Hazer wins Cup

Eight year old Hazer (Auckland Reactor) scored an upset win in the $20,000 Tuapeka Lodge Cup at the Tuapeka Harness Racing Club’s meeting at Ascot Park Invercargill today (Oct. 22).

Initially raced by the Dolomite Syndicate who bred him, Hazer commenced his racing career with Ryal Bush trainer Brett Gray and won his first race for that stable in June 2019. In total he had eighteen starts with Gray before he moved on.

“We got him after the first Covid lockdown. He’d had a few starts for the syndicate and B Gray (Brett Gray) rang me up and said he had a horse for me. I said I didn’t want him because I had a few horses at home. I thought I was going to end up in trouble if another horse arrived, but I ended up taking him,” trainer Chris Gerken said.

Chris’s wife Sonya was given the task of forming a syndicate around their four daughters and their partners and the aptly named Nickels For Pickles Syndicate was formed, made up of Hayley and Graham in Christchurch, Tarryn and Chris in London, Kelly and Callum from Gore and Mallory in London.

After beginning well in today’s 2700 metre feature, driver Kerryn Tomlinson took Hazer straight to the lead. With 1700 metres to run Mark Hurrell sent Robyns Playboy (Shadow Play) forward to take up the running.

Robyns Playboy straightened up with a narrow lead and Tomlinson took the passing lane. In a busy finish Hazer just got there by a nose from a brave Miki Knows (Always B Miki) who sat parked for most of the trip, with a neck back to Wattlebank Arnie (Bettor’s Delight) in third. Robyns Playboy was a head back in fourth and an unlucky Nutcracker (Bettor’s Delight) was fifth.

HAZER REPLAY

“I was nervous for that last fifty metres. I thought we might have got rolled.”

Hazer has operated out of Chris’s Gore stable and the Canterbury barn of Ken Ford and Amanda Tomlinson for the past few seasons.

“He was going good over winter last year with Amanda and Ken and then he got a real bad quarter crack just after the Cup meeting last year so we turned him out for four months.”

The gelding has now won ten races, three this season. Six of his wins have been for Sheree Tomlinson, and one each for Kerryn Tomlinson, Brent Barclay, Tom Nally and Nathan Williamson.

Today’s win was the biggest in his five seasons of racing.

“The win buggered my whole plan. I was hoping to take him to Cup week and race him in the South of the Waitaki. I’m going to have to rethink things now. I’d like to keep him to stands. This time in he’s a bit quieter behind the mobile but it can still fizz him up a bit.”

Today’s win was Hazer’s seventh from the standing start and Gerken says the horse will now be set for the Country Cups races over summer.

“He was looking great and worked good during the week and I just hoped he’d front up against the better horses.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink