Never Look Back (NZ) (Shocking) was only narrowly denied winning the Foxton Cup (2100m) on Tuesday, and five days later, he successfully transitioned into the jumping role with a professional display in the Ken Duncan Racing Maiden Hurdle (3000m).
The son of Shocking had a quartet of flat victories to his credit through a 28-start career, but as a jumps racing enthusiast, his trainer Gail Temperton always had a future over the fences in mind for her charge.
Starting a scorching $1.70 favourite, Never Look Back measured his jumps well through the first lap around Wanganui racecourse, settling just better than midfield while Catch And Release led proceedings. As the maiden hurdlers streamed down the back for the final time, Michael Roustaby began to creep closer to Catch And Release, travelling well down to the home turn.
Never Look Back strode to the lead in the straight and looked in control, and despite showing a little bit of inexperience at the final fence, he made it over and powered clear to win by two lengths to another impressive debutant in Saint Bernard.
In a jumping debut three years in the making, Temperton couldn’t have been prouder of Never Look Back.
“It went better than I expected, I thought I’d been pretty hard on this horse coming into this race,” she said. “He had a point to point, then four days later he won the highweight at Woodville, then four days later he ran second in the Foxton Cup, and four days later, he did this today.
“If he’d come out and said he didn’t want to do this anymore, I would’ve totally understood, but he didn’t. He jumped very well, he was ridden very well and it’s been a very nice Mother’s Day.
“I’ve always had jumping in mind for him, I just love the jumpers and the training that goes into it. The satisfaction for me is enormous, it’s more than I would have in a flat race.
“He’s been learning to jump for three years, he’s been practicing over small logs then progressed on to people who specialise in teaching jumpers, because I’m getting a little bit old to do that myself. He went to Joshua Lavelle and Sacha Rennie, he had a tendency to rush and be a bit keen earlier on, but he’s learned and made it here today.”
Temperton was complementary of Roustaby’s ride, while now looking ahead to some more lucrative jumping targets for the six-yar-old.
“The riders are wonderful, Michael rode him so well today and had ridden him well in the highweight which he won,” she said. “Michael and I hadn’t had a lucky time when he rode another horse for me previously, so it was nice to repay Michael a little bit by putting him on something with a bit of promise.
“He will go to Wellington to the hurdle there, he’s got to step up a notch now and compete against horses with a lot more experience than him. But, I think he can, he really loves it and he wouldn’t have been running as well as he did today if he didn’t love it.”
Never Look Back was bred and raced by Temperton and her partner Stanley Alexander under their Taikorea Thoroughbreds banner, alongside Christopher Grace