Stratford trainer Tina Egan will head to New Plymouth on Saturday with Chajaba in the hopes that he can turn the tables on Justaskme in the Listed Opunake Cup (1400m).
Justaskme stormed home from the rear of the field last year, belying his 60kg impost, to overtake Chajaba in the concluding stages to win the Taranaki feature.
Egan said Chajaba has had a less-than-ideal lead-up into the race, with his preparation hampered by injury, but she was pleased with his last start runner-up effort behind Wewillrock over 1200m at Te Rapa earlier this month.
“I have set him for it (Opunake Cup) again, but a few things have gone wrong this year, he pulled a muscle, hence why he has only had a couple of runs,” Egan said.
“That (last start) just showed he is coming along well. He always goes well second-up and he grows another leg at New Plymouth.”
While pleased with her charge, Egan is very aware of the level of his opposition this weekend.
“It isn’t a bad field,” she said.
“You have got to respect Justaskme, he had another beautiful run last time too, and he grows another leg at New Plymouth as well.”
Chajaba is a particularly special horse for Egan, who she co-bred and part-owns, and named him after her three children.
“He is lightly raced for a rising eight-year-old. He didn’t start until he was five, you couldn’t catch him,” she said.
“He is named after my three kids – the twins are Chase and Jade, and Bailey – so that is how we got Chajaba, and if he wins, we charge to the bar.
“Before Bailey came along, because she is 10 years younger, we had Chaja. When Bailey came along, we thought we needed a Chajaba and we thought this (horse) might be the last horse we breed. He didn’t have his first proper gallop until he was a five-year-old and I thought he went alright, so we thought we better use that name.”
Egan’s twins’ connection extends into this weekends jockey choice, with apprentice jockey Ciel Butler having a long association with the family.
“We are going to stay loyal to Ciel Butler,” Egan said.
“Ciel is the same age as my twins, and they all went to Stratford High School together.
“She has won two (races) on him and she rides my other team. She has just come back from holiday, so I said to her ‘I hope you are feeling strong’.”
Egan said Chajaba is a quirky character who keeps her on her toes.
“Keanos (sire) have got a reputation for being a bit naughty, and he can be a bit naughty,” she said.
“If he sees something that wasn’t there yesterday, he will do the old exit stage left. This week has been quite interesting.”
Chajaba is the only thoroughbred Egan bred out of his dam Hostage, who is now producing sport horses for a family friend after she became difficult to get in-foal for Egan.
However, if Chajaba continues his winning ways, Hostage may find herself return to a thoroughbred stallion.
“We thought we would go to Keano with something, and we decided to send her,” Egan said.
“We then decided to send her to Complacent and we couldn’t get her back in-foal, so we gave her to a friend to breed sport horses. They walked her through the paddock with the Clydie stallion who served her there and then and she got a foal. She is still breeding and may be served by a thoroughbred stallion, they were talking about The Bold One.”
While a potential sibling could be in the works for Chajaba, Egan is concentrating on her pride and joy for now and is hoping she and her family can ‘charge to the bar’ following a victory this weekend.