By Michael Guerin
The Telfer/Garlick team are about to take the next step and Steve Telfer admits the opportunity to be part of the big race scene is exciting.
The South Auckland trainers have won plenty of bigger races than the $14,999 feature at Alexandra Park last Friday but it was one of their more satisfying wins when stable newcomer No Doctor Needed downed three Harness Jewels winners over the 1700m.
The freegoer had just joined the stable from good friend Robert Dunn, with his owners wanting No Doctor Needed based in the north where he has more summer opportunities and more mobile racing, as well as the carrot of the Auckland Cup on December 31.
There was confidence in the stable that he could use his gate speed to lead and try and hold the big guns of The Orange Agent, Sky Major and Lancewood Lizzie at bay but the race didn’t pan out that way, with the The Orange Agent attacking early and wresting the lead off No Doctor Needed.
But he was somewhat surprisingly able to come off her back and beat her up the passing lane, grabbing her by a nose in a 1:53.1 mile rate for the 1700m.
“It was a great feeling because even though it wasn’t a huge race, he had to beat some very good horses,” admits Telfer.
“Horse like The Orange Agent and Sky Major are top horses trained by top trainers so there is some satisfaction in being able to beat them.
“But we have to share the credit with Robert because the horse arrived here in wonderful condition.
“Robert is a good friend of ours but we realise horses change stables all the time and he has always been a big believer in this horse.
“And this win showed us that he is up to these horses with the right run. I think with more racing in open class he will get even better and should be even more competitive next season.”
Telfer and training partner Chris Garlick have a great strike rate and are very astute at producing their horses to run well fresh, but like most trainers they get few opportunities to race genuine contenders in the big Cups.
So to have a readymade Cup horse is a thrill.
“He will be aimed at the Auckland Cup and to be part of that is exciting,” says Telfer.
“But he still needs to improve his standing start manners a bit, but experience should help with that.” No Doctor Needed is the new star of a team that numbers 28, far more than are usually trained out of Stonewall Stud.
“We have a big team and six juveniles ready to step out, with some real talent there.
“And with the mares foaling we are pretty busy at the moment.
“And we have had some good responses to the syndicates we have set up, but there are still some shares left in them.
Not so busy is the stable’s NZ Cup week winner Ashton K, who is having a small let up before coming back to racing.
While beaten last Friday, The Orange Agent was far from disappointing, unofficially breaking the national mares 1700m record when just going under in her first start since the Breeders Crown.
Lancewood Lizzie was also very good in third but Sky Major was again disappointing, unable to make ground even after being perfectly driven by trainer Barry Purdon.
He has had a poor month by his very high standards and will have drifted a long way in the opening markets for the Auckland Cup this week.
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