Hasstobeawinner has often played the bridesmaid role in his career, but on Boxing Day at Ellerslie, he chose the right time to live up to his name, storming home to take out the Stella Artois 1500 Championship Final.
In 17 starts prior to Thursday’s contest, Hasstobeawinner had only won one race, but had finished in the first three on 10 occasions, including a narrow second to Wallen in the $350,000 Sir Patrick Hogan Karapiro Classic (1600m).
His consistency continued this term as a five-year-old, recording two placings before tackling the $110,000 special conditions contest, which in recent years, has been a launchpad for subsequent Group winners Bankers Choice, Habana and this year’s Gr.1 Cambridge Stud Zabeel Classic (2000m) winner Snazzytavi.
In an even betting contest, Bourbon Empress closed favourite at $4.50 ahead of Subtle Power ($6.50), with Hasstobeawinner among the fancied runners at $10. The gelding jumped positively from barrier 10, with jockey George Rooke making use of his early speed and eventually found a tidy position one-off the fence in fifth.
Sinhaman was the pacemaker throughout and was tackled by Subtle Power at the top of the straight, before Hasstobeawinner came charging down the centre of the track, taking over at the 200m and holding off Bourbon Empress and Francee to take the feature by three-quarters of a length.
The son of Vadamos is trained by Roger James and Robert Wellwood, and the latter had plenty of praise for both horse and jockey after the victory
“He’s been a very honest horse, he’s been knocking on the door and has run a lot of placings,” Wellwood said. “Everything worked out for him yesterday, he was very strong through the line.
“I thought it was a super ride by George, there was nice pace in the race and he was able to relax. He presented him at a good time, last time he perhaps got to the front a bit early but he’s worked out the horse and it was perfect.
“He comes and rides work for us at least once a week and putting in the hard yards, he’s riding very well.
“There are plenty of options for the horse now, we’ll see how he comes through it and make a bit of a plan for the rest of the summer period.”
Bred by Colin and Irene Thompson, Hasstobeawinner was purchased out of the draft of Rich Hill Stud at the 2021 Karaka Yearling Sales by bloodstock agent Robt Dawe for just $45,000. He is raced by the Hassall Family Trust, of whom he has now earned just shy of $190,000 for.
His dam Keepereel was a winner of seven races, and as a broodmare, she also has produced He’s Got Power, who won 10 races and placed at Group Three level.
Wellwood was also more than pleased with the performance of stablemate Irish Legacy, who went down in a tight finish to Grande Gallo in the SkyCity Fireworks 1200.
“She put in another great run, she probably just needed to be clear 50m earlier and the result may have been different, but the run was still very good,” he said.
“It was just the bob of a head deciding the result, but she’s absolutely flying and I think as we go further to 1400 and a mile, we’re going to see even more.” – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
