It may not be the Cup target they were aiming for, but Wolfgang put himself firmly into Gr.3 Martin Collins New Zealand Cup (3200m) calculations following his victory in the SkyCity Hamilton Waikato Cup Prelude (2400m) at Te Rapa on Monday.
The son of Puccini was initially on a spring path towards the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m), however, those ambitions were shelved following three unplaced runs in Melbourne, and trainers Peter and Shaun McKay elected to bring him back to New Zealand and reassess his plans.
The father-and-son training partnership decided to head to Te Rapa on Labour Day with their gelding, with his performance dictating which path he took.
Wolfgang jumped well and was taken straight to the front by jockey Craig Grylls, who dictated terms throughout. He opened up several lengths on his rivals when turning for home and looked the winner a long way out, however, his rivals closed late, and he just managed to hold on to win by a long head over Quick Fire.
Shaun McKay was pleased to see Wolfgang back in winning form after a frustrating Melbourne campaign.
“He struck hard tracks (in Australia) and I think he has just been a bit careful on his feet,” McKay said. “We brought him back and reassessed things and it is good to have him back like that.
“You see it time and time again in those small fields, especially over in Aussie, when you get to the front and you get soft sectionals like that, they are hard to run down. Gryllsy rode him a masterpiece.”
The New Zealand Cup has now come back in the picture and McKay is keen to test him over the two-miles once more, a distance he remains undefeated over, having won his sole attempt over the trip in the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m) at Trentham in January.
“We took him out of the New Zealand Cup and we might have to renom him for it with a late entry,” McKay said.
“He is probably going to carry top weight in that, but he carried 61.5kg (today) and showed he can do it, so that might be his next target.”
Bred by Mapperley Stud, Wolfgang is raced by farm principal Simms Davison, in association with Peter McKay and his wife Kim.
He has now won nine of his 49 career starts to date, and has earned more than $675,000 in prizemoney.
It was a successful 24-hours for his dam Navy Beach, with his half-brother Sir Ruby becoming his sire, King of Comedy’s, first winner when scoring at Selangor Turf Club in Malaysia on Sunday. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
