Classy sprinter Wewillrock (NZ) (El Roca) was a winner and black-type placegetter in Sydney last winter, and a return to Australia is looming large on his horizon after an easy win in Saturday’s Carpet Maintenance & Cleaning (1200m) at Wanganui.
The well-performed El Roca gelding was sent out as a $2.60 favourite for the sprint feature and lived right up to those high expectations, leading all the way and kicking away from his outclassed opponents down the straight to win by three lengths.
“That puts a bit of pressure on now,” said Leah Zydenbos, who trains in partnership with Guy Lowry. “We love supporting New Zealand racing and so do the owners, but there’s some good money available in Australia coming up, so we’ve got some thinking to do. There are a few suitable races coming up in Sydney in about three or four weeks’ time.”
Wewillrock was a multiple stakes placegetter as a three-year-old in the Gr.3 Almanzor Trophy (1200m) and Gr.3 Cambridge Breeders’ Stakes (1200m), then headed to Australia around this time last year and recorded a second at Rosehill, third in the Listed June Stakes (1100m) at Randwick and a win in a Benchmark 88 handicap at Randwick in July.
Unplaced in the Gr.2 Foxbridge Plate (1200m) and Listed Lightning Handicap (1200m) in the first two appearances of his five-year-old season, he showed more promising signs with a second in the Listed City of Napier Sprint (1200m) at Otaki on April 13. At Wanganui two weeks later, he was right back on the top of his game.
“It’s just great to see a good horse like him back to his best,” Zydenbos said. “He can sometimes take a while to get fit, but when he’s on his game, he’s really on.”
Wewillrock carried 60kg on Saturday and was ridden by Jonathan Riddell, who has now guided him to three wins and three placings from eight rides.
“He’s a fair animal and one of my favourites,” Riddell said. “He’s a better horse than what he was racing against today, so it was good to get the result.
“I think Guy might have liked me to take a sit today, but he’s a pretty competitive horse and I would have had to hold him back to do that. I also might have ended up stuck behind another horse coming back in my face.
“He was travelling well all the way, and I was just hoping staying inside was the right move. He kicked strongly.”
