Canterbury trainer John ‘‘Coaster’’ Howe completed wins on and off the track when Nandolo triumphed in the Geraldine Cup at Orari on Saturday.
The 5yr-old produced a powerful finish to win the 2850m staying feature and continue the fine form of reinsman Jonny Cox.
Howe had already enjoyed a big victory before Saturday’s race, after his injured jumping star, Jackfrost, got clearance to be turned out into a paddock. He has been confined to a box after rupturing a suspensory ligament in Australia.
The harness trainer is the manager of the Frosty’s Shoutin The Beers Syndicate that owns the Grand National and Great Northern Steeplechase winner.
It was initially feared that Jackfrost’s racing days were over when he sustained his injury while being prepared for a tilt at Australia’s best jumping races.
The Brian and Shane Anderton-trained jumper has since undergone stem-cell therapy on his injured leg and vets have reported it to be a success.
“Lindsay Colwell, the vet that did the treatment, was rapt with how it went,” Howe said.
“After a couple of scans she couldn’t believe how well his leg looked. Rian is going to take him down to Middlemarch, around about January, to put him on a hill for a couple of months.
‘‘Then he might be able to do a bit of work — you just never know.”
Howe’s stable reinsman, Jonny Cox, is among several harness racing personalities who race Jackfrost.
Nandolo’s victory was just reward after producing strong efforts at the New Zealand Cup Carnival in Christchurch.
Howe was able to target the Geraldine race after withdrawing the horse from the coming Interdominion series at Alexandra Park.
“We worked him right-handed a couple of times at home and he didn’t like it.
“Even if he handled it 100%, he was still going to have to race the good horses, so it wasn’t going to be easy.
“So while they are away, hopefully we can have a bit of a play down here.”
Nandolo was one of several runners who had to run wide on the home turn in the New Zealand Cup after both San Carlo and Mach Shard produced shock failures and drifted backwards.
“He didn’t disgrace himself. If he didn’t have to come wide he might have only been beaten three or four lengths instead of seven lengths,” Howe said.
Despite being the veteran of 29 starts, Nandolo has shown he still has plenty to learn about racing by pulling hard and making other mistakes during his spring campaign.
Howe is hopeful more time at the top level will help the horse develop into a more seasoned professional and therefore more competitive in New Zealand’s biggest races.
Nandolo produced a sizzling finishto reel in the leader, Heisenberg, who had pinched a break on the field in run home on Saturday.
Nandolo scored by a neck on the line with Heisenberg holding second, and Smokin By third.
