31 July 2023 | Ashleigh Paikos
Saturday race day looked a little different for Bettor Finish NZ this weekend, with his trainer Kym Neal opting to bypass the traditional races and heading to Collie for a 20km encouragement endurance ride instead.
The nine-year-old who has raced sporadically over the past couple of years pipped the $100,000 mark in stakes at his last start, and with 86 runs under his belt, for 9 wins and 27 placings, he’s shown that he’s quite a versatile horse.
It was only by chance that Neal made the decision to enter the ride over the weekend, running into an endurance enthusiast nearby when she was out riding in the bush near her property, a surrounding neighbour made mention of the upcoming 20km ride, and a week later Neal was arriving at Collie to compete in her first endurance race.
“I’m actually really amazed at how well I coped, but I’m riding three a day, so I guess I’m fairly well tuned to riding at the moment.
“It was great fun, absolutely great fun and the little horse went super, he’s pulled up really well, it just shows you how versatile our guys are,
“And that our race training is good enough to do a bit of endurance a as well.”
Arriving in the morning for his first vet check, Bettor Finish NZ passed with flying colours, going through with a resting heart rate of 40, the pair finished their 20km ride in 1 hour and 50 minutes, passing their final vet check with a heart rate of 46, successfully completing their first endurance ride, but Kym is confident his racing days aren’t over yet.
“He’s not retired at the moment, but he’s not far away.
“There’s just a couple of things I want to change and see how he goes, and if that doesn’t work,
“That was the main reason that we actually took him,
“This was a great way to get the horse out and I really think that’s what he would be great at, and it just so happens I was right for once,
“His heart rate was really good when we came in, I think we had to be below 55 half an hour after we come in and as soon as we came in it was 58, so it didn’t take him much to come down but the hardest part I guess was when you go back down to get checked to make sure their heart rate is under, all the other horses are coming in, so that was forcing the heart rate up,
“but it’s that sort of thing for our little racehorses to get used to.”
Bettor Finish NZ has secured his next home when the time comes for him to retire, but Kym Neal is looking forward to taking him to a few more endurance events before handing the reins over.
There were a handful of standardbreds flying the flag for the hardy breed over the weekend at Collie, including Dominate The Dojo, Rather Sentimental and Five Star Louis.
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