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MANAROA - Enigma

MANAROA - Enigma

Here is a sum up of how the roach backed "Ugly Duckling" frustrated punters. In the spring of 1970 he had seven unplaced starts and then he won the Kaikoura Cup. Then he produced the performance of a lifetime for third in the 1970 NZ Cup after losing 100m at the start. Some still regard it as the best non-winning run in the race.

He was privately timed to run from post to post in 4:03 and change which would have won every Cup for 20 years and he was only half a length away at the finish. But then he was typically unplaced in five of his next six starts before winning two heats at the 1971 InterDominions and ultimately being second in the final a neck behind Stella Frost at the post. He won well over $200,000 which was a lot of money in those days, held several records and was quick enough to break two minutes in a time trial at Harold Park.

Manaroa's determination to give all the others a start probably came from his sire Morano who was a bit of an enigma himself. Morano was a horse with electric speed but unruly manners. His brilliance was an asset to him at stud where he was influential but never reached his potential on the track.

Yet, strangely, Manaroa's defeats in Australia were more about bad luck than bad beginnings. At one stage he had won 12 from 17 there and after three brilliant heat wins in record times he would have won the 1972 InterDominion Final(crowd 33,000) had he not been checked badly early. Maybe that was because Neville Hargreaves, a friend of Colin McLaughlin, usually drove him there. He certainly seemed to have the secret to successful starts. The veteran owner handled Manaroa himself in his later NZ Cups after all else failed but it was no use.

Manaroa was no rogue in attitude. He won 38 races and was unlucky in a lot of others. But erratic? Yes sir.

Credit: David McCarthy in Harnessed July 2016