Australian stallion Pariah is living up to his name across the Tasman, with the former Arrowfield Stud stallion set to have just his third New Zealand runner at Otaki on Wednesday.
Andersons Bay (Pariah) will make his debut in the Farmlands Otaki Maiden (1400m) for trainer Harvey Wilson, who came about the now four-year-old gelding through his association with leading jumps jockey turned trainer Shaun Phelan.
Purchased out of Riversley Park’s 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale draft for $160,000 as a Hong Kong prospect, Andersons Bay continued his early preparation with Jim Collett, but it soon became apparent that he didn’t fit the mould to send to the competitive racing jurisdiction.
He was subsequently sent to Phelan, who felt he was better placed with Wilson at his Waverley property.
“He is a big horse and I think they felt he was too big to go up there (Hong Kong), so he was offered to Shaun Phelan and he was redirected to us,” Wilson said. “We have had him for about 18 months now. He was very well educated, Jim Collett had done a great job.”
By a Group One performed sprinter, Andersons Bay was bred to thrive over shorter distances, but Wilson gets the feeling his gelding will be suited over more ground.
“He is a very nice moving horse and is a nice horse to ride. The Pariahs are sprinters, but he gives you the impression that he is a stayer. We will see what happens,” he said.
Andersons Bay takes winning trial form into Wednesday, having won his 1000m heat at Foxton last month, and Wilson is hoping the inclement weather doesn’t persist.
“We hope there isn’t too much rain because he would prefer a better track, but hopefully the track won’t be too bad,” he said.
“It was a good win at the trials. I don’t know how strong the field was, but he won, so that was the main thing.”
A noted trainer of jumpers, Wilson is unsure whether Andersons Bay will follow that path, but he said time will be the judge of that.
“We will see what happens. He is a big, leggy horse, but whether he is a jumping type I am not too sure, but you never know,” he said.
“He has done a little bit of playing around and popping over the odd jump, but nothing serious. We will play around with him and do a bit of jumping with him and see where we get.”
Meanwhile, Wilson has been pleased with the progress of his current two jumpers, Password (NZ) (Zed) and Aongatete Express (NZ) (Civics), and is hoping recent stable acquisition Mandalo (NZ) (Ekraar) will join them over the fences this season.
“We have got two and a half jumpers ready to go and five in work, so that keeps us busy,” Wilson said.
“We would hope to have Password and Aongatete Express ready for the early chases. They are both well. We will start off with the steeplechase at Te Rapa in early May and then if all goes well we would go to the Manawatu Chase at Wellington and take it as it comes. If things progress then we will go up, if they don’t go so well then we will go down.
“We have got another five-year-old called Mandalo that we hope to jump this year.”
While looking forward to the jumps season with his horses, Wilson said the lack of jumps jockeys is proving to be a big concern.
“There is a real shortage of jockeys for jumping, which is a big worry,” he said. “I think Paul Nelson (trainer) is bringing one over from the UK. It would be nice to think we would have one or two more come over, but we are a bit short on jockeys.”
