Greg Hope paid tribute to an often unheard of factor in the success of many of New Zealand’s best horses after the win of Enghien today.
Kerry Estreich isn’t a name that many people would instantly recognise, but the Mid Canterbury horseman is an integral part of many stables around the Canterbury region.
Estreich is the farrier for the Greg and Nina Hope stable, and also does the shoeing work for Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen as well as a number of others and plenty of trainers speak highly of his talents.
“Kerry does a fantastic job, and he’s constantly looking at ways to improve horses through shoeing.
“The work he’s done with Enghien has been a massive part of the reason he’s been going so well, his gait wasn’t perfect but Kerry’s worked on him and got him trotting great at the moment.
“He still reckons he can get more speed out of him too, but we won’t be changing the way he’s been shod at the moment.”
The son of Love You announced himself as the best trotter in the land with his victory in the Lone Star Riccarton Sires’ Stakes 2YO Trot.
He overcame a tricky inside of the second line barrier draw which left him spotting rival, and race favourite, Habibi Inta up to 15 lengths at the one mile, but Ricky May never panicked and cautiously moved forward to find parked heading into the back straight the last time.
“He trotted a lot better once I got him out and rolling,” May said.
“It’s pretty tough going out there with the wind so it was a good effort to get around them and still win like he did.”
After drawing level with Habibi Inta at the 400 metre mark, Enghien cleared out at the top of the straight and waltzed his way to victory by three and a half lengths.
“His staying ability is quite impressive,” Hope said.
“He just loves to keep on rolling, Ricky summed him up perfectly.”
In winning, the Hope and Richard Dellaca, who own the gelding, not only picked up the $29,000 winning prize but also claimed the right to wear the Harness Jewels colours at Cambridge on June 4 – giving the stable their second Jewels leader with Monbet also donning the canary yellow.
Custodian, who will join the stable of Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen after being sold, was the best of the beaten brigade in second while Heavyweight Hero continued his turnaround in form with a strong third.
Habibi Inta faded late to finish in fourth position.
Enghien
Matt Markham