare from owner Arthur Williams, with whom Bergerson had previously been employed. “About a week befpre she went to the races there was still nobody signed up for her,” he said.

Bergerson had handled a horse for the Wairio Syndicate which had not measured up. Syndicate leader John Carran asked him to find another and was happy enough to take Martinet. The mare, one of five bought at a Ready to Run Sale at Te Rapa by Mr Williams, cost $30,000 and has now won nearly $45,000. The syndicate’s lease expires at the end of this season, but is expected to be renewed. Her dam, On Looker, is a half-sister to the wellperformed Assessed, which numbered a Queen Elizabeth (now Jaguar) Handicap among his wins, and Joyita, winner of 11 in Australia and second to Belmura Lad in the 1979 Doncaster Handicap. Martinet showed early promise for Bergerson when he trained in the north, but broke a bone in the wither as a spring three-year-old and had to be put aside. “I jumped her out of the gates twice early on and she showed plenty of speed,” he said. While several who turned down the chance to take the lease on Martinet can only reflect on the fortunes of racing, Bergerson is addressing long term goals, which could include the Winter Cup at Riccarton next August.