Waipukurau stayer Tukituki (NZ) (Complacent) holds a particularly special place in the heart of trainer Carl Taylor, who is hoping his run of success can continue at Tauherenikau on Saturday.
A builder by trade, Taylor has had off-and-on involvement in the racing industry for many years, having trained his first winner back in 2006 before taking time away from training for over a decade.
“I’m a builder, that’s my main job, so I just work my horse and go to work,” he said.
“I went to pony club, did some showjumping, a bit of hunting, all of those things when I was young. I went overseas for a long time and when I came back my Dad was keen to get a racehorse and I started to ride it, so that’s basically how it started.
“My grandfather was into racing as well and the black and gold-circle colours I use are his colours.
“From there you just get another one and another one, and then I gave it up for about 10 years.”
Through this period, he raced a Zed mare called Zinika, who was successful once over a mile before retiring. She competed in the show ring with his daughter Pip Taylor, but after Pip’s sad passing in 2018, Zinika headed back to the broodmare paddock with her second foal turning out to be Tukituki.
Pip is acknowledged as a breeder of the five-year-old, who added his second win in 15 starts at Taupo last time out.
“Myself and my late daughter bred him together, so what he’s doing for us is pretty special,” Taylor said.
“I raced the mare, she won one race and was a bit of a frontrunner as well. My daughter did a few shows on her after she finished racing, then after she passed away, I got her back and wondered what to do, so put her in foal.
“Tukituki was her second foal and then she left Tukipo, who is starting on Sunday at Woodville. I’ve given him to Allan Scarlett to train.
“Zinika is 15 now and probably could go back to a stallion, but I don’t think she will at this stage.”
A son of Complacent, Tukituki has found his sweet spot at the staying distances and put that on display first-up at Taupo, leading throughout to score over 2000m under Bruno Queiroz.
“He only just made it, but it was a nice win and a good ride,” Taylor said. “I was lucky to get Bruno that day and now hopefully he’s going to stick with him.
“He’s a horse that if you try to take a hold of him, he fights you and just throws his head around. We’ve tried that before and been very unsuccessful, so from experience, we just let him roll. I said to Bruno to let him find the front, try to give him a spell during the race, which he did at the 600m and then he had a bit more of a kick.”
Scarlett, another trainer based at the Central Hawke’s Bay track, has assisted Taylor with Tukituki’s preparation for the Jet Sprints At Tauherenikau Rating 65 (2200m), where he holds early favouritism over Walkinthepark.
“He’s been back doing more work, I don’t really gallop him, I just let him bowl along,” Taylor said.
“I ride him a lot myself, but Allan has been riding him for me for the last week and they get on really well. He basically does a couple of laps, about 4000-5000m per day of pace work, which seems to work well for him.”