Regal Dice capped a dream first week of 2024 for trainer Robbie Patterson with her victory in the iconic $40,000 Kumara Gold Nuggets (1810m) on Saturday.
Remarkably, that was Patterson's eighth win in the last four days. The New Plymouth trainer collected a win at Greymouth on Wednesday, followed by four winners at Otaki on Thursday and a treble in front of Saturday's huge crowd at Kumara.
Earlier on the Kumara card, Patterson teamed up with jockey Craig Grylls for front-running victories with O'Ceirins Dream and Snipers Dream in maiden and Rating 65 events over the Nuggets distance. They attempted to do the same thing with Times Up in the main event, but a high-pressure pace began to take its toll 500m from the finish.
It was stablemate Regal Dice who capitalised as the race suddenly changed complexion, coming up towards the home turn. After settling second-last in a strung-out field, rider Kylie Williams switched across heels and swooped around the outside of the field.
By the time she reached the turn into the short Kumara straight, Regal Dice had burst to the lead and was literally going for the gold.
Hail Damage provided the sternest challenge, chasing gamely along the inside and clawing back the margin, but Regal Dice held her at bay and won by 1.75 lengths.
The Gold Nuggets was the fourth win of a 12-start career for Regal Dice, who has now earned $84,770 for the Regal Dice Racing Syndicate. The daughter of Zed was bred by Bill Stewart, whose other notable successes include the Group Two-winning stayer Tinseltown.
“This is great – it's one of those iconic races that everyone loves to win,” Patterson said. “We managed to win the Coupland's Mile (Group 3, 1600m) earlier in the season as well. They're iconic races that mean a lot to people. I'm just really grateful to be here and winning these sorts of races with lovely horses and for good people.
“Bill Stewart bred this horse and is a great mate of mine, and I know he'll be super thrilled with this result too.
“It was a smart ride by Kylie. She said they were going to go crazy out in front, so she just sat back smoking her pipe and then made her run and got the result.
“Gryllsy got away with those front-running tactics in the previous two races, but he couldn't quite do it three times in a row. Regal Dice is just a horse with a lot of stamina, and that's what shone through.”
Saturday's Kumara treble took Patterson to 28 wins for the season, and his runners have now banked more than $1 million in total prize-money through the first half of 2023-24.
“I wanted to break a million for the season, so to get there already, less than halfway through the season, is great,” Patterson said. “I'd love to get to 50 wins for the season again, and maybe pick up another Group race along the way. We'll see what happens. But I've got a great crew of people around me and couldn't have days like this without them.”
Regal Dice also became the first Gold Nuggets winner for Williams, who recently reached a milestone of 900 wins in her outstanding riding career.
“I've always wanted to win the Nuggets,” she said. “I've come second a few times, so to finally win the race is great.
“I actually only picked up the ride yesterday, and I felt a bit better when Robert said he thought she was the better chance of his two and Craig (Grylls) picked the wrong one.
“I said to Robert that there'd be a lot of speed in the race, so I wanted to ride her patiently. At about the 800m I started to get up on heels and in all sorts of trouble, so I elected to come out and let her start to roll forward.
“I thought I might have got there too soon, but to her credit, she held them all out. I could hear the others coming at her, but she kept kicking.”