Nina Hope breaks training record with Rangiora win

With one harness racing milestone ticked off Nina Hope is now just one win away from another.

The Woodend-based trainer became the most successful female trainer ever in this country with Kowhai Summit’s upset win at Rangiora yesterday. That gave her 899 New Zealand wins, eclipsing the old mark set by Natalie Rasmussen, in partnership with Mark Purdon, between 2014 and 2021.

Yesterday Kowhai Summit started well in the Mainstreet Sports Bar Rangiora Trot before settling into the one-one for driver Henry Sail. Turning for home  they took some shortcuts along the inside before getting the perfect split between the pace-making Trans Tasman Bubble and Tessamae to get up on the line by a head.

“(Son) Ben tracks all the facts and figures so I knew I was close,” says Hope, “and to get there was pretty cool.”

All 899 wins have come in partnership with husband Greg Hope. Together they have had 6747 starters, their first winner together being Eyreton Bay at Marlborough in May 2001.

“It’s very much a team thing I haven’t done this on my own,” Nina says.

KOWHAI SUMMIT REPLAY

Other female trainers to have topped 500 winners are Catherine Butt, who’s trained 740 in partnership with husband David Butt, Michelle Wallis with 691 (323 on her account and 368 in partnership with husband Bernie Hackett), and Nicky Chilcott on 558.

In the last 20 or so years there have been so many highlights for the Hopes – but a few stand out for Nina.

“The Dominion quinella with Monbet and Quite The Moment was a pretty cool moment.”

In the country’s most prestigious trotting race only three quarters of a length separated Monbet, driven by Ricky May, and Quite A Moment, with the two stablemates five lengths clear of the rest.

Bred by the Hopes, Monbet won 23 from 37 and was voted New Zealand Horse of the Year in 2015/16.

These days fellow multiple Group 1 winner Muscle Mountain is the stable star.

“He’s special because I spend so much time with him.”

“You have different connections with different horses and you love them all but Jason Rulz had my heart,” she says.

Jason Rulz won 14 races in this country including back to back Central Otago Cups in 2014 and 2015.

Hope’s history-making training feat follows Sam Ottley’s record-breaking year as a driver in 2024. She became the first woman to rein 100 winners in a 12-month season and also become the first female driver in this country to go past 800 career wins.

Now Nina Hope is one away from 900 training successes, and that could come later this week with more of the team’s runners heading to the West Coast with Westport on Friday and Reefton on Sunday.

by Dave Di Somma, for Harness News Desk