Malcolm Hill rolled the dice when lining up Guessing Game (NZ) (Derryn) at Awapuni’s synthetic meeting on Friday and it proved a fruitful decision for the Wanganui trainer.
It was the first time the homebred gelding had been on the surface and it proved to his liking, scoring a three-quarter length victory after being posted three-wide throughout.
“It was a tough run. He got caught three deep the whole trip and kept on kicking. It showed that he has a bit of ticker,” said Hill, who bred and owns the four-year-old.
Hill was weighing up between heading to the trials or racing on the polytrack with Guessing Game, and he is pleased he chose the latter.
“He’s not really handling the wet tracks. I either had to go back to the trials and try and get some points or head to the synthetic,” he said.
“I wouldn’t call him a synthetic horse, but in saying that, I have had some problems with his shins and that is why I have been going on these wetter tracks, just to get a bit of racing into him.
“I was pretty confident of a top four finish. He will now be put aside until the tracks get a bit better.
“He is probably better on the grass on top of the ground.”
Hill was thrilled to get the win with his homebred and he is looking forward to having his siblings through his barn in years to come.
“I bought the mare (dam) off gavelhouse in-foal to this bloke (Derryn, sire) and I have a couple of foals out of her by Unusual Suspect,” Hill said.
“I asked Nigel Auret (for advice on buying a mare) because I was keen to send a mare to Unusual Suspect and he gave me an idea of what I should be looking for and I bought this mare.
“She is a lovely mare and has left nice foals, so it is all working out well.”
A former jockey, Hill spent plenty of time overseas before returning to New Zealand a few years ago to spend more time with his parents, and he is enjoying working a few horses around his job as track curator at Wanganui Racecourse.
“I started off as a kid here in Wanganui before I went up north and did my apprenticeship with Graeme Sanders,” Hill said.
“When I finished my apprenticeship, I did a lot of travelling and spent a lot of time in Australia, England and Japan.
“I did a bit of truck driving along the way, but I was always around horses, riding track work. I did a bit of training in Australia for a few years as an owner-trainer and had a few wins in the country in New South Wales.”
Hill said he particularly enjoyed his time in England and Japan.
“The last time I was in England I worked in a jumping yard which had about 180 jumpers, that was a real eye-opener,” he said.
“Japan was interesting. Foreigners could only work in the pre-training and breaking in side of it over there. The culture shock was the biggest thing. I was up in Hokkaido where it gets down to -17 degrees in winter time, which is about six months of the year by the time it thaws. But it was a good experience.”
Now back in New Zealand, Hill has been enjoying working a couple of horses and even returned to the jockey ranks for a couple of years, but he said his riding days are now behind him.
“I am a hobbyist. My folks were getting on a bit so I am just helping them out and enjoying life. I work at the racecourse and do a few horses of my own,” he said.
“I didn’t ride for many years but when I came back and had a handy horse I thought I would give it a crack. I rode him at Tauherenikau about three of four years ago. I then put weight on again and decided to have a crack at the amateurs.
“I must have had eight or 10 rides in the amateurs and had a bit of fun, but I think those days are behind me now, I am busy enough with my few horses and a full-time job.”
