'I’m at the pub now with about 500 people in the other room, and Pier would be quite happy at the bar.'

Cover image courtesy of NZ Racing Desk

Speaking to TDN AusNZ, Darryn Weatherley explained how, along with 86-year-old Barry Wright, the association with the family began with Pier’s second dam, Naturo (NZ) (Postponed {USA}), who was no slouch herself.

A winner of both the G2 Matamata Breeders’ S. and the G3 Hawke’s Bay Highview S., she was bought and raced by Wright, and trained by John Sargent, for whom Weatherley previously managed a stream of overflow horses.

Weatherley told TDN AusNZ how he first met Naturo back when he was race educating horses, and she was sent to him after the sales.

“It started when I got in Naturo for Barry, who’d bought her at the sales,” Weatherley explained. “He became a family friend from those early days, and he used to stay with us in Matamata once a month - still does, in fact, for 15 years he’s been coming to stay with us every month for a few days. We race a few horses and he’s become a very close family friend.

“Funnily enough, Naturo was actually favourite in the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton, but she broke down at the top of the straight, and she didn’t race again.”

When Sargent moved his training operation to Australia, Weatherley took out his licence and naturally ended up with the progeny of Naturo to train. One of those was the Darci Brahma (NZ) mare La Vitesse (NZ). A dual winner herself, she is co-owned by Weatherley and Wright, and is the dam of four foals, two each by Proisir and Contributer (Ire).

Her third foal, which came after a second visit to the Rich Hill stallion, resulted in Pier, and it’s a mating that Weatherley credited to some inspiration from his mentor, Sargent.

“When he first came out to New Zealand, Sarge said: ‘You wanna go have a look at this stallion, I reckon he’ll make the grade.’ And that’s basically it, we went out there to look at Proisir, and loved him, so, when it came time to organise a mating for La Vitesse, that’s where we went.

“She’s only got two boyfriends, La Vitesse - she’s got one at foot by Contributer and went back to Proisir again this year.

“The first foal out of her was called La Velocita. She won three races but unfortunately, the day before Pier had his first start, we had to put her down as she’d broken her pastern. It was operated on but things went awry, and unfortunately that decision was in her best interest.”

Pier’s only other sibling of racing age, a half-sister, was also in action at Riccarton on Saturday. Also trained by the Weatherleys, Maria Farina (NZ) (Contributer {Ire}) raced in a Handicap event earlier in the card, in which she finished second. The 5-year-old mare, a three-time winner, is currently the sole female heir to the family which received such a significant boost via Pier’s win on Saturday.

More improvement to come

Pier didn’t make it to the track as a 2-year-old, and his debut came at his local track in Matamata at the end of August, when he dashed away to score by 2.5l over 1050 metres.

That performance piqued the interest of leading owner Ozzie Kheir, who subsequently purchased a 25 per cent stake in the gelding, and it also earned him a place in the Listed El Roca Trophy, which remains the only blemish on his record to date. His defeat into second that day, just two weeks after his debut, was a signal to his trainers that he prefers his runs spaced out.

Weatherley said he took note from that day, and it was a month until his next start in the G2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas, in which he posted a dominant victory.

“There was a lead-up race two weeks ago, and I thought, given that he’d won the Hawke’s Bay Guineas four weeks ago, I didn’t really want to go all the way down to Christchurch with just two weeks between runs.”

Whilst Weatherley landed on that tactic of spacing his runs partly through trial and error, he was given to attempt the quicker back up in the first place because of Pier’s incredibly relaxed attitude to life.

“I’m at the pub now (Saturday) with about 500 people in the other room, and Pier would be quite happy at the bar,” Weatherley joked.

“He’s quite laid-back in his temperament. He eats, he sleeps, he makes my job easy and he makes me look good. But, he’s an absolute athlete as well. Today (Saturday), walking round the bird cage he was just so relaxed and in the zone, an absolute professional.

“He knew his job, and he didn’t have an easy run either, as he was forced three-wide in a slowly run race, it was a huge effort. There were no excuses for anything else, he was there to be beaten and they couldn’t. We’re very lucky to have him.”

And, for all that he’s just won one of New Zealand’s most prestigious races, Weatherley expects further improvement from the 3-year-old gelding.

“He’s six months away,” he said. “He was born on November 7, so he still wasn’t actually three today (Saturday). In the back of my mind I feel he’s still not quite there.

“Nothing’s confirmed but I’d like to see him in something like the Rosehill Guineas.”

However, there is a possibility that Saturday's race is Pier's final one in the care of the Weatherleys, as the trainers, along with part-owner Keir, have yet to decide whether or not he will be best placed with Chris Waller for a future Australian campaign.

Proisir on track to be champion

For John Thompson of Rich Hill Stud, Pier’s victory is not just great cause for celebration, but confirmation too that Proisir is on track as a future champion sire candidate.

“It does mean a lot to win the New Zealand Guineas, because it’s a really time-honoured race,” Thompson told TDN AusNZ. “They’re difficult to win, those spring Classics - you need to have a physically and mentally mature horse.

“I’ve said for a while that he’s a possible champion sire, and it just reaffirms that, especially since his bigger and better crops are still to come.”

And, although Thompson admitted he probably won’t be champion this year, Proisir does find himself now in quite a considerable lead - as the first-place prize from Saturday’s race of NZ$316,250 takes his progeny’s total earnings to NZ$989,725 for the season. Thompson reported that his results are certainly being noticed by breeders.

“He’s flat out. Obviously, he’s very popular, and we’ve shut his book down at 180, and he’s getting through them. It’s been a busy season for the farm, with Satono Aladdin being so popular, and Shocking and Proisir too.

“But, if you’re not busy on a horse stud at this time of year, you’re in trouble.”