Paul Nelson will chase his eighth crown in Saturday’s Aztech Engineering Wellington Hurdle (3200m), and he’ll attempt to do so with a couple of horses that have done it all before.
The Hastings horseman won two editions of the feature whilst training on his own, with Solid Steal (2010) and The Shackler (2017). In the following year, he was joined in partnership by long-time stable member Corrina McDougal, and since then the pair have won the race five times in a row, with four different horses.
Their dominance began in 2019 with No Tip before the COVID-19 outbreak removed the race from the calendar in 2020. The Cossack picked up his crown in 2021, Suliman in 2023, and Nedwin claimed the top spot in 2022 and 2024.
Both Suliman and Nedwin will take their place on Saturday, the latter reverting back to hurdles after kicking off his season over the bigger fences. The son of Niagara starred in his maiden steeplechase at Te Rapa, then returned to the venue to run third in the Waikato Steeplechase (3900m), albeit a distance from the first pair.
“He punched a fence pretty badly, which just took the stuffing out of him there,” Nelson said.
“I feel that, with having had a couple of steeplechases, he’s well enough seasoned to cope with the heavy track that we’ll encounter on Saturday.”
A classy hurdler in his own right, Suliman was off the scene last season and has had a couple of conditioning runs on the flat and over hurdles leading into the two-mile contest.
“I hope Suliman is going well, his run on the flat the other day was good,” Nelson said.
“Both of these horses are proven on the Wellington track, if they handle the going, you can keep going back and have another go.”
The stable will also be well-represented in the Grant Plumbing Wellington Steeplechase (4900m), with their two-pronged attack including defending champion The Cossack.
Things haven’t quite gone to plan for the star 10-year-old since his win in last year’s edition, with an untimely injury ruling him out of the Grand National meeting, and the remainder of the season. After undergoing rehabilitation, The Cossack was welcomed back in the Waikato Steeplechase (3900m) at Te Rapa a fortnight ago but fell after jumping awkwardly at the last fence.
While disappointed with the result, Nelson and McDougal were happy to see the gelding return home unscathed.
“We’re very happy with him, he didn’t appear to have any ill-effects after Waikato,” Nelson said.
“Corrina (McDougal, training partner) has been very happy with his work, and that’s all we can go by.”
The son of Mastercraftsman will carry a clear topweight under Dean Parker, while a recently returned Emily Farr will continue her association with stablemate The Anarchist.
“We’re hoping he can find a bit of new pace and get around there, he’s just an absolutely dour stayer so hopefully he can pick up a bit of money,” Nelson said.
“Emily Farr is going to ride him, she does get along well with him, and he seems to run well for her.”