A stunning come-from-behind performance carried Lord Spencer (NZ) (Zed) to a Peter Kelly – Bayleys Great Northern Hurdle (4200m) upset at Te Rapa on Sunday, handing trainer JJ Rayner and jockey Lemmy Douglas their biggest moments in jumps racing.
The seven-year-old Zed gelding flew under the radar into the $150,000 feature, stepping out as a $28.60 outsider against a star-studded field.
Lord Spencer had only one previous win to his name from 13 starts over hurdles, although he has made a habit this year of chasing home New Zealand’s benchmark hurdler Berry The Cash. He ran second to him in the Awapuni Hurdle (3000m), then third in the Waikato Hurdle (3200m), fourth in the Hawke’s Bay Hurdle (3100m), second in the Sydenham Hurdle (3100m) and fourth in the Grand National Hurdle (4200m).
Victories in all of those races earned Berry The Cash red-hot favouritism for Sunday’s Great Northern, but the race was turned on its head at around the halfway point. As the field made its way down the Te Rapa home straight for the second time, Invisible Spirit fell directly in front of Berry The Cash and the superstar hurdler was brought down. In the blink of an eye, Berry The Cash’s six-race winning streak was snapped, and the 2024 edition of the Great Northern was thrown wide open.
But even then, Lord Spencer’s chances looked remote. He was second-last turning into the back straight for the final time, and he dropped further and further behind as the speed cranked up.
Mont Ventoux, Taika and Nedwin all surged forward to take their shots at Great Northern glory, stringing the field right out and leaving Lord Spencer languishing a long way behind them.
Douglas began to move Lord Spencer through his gears coming down the side of the track, but he still had more than a dozen lengths to make up as Mont Ventoux charged towards the home turn with a clear lead.
Mont Ventoux showed no sign of slowing down in the straight, shaking off the challenges of Taika, Nedwin and Mugshot early in the run home.
But then Lord Spencer launched a barely believable finish through the final 400m of the 4200m marathon, gobbling up an eight-length deficit and meeting Mont Ventoux at the final hurdle. He took command 75m from the finish and bounded away to win by four and a quarter lengths.
Lord Spencer’s 36-start career has now produced three wins, 11 placings and $177,080 in stakes.
“I can’t speak,” said Rayner, who trained in partnership with her father Evan until his retirement during the 2018-19 season.
“It means so much. I’m so grateful to the owners for trusting me with this horse. Mum and Dad will be watching at home, and it’s just awesome.
“Lemmy gave the horse a great ride. It was a shame to see the other two fall, you don’t really want to win like that, but I’m just so proud of the horse.”
It was an equally special moment for Douglas, who started out as a jumps jockey when he arrived in New Zealand from England in 2018 but has since switched to predominantly riding on the flat.
“This is everything jockeys dream of,” the 30-year-old said. “I’ve come and gone from jumps riding a little bit, but I came to New Zealand to be a jumps jockey all those years ago, so this is the highlight of my career.
“It was a great performance from the horse. He always hits a bit of a flat spot in his races, but he just grabbed the bit coming up to the home turn. I just had to keep him on his feet from there.
“I was confident the horse could do it, but he can be a bit of a tricky horse sometimes and he just had to turn up on the day. He did that.”
Invisible Spirit and Berry The Cash, and their jockeys Stephan Karnicnik and Portia Matthews, escaped injury in their mid-race fall.
