Trainer Tony Pike doesn’t have a large number of horses operating from his Cambridge base during the winter but he still managed to put together a winning double at Te Rapa on Saturday.
Pike took out the fourth race on the card over 2100m with true blue winter galloper Miss Onaki (NZ) (Power) and also collected the feature race, the UBP Te Awamutu Cup (1600m), with consistent seven-year-old River Run (NZ) (Pour Moi).
Pike had been expecting to see four-year-old mare Miss Onaki put in a good performance as she thrives on deep winter footing and he wasn’t disappointed with the daughter of Power who showed remarkable tenacity to fight off all challengers in the home straight for rider Michael McNab.
“I had been expecting to see her somewhere thereabouts as the writing had been on the wall with her last couple of starts,” Pike said.
“She just needed to get a loose winter track and get over a little bit of distance and she had those factors in her favour today.
“It was a good tough effort as she over-raced a little and was in front a long way from home but Michael kept her going well and she did the job nicely in the end.
“I think she can go on with it now with the tracks being pretty deep for the next couple of months and I would hope we can take her through the grades.”
Pike was also pleased to see veteran galloper River Run add another victory to his record on a track that he has a real affinity for.
“He always seems to go well at Te Rapa and he stripped a lot fitter after his first two starts in this prep,” he said.
“He never seems to go a bad race and is always thereabouts, so we were hoping for a forward showing.
“He finished fifth in the Waikato Cup (Gr.3, 2400m) here in the summer so he has a touch of quality about him and that showed in the closing stages today as he kept finding the line well and managed to get over the top of them.
“We will just poke along through the winter with him and see if we can keep picking up some decent cheques where we can.”
Pike is also looking forward to the return of a number of his promising younger gallopers as they begin their preparations for the spring.
“Most of our spring horses are back in the stable now and are working along slowly in their build-ups,” he said.
“We have some very exciting rising three-year-olds in the team and I can’t wait to see how they progress over the next couple of months.
“While it may be wet and cold at present it is still an exciting time to have these horses back in work with the promise they hold.”
