Central Districts-based jockey Portia Matthews got her jumps season off to the perfect start with a winning double at Hawera on Sunday.
In the first on the card, Matthews reunited with talented hurdler Harry Harrison (NZ) (Haradasun) who was aiming to extend his three-race winning streak over the fences, and the compact gelding started a $2.00 tote-favourite ahead of Kevin Myers’ trio headed by Lochwinnoch at $2.80.
The eight-year-old son of Haradasun was fresh-up at the races since early October, but showed that he meant business from the jump, flying over the first fence and swiftly developing a healthy lead over Lochwinnoch and Sweet Taboo.
Matthews eased the tempo aboard Harry Harrison heading down the back straight and Lochwinnoch began to chase turning for home, but the favourite never looked in doubt as he stormed clear to take out the Chillco (2850m) by three lengths.
Gail Temperton, who trains the gelding out of her Foxton base, was delighted with the performance.
“We don’t give instructions to Portia, we take them from Harry and he loves to be out there. He really enjoys his jumping so he just looks for the next fence,” Temperton said.
Matthews was aboard Harry Harrison at his maiden hurdle victory last year, and had been involved with his preparation leading into the new season.
“I’m very happy with him, I keep in contact with Gail a lot, and I’ve done the schooling for her coming into this race and last year,” Matthews said.
“We knew he was going to be a little bit short today being fresh-up, and when I pulled up he didn’t recover quite as quickly as I’m used to, but with the shorter distance, he was able to get the job done.
“Harry doesn’t ride very small despite his size, he has the same-sized girth as a normal horse and he’s so brave. He’s got great owners and Gail knows her horses very well.”
Matthews was back in the winner’s circle in the following race, after picking up a late ride aboard the Kevin Myers-trained Afterallthistime (Deep Field) in the First Aluminium Hawera (3050m).
“That was a funny story, I was originally on my bosses (Mark Oulaghan’s) horse Super Spirit but he scratched all of the horses today, so in true Kevin fashion, he popped me onto one of his last minute without really letting me know,” she said.
“That was fine though, I got hold of him and had a chat about the horse, he’s a lovely big type of jumper and Kevin’s instructions were to let the others go forward and just finish him off at the end.”
The late call-up proved a successful one, with Matthews following the Wanganui horseman’s instructions to the letter, settling back in the five-horse field throughout the open steeplechase event while the well-performed Torque Time controlled the tempo.
Turning for home, the Deep Field seven-year-old loomed up to Torque Time, and showed a strong kick to score by three-quarters of a length, justifying the strong surge in betting late that had him equal-favourite stablemate Hey Happy.
“I managed to get the tidy inside run when everyone made a move, and he seemed to pick them up in two strides,” Matthews said.
The victory was Afterallthistime’s second in an 11-start career, adding to his impressive maiden win during National Week in Christchurch last season, bringing his earnings to $38,920.
Heading towards bigger races in the coming months, Matthews is looking forward to last season’s Grand National Hurdles (4200m) winner Berry The Cash (NZ) (Jakkalberry) kicking off his campaign in the Manawatu Hurdles (2800m) next month.
“Berry The Cash is looking to do a similar course of action as West Coast last year but just over the hurdles, both of those will be aiming for the Manawatu features as they are more heavy track horses and were never going to be aimed for something so early as today,” she said.
“We (Oulaghan’s stable) have a couple of nice maiden chasers and I really rate both of them, Kentucky Boy has been a bit immature in the brain but he seems to be going a lot better this year.
“I’m hoping to improve myself as much as I can this season to be the best rider that I can. I have Buddy Lammas helping me every week, being a Group One jockey at one stage, as well as winning a lot of jumps races, he is a huge help and he’s improved my riding out of sight.”
