 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2000
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Matai Mackenzie (outer) collars City Rogue |
Don't say a word against City Rogue after he was overhauled in the last stride by Matai Mackenzie in the HIH Insurance Welcome Stakes. After being in front and left clear in the straight, City Rogue was doing little more than racing himself over the last 200 metres.
Near the end, he started to lose focus, and was oblivious to the challenge from Matai Mackenzie coming wide on the track. And while driver David Butt did his best to keep his mind on it, Matai Mackenzie had more purpose to his finish and won the Group 2 by a nose. "He wanders round a bit by himself. I was frightened to go for him too soon," he said. Lack of experience and losing his competition so soon was the difference between first and second, but a fair reflection on where they stood amongst the others; Niobium, the third horse home and City Rogue's stablemate, was more than four lengths behind them.
Matai Mackenzie is one of the much publicised and highly successful horses bought as a yearling and raced by the ATC Trot 2000 Syndicate. He is trained by Barry Purdon who selected him at Karaka and made a 2-year-old of him when every feature of him suggested he would not be available until he was three. "He was big as a yearling and right from the start he came along nicely. He could really scoot a good half. I cut him when he started growing quite a bit and I have always gone quietly with him. He has just got better and better," he said.
In just six starts, Matai Mackenzie has topped $100,000 and with two bigger races than the Welcome coming up this month, it is quite possible he could double his earnings before the winter. Purdon said his only concern had been with a heel infection that had affected all his feet. "It was quite bad and Katrina (Purdon) bathed them twice a day until they came right," He said. At 16 hands, Matai Mackenzie is perhaps the tallest 2-year-old Purdon has raced and the great Chokin is the only one he said who would fit he same category. "I have spaced his races and he has enjoyed it. Being so tall and lean, he doesn't carry a lot of weight, so I don't work him too hard," he said.
Matai Mackenzie is by Jaguar Spur, who has been relatively inconspicuous on the siring lists, met with little patronage at the stud in Australia and is likely to return here next season. Purdon has had a few of them, and one of them is a filly who he thinks is okay.
One of the syndicates organised by the ATC also has a Soky's Atom filly from Mary Morris, Purdon bought for them at Christchurch for $14,000.
Of the 50 or so in the syndicate which races Matai Mackenzie, six or seven were at Addington to see him, but 30 are expected for his race on May 5 and another 30 the following week. Syndicate member Steve Stockman said efficient management of the syndicate was a key to its success. "When the bank gets up to $10,000, the members automatically get a payment of $200. The last cheque they were paid was $800. They each get a monthly newsletter of three or four pages, there is a weekly update and an 0800 number, and the latest syndicates are seventy per cent full," he said.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 27Apr00