The past few days have been a case of pinch me once, pinch me twice as Glen Massey couple Ian and Shelley Wright have celebrated Farag’s second consecutive win in Australasia’s longest flat race, the A$300,000 Jericho Cup.
First run in 2018 to commemorate the Australian and New Zealand light horse involvement in World War l, the Jericho Cup is restricted to Australian and New Zealand-bred horses.
Farag, by Sacred Falls out of a Yamanin Vital mare from the South Island’s famous ‘Flight’ family, won last year’s race by 20 lengths, and while the margin on Sunday was much less at a length and a half, it was yet another New Zealand-bred benefit.
Last year four of the first five were bred on this side of the Tasman, on Sunday they were even more dominant with seven of the first eight across the line, while seven of the eight Jericho Cup winners have been Kiwi-breds.
“It’s a race that we were keen to get involved in from day one and when Farag won last year and another of our horses, Glen Massey, finished third, it was a massive thrill,” Ian Wright said after he and his wife arrived home in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
“Going back and doing it all again was absolutely huge, something that we’re still getting our heads around.”
Farag is yet another of racing’s rags-to-riches stories, having cost the Wrights just $1,000 when they bought him as an unraced gelding on Gavelhouse. He earned $11,000 in 14 starts under the Wrights’ training before he was transferred to Warrnambool trainer Aaron Purcell in early 2024.
Another 28 starts and 10 wins later, his stake-earnings now stand at more than A$600,000.
“We’ve always liked those staying types; people like us find it hard to compete over the shorter distances, but when it comes to horse with stamina we like to think we’ve got a chance.
“Once Farag began to develop we knew he fitted that mould and when he ran third as a maiden in a Rating 65 2400m race at Te Rapa, he had a future, but unfortunately not here.
“The problem is there are so few true staying races in New Zealand, so when we were contacted by a racing enthusiast from Melbourne by the name of Peter Groidis, we struck a deal.
“He wanted to buy the horse outright but we thought he was worth more than he was offering, so we said we’ll give you half if you pay the airfare and training fees.
“It’s worked out well for everyone and when we think back on how it’s all played out, it’s really been a dream come true.”
Farag has been ridden in both of his Jericho Cup wins by 29-year-old Englishman Will Gordon, who rode 28 winners in two seasons in New Zealand before heading to Victoria in 2018 and has since become one of the state’s most successful jumps and highweight jockeys, now with a total of three Jericho Cups.
“Between Aaron, Will and everyone else, they’ve done a fantastic job with the horse,” Wright said. “He had qualified for the race when he won his previous start at Geelong and when we saw him at the stables before the weekend, we’ve never seen him look better.
“He’s a big, long horse and since last year he’s got stronger, even though not necessarily heavier as he still weighed in at only 470 kilograms.
“After there was a fall in an earlier race, things got a bit anxious when they changed the race from the more testing steeplechase course to the main track and reduced the distance (from 4600 to 4415m).
“We thought that would reduce our advantage, but it didn’t matter. Will rode him perfectly and he ended up winning comfortably.”
Back on their north-west Waikato farm, where they farm 500 bulls, the Wrights also have 15 horses in work as they develop further staying prospects.
“We’re still keen on our jumpers and it would be good to think there might be another Farag there as well, but horses like him are never easy to find.”