3 minute read

Promising hurdler Field Daze has paved the way for a trio of friends to share further in the delights of winning races after four-year-old gelding Dez made it two wins from two starts with an impressive performance at Otaki this weekend.

Simon Wilson, Sam Lennox and Paul Mitchell race Dez with Wilson training the son of Zed after he had undergone his early education with Lennox at his Waverley base. It was Wilson who had found the horse for his friends after they decided to get another horse through the success of Field Daze.

“We’ve been mates for years and we all go duck shooting together,” explained Lennox.

“When Field Daze won at Rotorua as a maiden we decided we would look around for another one to race together.

“Simon said he had a neighbour who was looking to sell a Zed colt so he went and had a look at him and we ended up buying him out of the paddock.

“I did most of the early work on him but the plan was always to have Simon train him. He had a trial as a two-year-old but got bad splints after it so he had to have six months in the paddock before we could bring him back into work.

“It worked in his favour as he has been slow to mature and probably won’t be at his best for another twelve months.”

Lennox and the team aren’t getting carried away with the gelding’s form to date although he admits the gelding is an exciting prospect.

“He really hasn’t beaten much so far but I guess you can only beat what you are up against,” he said.

“He did it nicely on the weekend and the best part of his race was the last 200 metres where he really stretched out.

“The next question is whether he will go on a better track which we will most likely find out at his next start.

“He will have one more run in this campaign and then we will put him aside until the autumn. If he shows he can measure up on a better track then I guess we have a lot to look forward to.”