The new season of jumps racing commenced at Wanganui on Sunday, and it came as little surprise that the country’s leading hoop in Shaun Fannin was straight on the board, taking the Dr. John D. Moore Memorial Open Steeplechase (3800m) aboard his own Jesko (NZ) (Atlante).
Since stepping into training in a larger capacity with wife Hazel, Fannin has lessened his riding commitments, but maintains his partnership with champion jumper West Coast (NZ) (Mettre En Jeu), who has largely contributed to his outstanding strike rate of 1.2, riding five winners from six rides during the 2024/25 term.
The Fannins have a couple of their own jumpers coming through the ranks, including Jesko, who impressed when breaking his maiden over the hurdles in June last year. He didn’t feature again over the fences in that campaign, but kicked off this preparation with a tidy win on the flat, before a fourth placing behind an in-form Never Look Back at Woodville.
In his debut steeplechasing assignment, Jesko was a heavily-backed favourite, closing at $1.40 ahead of Verry Royal ($5.20). The gelding settled into a good rhythm early in the 3800m contest, where Al’s Red Zed took control early and led the field through the opening lap ahead of Call Me Jack.
Fannin remained in touch with the leaders as pressure began to ramp up along the back stretch, moving into a clear third when Verry Royal dislodged Dean Parker on landing at the fence by the 900m. Call Me Jack shook off Al’s Red Zed turning for home but Jesko was simply cruising, flying the final two fences to race away by an extending 5 – ¾ lengths.
Hazel Fannin had expressed her faith in both horse and rider pre-race and was rapt with the result.
“Like I said beforehand, we have a lot of confidence in his jumping and Shaun rode him perfectly, which I’ve come to expect,” she said.
“To be honest, you could put him over any distance and he would come off the bridle at the 600, but he just keeps grinding away.”
The son of Atlante defeated a number of race winners in Sunday’s contest, giving Fannin the confidence to press on to bigger targets this term.
“We think we could possibly get him to a couple (of big races) this season, specifically the (Great) Northern at the end, but we’ll work his way through and he’ll be on light weights, so we’ll see how we go,” she said.
From just 20 starts, Jesko has won five races and placed in a further six, winning over $90,000 in stakes for the Chase A Fox Racing Syndicate, Blastoff Syndicate and Fannin, who purchased him for just $3,300 via gavelhouse.com in 2021.