WARRIOR CHIEF REPEAT
Warrior Chief has had two long periods without racing: from October 2022 to December 2023 and from May 2024 to April 2025.
He had one win as a two-year-old and was undefeated in one start at three. As a four-year-old, he won three times from twelve starts and was placed seven times.
Thursday night’s victory was his first since May 2024.
“When he won his race as a two-year-old he broke his back leg. He came back from that and has stringed together a few wins. He was favorite for the Kurow Cup (August 2024) and we had to scratch him. He started having pain in his front leg and had a bit of heat in his foot,” said trainer Jamie Gameson.
Numerous tests have been conducted with no clear results.
“I was there one day and I told the vet I wasn’t going to leave until we figured out what was going on. I said, ‘let’s just start at a certain point and go right over him.’ Fortunately, we started at the top. He had pain in the C6 and C7 vertebrae in his neck.”
After returning to work, it hurt again, this time in the back.
“We tried another vet and she did a lot of work on his sacroiliac leg. She’s done a lot of work on cattle horses in Australia. Many of them would do the same thing that happened to him.”
The sacroiliac joint in a horse is a critical load-bearing joint that connects the spine to the pelvis. It acts as a stabilizer for the transfer of power from the hindquarters.
“We ended up injecting his sacroiliac and other places in his hindquarters. With a long period of time and good rehabilitation, we finally got him back on the track.”
Gameson says the time he was away did Warrior Chief a lot of good.
“A lot of vets have learned a lot from him. It’s been a real learning curve. Natalie trained him as a dressage horse for three or four months to try to get him stronger. The water walker has helped with that.”
Gameson says the gelding has been an excellent patient.
“It made it a lot easier. We knew he would be a good patient because he was in a box when he broke his leg. It was about getting him through the rehab, doing all the little things along the way, before we could really put him in the cart and do some quick work.”
This campaign Warrior Chief had three starts at Addington for an 8e4e and 11e followed by a 7e at Rangiora. He started at Marlborough on both days before running 10e in Addington late last month.
“We were quite disappointed last week with the way he gave it away. Craig and I talked and we agreed that we just had to get some of his confidence back and knock him out cold. We hoped that they would go hard, that he would follow them and get over the top and that’s how it worked.”
In Thursday’s race, Warrior Chief settled in at a high pace and cruised home to beat Captain Kobe by a head.
“He can just follow the speed all day long and he just loves the 2600 meters.”
Warrior Chief is owned by Graeme Trist, Robbie and Linda Pankhurst, Georgie Bolton, her partner Joe Moody, Georgie’s grandfather Rex Montgomery, Gary Lee and Jamie and Natalie Gameson.
“Robbie and Linda are our neighbors down the road. They’ve never had a horse. They’re arable farmers and very sociable. Rex is from Kaikoura and so am I. I’ve known him all my life. I did my butcher training and one day I slipped and cut the main artery in my leg. His wife was one of the nurses who saved my life. Rex is maybe eighty-six and he gets a real kick out of it. Georgie works with Nat (at HRNZ) Gary takes a stake in every horse we have. It’s a good crew out there most of the time. We’ve had some pretty cool nights at the races.
Warrior Chief is out of Trist’s good racing mare Here We Go Again who won eleven races including the Listed Caduceus Club of Southland Two Year Old Classic and the G2 Ladyship Stakes.
Here We Go Again gave both Jamie and driver Tim William their first group success.
“Graeme has been our owner for about twenty-five years. He is a very loyal man and one of those great old owners who just lets you do what you need to do. He just loves racing.”
As he heads into his fifth season of racing, Gameson says: “I am hopeful that he will continue to puff as we care for him.”
For full race results, click here.
Through Bruce Stewartfor Harnesslink
#chef