For just the second time in his 40-year training career, Howie Mathews is currently winless for the season, something he is looking to change when he heads to Awapuni’s synthetic meeting on Thursday.
“We haven’t trained a winner this season, which is quite unusual for us. We would like to change that and if it could happen tomorrow that would be nice,” he said.
The Otaki horseman will have three chances to correct his plight, headlined by a two-pronged attack in the Spray Specialist LTD 2140, courtesy of Weneedashock and Free Spirit.
Five-win gelding Weneedashock has been knocking on the door, placing in his last two starts, including a last start runner-up effort behind Final Chapter on the same track and distance a fortnight ago.
Mathews is hopeful his charge can turn the tables on the Lisa Latta-trained runner on Thursday, where he has drawn barrier five and will be ridden by Liam Kauri.
“He seems to be getting beaten by easy horses,” Mathews said. “But he is a fairly honest horse. I got him off Jamie Richards from Te Akau and he said to me he is not going to be a champion, but I would have a bit of fun with him.”
While the son of Shocking contested the $100,000 Polytrack Championship (2000m) at Cambridge last year, Mathews holds no aspirations of tackling the rich feature with his gelding this year and will keep to local targets in the near future.
“It’s only 2000m, so I will be staying clear of that,” he said.
Weeeedashock will be joined in his race on Thursday by stablemate Free Spirit, who will be seeking to recapture some form.
“She hasn’t raced up to expectations,” Mathews said. “She has always shown us plenty on the track, but she just hasn’t performed this year.
“I have applied a bit different gear to see whether that helps her out, but she might be destined for the broodmare paddock.”
Later on the card, Mathews is looking forward to Justify That making her stable debut in the Tomo’s Aluminium Services 1000.
“I think she is going to be a firm track mare,” Mathews said. “We have had her in work for nearly three months now, just ticking her over and hoping the tracks are starting to come right, but it just gets wetter and wetter.
“We were going to go to the jumpouts at Levin, but they were canned and if it keeps raining I can’t even see the trials being any good at Foxton next week either, so I thought why not just chuck her in. It will be her first outing for us and it is a bit of a learning curve.
“We bought her off clients of Hollie Wynyard’s. She has had 11 starts and a few placings, so she might fit in somewhere.
“We are just getting her ready for spring racing, so we are not in a hurry with her.”
Meanwhile, Mathews has welcomed the Kelvin Tyler-trained Freddie Time to his stable to pre-train ahead of some spring targets.
Riverton-based Tyler often stays with Mathews in Otaki during northern campaigns, and Mathews is looking forward to welcoming his long-time family friend back to his property next season.
“Freddie Time has come back from Brisbane and is spending a bit of time with us at the moment,” Mathews said.
“Kelvin likes to come up to this area (Central Districts) and campaign a couple of horses through the summer and have a go at the bigger spoils.
“We are great family friends, we have got plenty of room for him, and it fits in with our system really well.”
Mathews’ association with the Tyler family goes back nearly 60 years, having ridden for Tyler’s father, Ken, when he was an apprentice jockey.
“I rode his father’s first winner in 1969,” Mathews said. “I was apprenticed to Dave O’Sullivan, and I saw him (Ken Tyler) one day walking his horse around, so I went over to him and said I would ride him in work for him and he said I could ride him on raceday the next week if I wanted.
“I owned a bit of land not far from his farm and he always helped me out with home kills and hay baling. He was very good to me and my family.
“I never really had much to do with the boys growing up, they were a bit younger than me, but I knew of them.
“When Kelvin started training down in Riverton, I have always taken a big interest in what he has done and kept in contact with him and his brother Allan, who owns quite a few of the horses.
“We have become pretty close.”