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LEADERBOARD to return to New Zealand and will contest the Waikato Steeples 13th June as his “Grand Finale” before retiring
 

LEADERBOARD  or “Tiger”, as he is affectionally known to his ownership group and his handlers, is returning home to New Zealand from Australia to retire, but before he heads to the retirement paddock, he will have one last start, that being in the Waikato Steeples at Te Rapa and that will bring the curtain down on an extremely storied career for this 11 year old son of Street Cry. Amazingly we have owned this horse since 2018, having purchased him as a northern hemisphere three year-old from Goldophin at the Tattersalls Horses In  Training sale in November 2018, with him being a one win horse from nine starts in Ireland at that time. This was our first purchase from a UK sale and looking back on my notes at that time, in our marketing material we expressed the desire to acquire a European bred staying type that could be a genuine contender in the Cups races in the southern hemisphere – we outlaid 70,000 guinea for Leaderboard approximately NZ $140,000 and he arrived in New Zealand late  2018.

We were very patient with him and he had his first trial at Te Teko August 2019 and a 2nd trial at Ta Rapa a couple of weeks later. He made his NZ debut at Taupo n September running 4th and we then sent him South to Riccarton where he won two races in a row at 1600m and 2000m – spelled after that and following three further New Zealand races, we made a decision to send him to Sydney in order to see how he would measure up against the staying types over there, but after two starts and showing an aversion for firm tracks, we made the decision to bring him back to New Zealand to focus on the staying events here – winning two races in succession at Matamata and Te Rapa over 2000m and 2400m in the Autumn of 2021, we determined that he was an ideal candidate for the 2021 New Zealand Cup at Riccarton and so he headed south for a campaign in the South Island – his lead up form into the Cup was very “average” to say the least, but he was striking firm tracks and on NZ Cup Day, overnight rain had softened the track and he hit the front with 200m to go in this great race, but was run down closing stages and finished 3rd. In the Autumn of 2022, he burnished his staying credentials with a dominant win over 2600m in the New Zealand St Leger at Trentham, ridden by Michael McNab and followed that up with a brave second in the Hawkes Bay Cup over the shorter trip of 2200 m

The Spring of 2022 saw “Tiger” head South for another NZ Cup campaign, this time running 5th on a track that probably too firm – he then ran poorly in the Marton  Cup early January but, nevertheless we set him for the Wellington Cup  3 weeks later and overnight the heavens had opened  and a resultant Heavy 10 track meant that conditions were perfect for him and, ridden beautifully by Joe Doyle,  the Wellington Cup was ours – punters had overlooked him and he returned a winning divvy of $51 on the tote, much to the delight of those who had supported him – Click HERE to see footage of that win

LEADERBOARDS ownership group celebrating victory 2023 Wellington Cup

Taking a step back, Mark Walker had returned to New Zealand from Singapore early in 2022 to reassume his New Zealand training role with the departure of Jamie Richards to Hong Kong and after assessing Leaderboards training regime, Mark had made the decision to start schooling him over the hurdles in order to provide variation to his training regime – he proved to be a very adept jumping type and this led us to draw the conclusion that a jumping career may be right for him once he had ended his career on the flat. In August of 2023 he was given a hurdle’s race at Hastings and ran creditably although was hampered by a fallen horse and finished 4th on that occasion.

After a few more flat races in New Zealand and with the opening of the Te Akau Cranbourne stable the decision was made to send “Tiger” to Victoria to pursue a jump’s career over there – he won a maiden hurdle at his second start and altogether in a jumps career in Victoria of just a bit over two seasons, he won 5 times and apart from once when he fell, he he never finished further back then fifth in any of his jumps races.  He ran significant placings in  major jumping races, a 3rd in the Australian Hurdles in 2024, a second placing in the Grand National Steeples in the same year, a close-up 2nd to the champion Stern Idol in the 2025 Australian Steeples and then his major crowning glory was winning Australia’s richest jumping race, the Grand National Steeplechase at Ballarat in August 2025 with a winning margin of 25 lengths in the hands of Will Gordon  – click HERE to see the closing stages of this race

Altogether, Leaderboard has had 72 Career starts in the Fortuna Silks, wining 12 times and collecting just over NZ$1m in Stakes for his owners in a racing career of seven remarkable seasons – he is a very dear friend who will be sorely missed by all when he retires – but ahead of his retirement, he will have one past hurrah in the Waikato Steeples mid June

And on retiring he is being rehomed in the Waikato with one if NZ’s leading equestrians, Jody Hartstone

LEADERBOARD  – on way to victory Grand National Steeples – Ballarat August 2025 – Will Gordon aboard
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 LARA ANTIPOVA returns to training

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Fortuna 2yo Gelding, OPUNAKE wins trial at Caulfield

Guest Commentator – Des Coppins

Greetings John and Readers

As we close the door on the spring, summer and autumn racing it’s now the time for us to get ready for winter racing which is naturally spearheaded by the jumping carnivals. We had a taste at Wanganui last Saturday and I’m sure there’ll be some exciting jumps races in store over the next 3 months or so.

Winter racing is a different kind of thrill to summer racing. Some like it, others aren’t so keen. I’m a fan. I love the jumps. I guess it’s because I cut my teeth on jumps racing when living at Ellerslie and not far from the now defunct Ellerslie hill. Those memories of Great Northerns, especially the chases, are as vivid as they were when growing up in the neighbourhood as a primary schooler and early teenager.

BETTING IN THE WINTER ON THE HEAVY 9 OR HEAVY 10 TRACKS

MANY punters are gun shy in the winter. A lot of feedback we have heard over the years centres mainly on the unpredictable track conditions. For the record I don’t stop betting in the winter.  I reckon if you are clear on what the track condition is, you can certainly find the edge and sometimes get the right price.

As we know the heavy 9 and heavy 10 tracks are usually the go from June through to August but you always have to keep in mind those pesty rainfalls. Always remember that a heavy 9 or a heavy 10 at Trentham may be different to a heavy 9 or 10 at Te Aroha if there’s substantial rain fall on the eve of one meeting but not the other.

When I compile my notes I keep in mind if a certain horse won on a “holding” heavy track as opposed to one that scored on a “slushy” heavy track. Both may be classified by the authorities as heavy 10’s but clearly they are completely different.

SIRES TO KEEP AN EYE ON 

At this time of the year it pays to keep a close watch on certain sires; those whose progeny don’t mind getting their feet wet. I mentioned a few columns ago that I would list the stallions who I feel are worth being confident with when track conditions are testing.

Back in the day the wet track specialists were the progeny of sires like Head Hunter, Palm Beach, Zamazaan, War Hawk, Indian Order, Exploding Prospect, Resurgent, Kurdistan, Lord Ballina and Racing Is Fun to name just 10. There were others of course that you may recall but that’s what this memory bank threw out.

These days the wet weather sires may not be as prominent or their progeny as dour and ultra consistent when the tracks were almost “bog-like) but for what it’s worth the following 10 sires are still worth a mention if you are tossing and turning over a certain runner on a heavy track this winter.

My favourite winter sire for the moment is Belardo. He popped up regularly last winter; and to a lesser extent, Time Test, Mongolian Khan,  Zed, Vadamos, Almanzor, Sacred Falls, Staphanos, Derryn and Ghibellines.

IN THE WET – OUTSIDE DRAWS EVERYTIME IN SPRINTS

IF I owned a winter sprinter I’d be praying for an outside draw every time. How often do we see a horse seemingly travelling sweetly entering the straight but the jockey elects to stay on the rail instead of skirting wide and as a result is swamped by those wider out. Betting of horses in sprint races in the winter that draw inside marbles are a “no go” zone for me more often than not.

It’s a common  rule I use and while not fool proof the odds are traditionally stacked in my favour. The inside rail often becomes chopped up and slow thus making the outer lanes advantageous. You can often find a horse with no previous wet track form but drawn wide in a sprint perform just as well if not better than the tried and true mudder who drew the inside.

10 BEST TIPS FOR BETTING IN HEAVY TRACK CONDITIONS

THERE’S never any guarantees in this punting game but maybe this compilation might assist for the next 3 months when the tracks start deteriorating which is more than likely in the days ahead.

1.Proven wet track form should obviously be taken into account.
2.Check the breeding. Keep an eye on the  wet weather sires listed above.
3.Ignore  the inside barrier draws in sprints
4.Look for fit horses. First up runners in wet ground doesn’t pay off.
5.I’m happy to back two horses in a race in the wet if they are both at value.
6.Watch for trainers who have consistent strike rate at this time of the year
7.Go easy on the punt on your favoured runners if a track has been heavily downgraded
8.Apprentice allowances are crucial.
9.Watch the first flat race closely and see for yourself what part of the track is playing the fairest
10.Never back any odds on  horses on heavy tracks

IMPROVERS FROM ROTORUA

ARTHUR: his trial run was attractive enough and the money was on for his run in 3 months in the 1400m. He hit the last 800 and 600 the quickest and he’s clearly above average and wet tracks shouldn’t pose a problem.

SLICK CHICK: she’s worth a dollar or two the next time she competes in a rating 65 staying race. I liked the way she ran to the line and she struck winning form about this time last year on a heavy track.

ROSETOWN PRINCESS: she’s not a spent force as a seven year old after hitting the line as good as any in the Rotorua Cup when 6th. Between June and July last year she had 4 runs for a win and 3 placings.
It’s her time to shine.

Good punting!
Des Coppins
021 448 052

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