\n Withdrawn: Grand National winner Captain\u2019s
\n Run was scratched on Saturday.\n <\/p>\n
Trainer-jockey Shaun Fannin is adamant favourite Jesko will handle the extreme 6200m distance of today\u2019s first running of the Great New Zealand Steeplechase.<\/p>\n
The race, formerly known as the Great Northern, is the longest held here and after Jesko was beaten in the 5600m Grand National two starts ago, there will be some punters who question whether the extra 600m today aids his chances. <\/p>\n
Fannin, who trains Jesko and race rival Fourty Eight with his wife Hazel, has no concerns over the trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gives me the feeling he will stay all day,\u201d Fannin told the Herald.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he had a few things against him in the National.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a less than ideal build-up week and the track was very heavy then he got taken on in the running. So to hang on for second was a good effort.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fannin says the improving track at Te Aroha today, which could even get into the Soft 7 range if there isn\u2019t rain, will also help Jesko.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe better track will suit him because he has good leg speed and also because he has got up in the weights so quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has 70kg now and I\u2019d rather he carries that on a better track than a bog.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesko\u2019s cause has also been aided by the scratching of his Grand National conqueror Captain\u2019s Run.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe more or less sprained a fetlock by shying at something in track work,\u201d says his trainer Dan O\u2019Leary.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe should know better at his age but he has always done it and always will.\u201d<\/p>\n
That leaves O\u2019Leary with 2021 Great Northern winner Te Kahu as his sole rep in today\u2019s ultimate staying test and he says the veteran has something going for him others don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of horses can run 4000m but that is it, plenty don\u2019t want to run 6200m,\u201d says O\u2019Leary.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know our horse can do it because he has before so he has to have some sort of chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the track continues to improve, Nedwin will give trainers Paul Nelson and Corrina McDougal a wonderful chance of completing the Great New Zealand double after they claimed the GNZ Hurdle on Friday with Taika.<\/p>\n
Nedwin may have won 12 races on really heavy tracks, including the Pakuranga Hunt Cup at Te Aroha in a bog last start, but he has been very proficient on soft-range tracks in the past year.<\/p>\n
He won the season-opening steeplechase at Te Rapa on a Soft 6 in May and did likewise in the Great Northern Hurdle two years ago on a Soft 5.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the track keeps drying out a bit it won\u2019t bother him,\u201d says Nelson, who has had to miss the first Great New Zealand carnival after undergoing a knee operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has retained some of his flat ability and he obviously won the Pakuranga Hunt last start here so we give him a good chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leitrim Lad, Run Jaccko Run and Fannin\u2019s second-stringer Fourty Eight add depth to the first running of the Great New Zealand, but Jesko still looks the class act, while Nedwin appeals as the best each-way bet.<\/p>\n
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald\u2019s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world\u2019s biggest horse racing carnivals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Withdrawn: Grand National winner Captain\u2019s Run was scratched on Saturday. Trainer-jockey Shaun Fannin is adamant favourite Jesko will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[18773,68820,4809,68819,68821,9099,68818,20646,8664,3004,101,28258,17833,56,54,55,11552],"class_list":["post-149652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-be","tag-boosted","tag-by","tag-chances","tag-drying","tag-great","tag-jeskos","tag-may","tag-nz","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-steeplechase","tag-track","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}