Phoenix Warrior's brave win in the inaugural South Of The Waitaki race at Addington yesterday was tinged with frustration for his Makarewa trainer, Tony Barron.
Barron lined up three runners in the first race at New Zealand Cup week to be held solely for horses trained south of the Waitaki River.
The concept was announced by the New Zealand Metropolitan Club in early September, and interest from trainers was positive right up until nominations.
''It's a great concept but I was absolutely gutted with the response,'' Barron said.
''The noms were super at 32, and to drop away to a 10-horse field is very disappointing.
''I hope we don't hear any whinging about Southlanders either racing Cran [Dalgety] or Mark [Purdon]. For $20,000 it's a great concept.''
Just 12 runners accepted for the race, but the scratching of Scherger Royal was followed by that of the Graeme Anderson-trained Mako Banner late on Thursday.
Mako Banner has been sold to big Queensland owner Kevin Seymour and a win in yesterday's race would have incurred a metropolitan penalty in the Australian handicapping system.
''It had to get off the ground and, hopefully, it can continue,'' Barron said.
Phoenix Warrior has now won four from 16, but he keeps Barron on his toes.
''He's just a smart-arse. He's a lovely horse and good-gaited and does everything right. But if you want to turn him at any stage, he goes the other way. He just gets full of himself.''
Josh Kennett is based just north of the Waitaki River at Waimate, but Valmagne gave him a win on Show Day with a bold finish in the c4 and faster trot.
Kennett credited his father, Craig, for doing most of the work with the horse in recent weeks, and the addition of pull-down blinds on Tuesday paid off yesterday.
''It looks like they've helped a lot because it looks like he should be doing better,'' he said.
Kennett rated the win as a career highlight - ''I wasn't really expecting it''.
