Cambridge trainer Shaun Phelan took special satisfaction from an all-the-way win by Pacheco in the $60,000 Poverty Bay Turf Club Cup (2600m) at Taupo on Friday.
The Rating 75 staying test was the fifth start in a new campaign for the Makfi gelding, who had recorded a second and two thirds from his first four starts this time in.
Before finishing third in his resuming run over 1600m at Te Rapa in early August, Pacheco had spent more than a year on the sidelines with a serious injury.
“He’s a horse that we’ve always thought a lot of, both on the flat and over jumps,” Phelan said. “We gave him his first two starts over hurdles in July of last year and managed to win them both, but then he actually fractured a fetlock.
“The owners have been really patient and the horse has done a great job to come back as well as he has. It’s a big thrill to get this result with him today.”
Pacheco was given a perfect ride by two-kilogram claimer Liam Kauri, who dictated terms out in front and gave the eight-year-old a relatively easy time through the first half of the race.
The intensity moved up a few notches when Golden came up to breathe down his neck coming down the side of the track, but Pacheco withstood the pressure.
He kicked hard at the home turn and held the challengers at bay all the way down the straight, going on to win by a length and a quarter. Novak got up into second in a tight four-way finish, with a head to Golden, a nose to Tempest Moon and another head to I’m A Dirty Rascal.
“It was a beautiful ride and a good, tough effort by the horse,” Phelan said. “It’s great to have a race for a $60,000 stake in this grade, and up over 2600m too – that distance suited him a lot better than the 2000m to 2200m races he often has to run in. I’d love to see a few more races like this one in the schedule.”
Pacheco was bought by part-owner Thomas Nicholson for $10,000 off Gavelhouse.com as an unraced three-year-old in February of 2021. He has now had 30 starts for six wins, nine placings and $156,975 in stakes.
Phelan already has one leading contender for next month’s Gr.3 New Zealand Cup (3200m) in the form of Notabadspillane, who has been an impressive winner of his last two starts at Te Rapa. But the trainer is non-committal about following a similar path with Pacheco, who has moved up to $21 in the fixed-odds market for the Riccarton feature.
“In some ways I’d like to get him down there for the Cup, but he’s not the best traveller in the truck,” Phelan said. “We’ll see how he comes through this and come up with a plan. There could be a few other options that we could consider.”
The Poverty Bay Turf Club Cup was the first leg of the inaugural Prezzy Card Northern Country Cups Bonus Series, which carries a total of $485,000 in stakes and bonuses including a $50,000 winner-takes-all prize.
The new initiative from New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing (NZTR) and the Taupo Racing Club will see seven Country Cups staged across the North Island from October to December, with horses earning points for top-four finishes and required to contest at least three races, including the $100,000 Harcourts Taupo Cup (2000m).
Sponsored by leading prepaid gift provider Prezzy Card, the series is designed to encourage participation, create a competitive narrative between regional racedays, and culminate in a high-stakes finale on Harcourts Taupo Cup Day on December 28. The Harcourts Taupo Cup itself has received a $15,000 stakes uplift from last season.
The remaining legs of the series are the $80,000 Listed Team Wealleans Matamata Cup (1600m) at Matamata on October 15, the $50,000 Wanganui Steelformers Waverley Cup (2200m) at Waverley on October 19, the $80,000 Mode Technology Feilding Cup (2100m) at Tauherenikau on November 1, the $35,000 DMAK Electrical Waipukurau Cup (2100m) at Waipukurau on November 16, the $30,000 Duncan Dental Tauranga Twilight Cup (2100m) at Tauranga on December 12, and the $100,000 Harcourts Taupo Cup (2000m) at Taupo on December 28. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
