5/5/18 – Skyweka mid-field – 8th from 16 runners – what happens next?
Home Alone with a glass of Port Leslie and my hopes held high for Skyweka’s race on Saturday, but it was not meant to be. Another tough day at the track for the Skyweka syndicate as she set out to contest the NZI 1600 at Te Rapa. Weather was clear and track conditions presented a suitable ‘dead 4’ track. Skyweka trailed the field and although she came home strongly, there was just too much ground to make up. Post race analysis from Tony Pike stated:
Skyweka (Pentire (GB)/Blue Hope)
It was another good run without any luck. They stretched the field right out and she just had too much ground to make up, although she did make up more ground than anything else in the race. She seems to keep finding trouble in every start, but hopefully a win is around the corner. We will be in touch once we have penciled something in.
| Pos | Name | Jockey | Trainer | Wgt | Mgn | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | BIG MIKE | Jonathan Riddell | Craig Phelan | 57.0 | 4.90 | |
| 02 | STAND FIRM | Samantha Collett | Graham Richardson & Gavin Parker | 56.0 | 0.3 | 7.20 |
| 03 | VINEVALE | Opie Bosson | Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards | 58.0 | 2.4 | 11.80 |
| 04 | Yorkshire Dales | Shafiq Rusof | John Bell | 56.0 | 3.3 | 72.30 |
| 05 | MY PRIDE AND JOY | Grant Cooksley | Todd Mitchell | 56.0 | 4.2 | 17.90 |
| 06e | LADDIE OF OAKVIEW | Graeme Sanders & Debbie Sweeney | 54.5 | 5.5 | 15.50 | |
| 07 | DR HANK | Trudy Thornton | Peter Hollinshead | 56.0 | 5.8 | 20.50 |
| 08 | SKYWEKA | Jordan Nason | Tony Pike | 59.5 | 5.9 | 10.00 |
| 09 | INCANTESIMO | Michael McNab | Graham Richardson & Gavin Parker | 54.5 | 6.3 | 14.10 |
| 10 | SARABANDE | Jasmine Fawcett | Jim Collett | 56.0 | 6.8 | 13.30 |
| 11 | PIAZZETTA | Andrew Calder | Raylene Whiteside | 57.0 | 6.9 | 33.50 |
| 12 | LUCKY SWEEP | Sam Spratt | Stephen McKee | 58.5 | 7.9 | 8.40 |
| 13 | BUY ME A ROCK | Leith Innes | Lance Noble | 55.5 | 9.3 | 12.40 |
| 14 | PYTHAGORAS | Vinnie Colgan | Roger James | 56.5 | 9.4 | 21.00 |
| 15 | PIAZZA | Jordan Grob | Lance O’Sullivan & Andrew Scott | 55.5 | 9.7 | 35.00 |
| 16 | ARCHDUCHESS | Danielle Johnson | Stephen Marsh | 54.0 | 10.1 | 39.40 |
| SC | TRUE ENOUGH | Michael Coleman | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | 56.5 |
20 October 2017:
Hey folks – Skyweka here. All those younger Weka fillies have been hogging the limelight, but I’m here quietly working away in the background. My work is steady, I’m eating well and don’t you think I am starting to look pretty? ……well the word pretty is not good in t’bred racing circles so we shall change that to Pulchritudinous – struggling to say that word?? – try this –
puhl-kri-tood-n-uh s. It means I’m physically beautiful
But underneath my pulchritudinous exterior there is a racing machine with a heart like fire ready willing and able to show you what I am made of on the Track. I have a great team watching over my preparation and I am determined. Did you know that when I was a foal I was always in front of all the other foals and yearlings racing around on the Ardsley hills – no one could get past me. I’m all grown up now and good things take time. Think good thoughts about me folks and I will reward you with something to talk about! Watch this space
21 September 2017:
Skyweka galloped this morning on the grass over 1000mts. She worked well and pulled up clean in her wind. She is well in herself although her coat is taking a bit longer to come through.
She will have a trial at Cambridge on the 3rd October to increase her fitness and if she trials as expected we will look at a suitable race for her mid October. If all going to plan, from here we can map out some races for her in the late spring early summer.
One option that is open for Skyweka is the Couplands Mile in November – Tony has nominated her for that race on November 15th at Canterbury
Go here to see the list of nominations:
https://www.nzracing.co.nz/RaceInfo/46415/Meeting-Overview.aspx
Skyweka wins at the Otaki Maori Racing Club – go to the Blog to read the story
Skyweka’s racing career is well underway with 38 Syndicate Members all enjoying Skyweka’s gallant race record to date:
| 15 Starts | 5 wins | 1 second | 3 thirds | 1 fourth |
She has also collected two Pearl Bonus’s won to date. A full blog is available for reading on our home page – this covers Skyweka’s career from foaling up to the present day.
9th May – Trial at Cambridge – The Pike Report
Go to 4.15 on this video track
Skyweka trialled nicely at Cambridge today ahead of her return to the races in the next few weeks. Obviously it was a trial purely for fitness reasons today. She actually jumped a lot better from the barrier today; Michael McNab just eased her back into the field and let her roll along at her own steam, and she has run right up in behind the leaders strongly on the bridle in the final stages to run 4th in her heat. She was never fully extended at any stage and Michael was very pleased with her performance. She was quite fresh before the run and had a good blow after the heat, so the trial will do her the world of good. We will see how she progresses from this trial over the next seven days or so, to see where we will head. There are a couple of nice races at Ellerslie that look suitable options for her fresh up, one is on the 27th May over 1400 Metres or alternatively I wouldn’t be too concerned about running her over 1200 metres fresh up on the 3rd June, but I will just see how she pulls up over the next week or so before making a firm decision. Obviously she needed the trial today and it will definitely bring her on a lot. I will be in touch most likely next week to confirm a race day start for her.
5th May 2017 – Trainer’s Report:
Skyweka is coming up very nicely in this preparation. We have had a few little issues with her feet just on the wet sand tracks over the past few weeks, but we seem to be on top of this now. At this stage she will have a barrier trial at Cambridge on Tuesday 9th May. Obviously this barrier trial will be a very quiet trial to increase her fitness ahead of a race day return. She is still a touch big in condition, but Tuesday’s barrier trial should bring her on nicely and will tell us just how forward she is at this stage of her preparation and I should then be able to confidently map out a race-day programme for her for the next four to six weeks
27th April 2017 – trainer’s report:
She has settled back into the stables really well and She had her her first gallop on Saturday morning 22nd April. Her work was very pleasing.
She should be forward enough to have a quiet barrier trial at the Cambridge trials on the 9th May, this will help bring on her fitness further and she should then hopefully be able to resume at the races sometime after that. Tony will be looking at the programmes for an appropriate race following the trial.
8 February 2017 – Summer 2017 race review:
Skyweka is currently spelling at Longlands. It was disappointing for all concerned that we couldn’t quite nail one of these important Black Type races before the summer faded into the Autumn – however the good news is that the mare is doing well and she is resting up at Longlands. We are expecting her to be back in work shortly and we are hopeful that Tony will send her to the beach for a few weeks to work on the sand. Les had a good chat with Tony about upcoming races – notably Black Type races in the Autumn. His question to Tony was – was the mare be capable of this level of BT achievement? – the answer was yes; would the mare be ready in time – for example to contest the Thoroughbred Breeders Stakes in April – and the answer from Tony was that it he would have to push her to do that and it would be a big ask to get her ready with limited lead in time. He likes Skyweka very much and as we have often mentioned Tony always puts the horses first – that way they are able to give you back so much more, and so Skyweka will be back in work shortly to go for a couple of Autumn races and then the plan is to spell her in the winter with a view to bringing her up to contest some of the bigger races later in the year. We are happy with that decision and will be discussing it further with Tony when we meet with him.
January 2017 – Skyweka – off to contest another Black Type race:
Skyweka has been accepted for the Anniversary Handicap at Trentham on Saturday 14th January
She is horse #8 – barrier draw 12. Weight 53kg’s. Jockey – Mark Du Plessis
Tony Pike said she galloped well on Tuesday and is a show for this race on Saturday. Once again we are up for a black type race – a Group 3 this time. We are looking forward to catching up with as many Galloping Wekas as possible at this event! Good Luck everyone!
This website began with the syndication of Skyweka, because we wanted those involved to be up to date with what’s going on and for them to have a good experience with racing.
A quick background on Skyweka – The Sire (the filly’s Dad) is a top stallion in New Zealand called Pentire. The Mare (Filly’s Mum) is called Blue Hope. She has had four foals before Skyweka and all of them have been winners too. The horse’s bloodlines are well-considered, she’s a good good-looker, well-balanced and has a nice temperament. She spent her first couple of years at Ardsley Stud where she grew, charged around and was always in the lead – taken as a good sign at the time.
Much like the owners of Formula 1 racing teams, this syndicate has was brought together in the name of fun, gambling, beer, curries, road trips, kiwiana, interesting Monday morning conversations, new experiences, and generally just a good time.
You might have noticed ‘winning’ isn’t part of the above list. That’s because the odds are tough trying race a winner and when we started, we didn’t want to get people’s hopes up – the Galloping Wekas will not indulge in such grandiose ideals as ‘win-at-all-costs’, instead we choose the moral high ground of participation and community above all else. Luckily though, Skyweka turned out to be a brilliant horse and we have already had a taste of the winner’s circle
Clem and Skyweka, when she was being broken-in.
Have a look at this PDF of Syweka’s pedigree before she started racing.
Here’s some shots of Skyweka when she was a foal with her Ma…
THE GALLOPING WEKAS 