Consistent Gelding Gets The Cash In Country Championships Final

Betterthancash (NZ) (Art Major) scored the biggest result of his career at Addington Raceway last Friday when taking out the Listed Country Championship Final (3200m).

From his inside draw behind the 10m tape, the son of Art Major settled three back on the marker pegs, and was gradually pushed back to midfield as the race unfolded.

Driver Robbie Close didn’t panic and a gap presented itself when the field strung out in the last lap when trying to keep up with breakaway leader Pinseeker (NZ) (Downbytheseaside), who got out to an eight length lead down the back straight.

Close asked Betterthancash to take chase and he made up a tonne of ground coming from the pack to run down the leader to win by 1-¼ lengths over The Surfer (NZ) (Downbytheseaside), with a further half head back to Pinseeker in third.

Trainer Regan Todd was a happy man following the race and said it was a deserved victory for the consistent pacer.

“We were very happy, it was a great one to win, especially having to race in all of those heats to make the final,” the Yaldhurst horseman said.

“We thought he’d need a bit of luck after drawing one on the second row, and just the way it panned out we got very lucky when Jonny’s (Cox) one (Pinseeker) latched on in front, otherwise it wouldn’t have opened up. He did well to make up as much ground as he did.”

Betterthancash was purchased by Todd out of Robert Anderson’s 2022 NZB Standardbred National Yearling Sale draft in Christchurch for $62,500, with a close relation being the major driving factor in his sale.

“(Part-owners) Gary and Keryn Woodham had a lot of luck with (Group One performer) Cash N Flow, and he was out of that breed. He did a great job in Australia for them,” Todd said.

The victory continued a stellar season for Betterthancash’s other part-owners Phil and Glenys Kennard, who also share in the ownership of stablemate Marketplace (NZ) (Bettor’s Delight), a fellow NZB Standardbred graduate who has continued to make waves as a three-year-old, adding two further Group One victories to his record.

“They have had a great start to the season with Marketplace and this fella, and hopefully it continues with all of the others,” Todd said.

Marketplace is currently enjoying a well-deserved spell in preparation for further elite-level targets later in the year.

“We will give him a month to five weeks out and then we will get him ready for the backend of the year,” Todd said. “We have been very lucky. It’s been a huge team effort and long may it continue.”

Meanwhile, there has been plenty of interest in Betterthancash from overseas interests following Friday’s victory, and while his racing future could be offshore, Todd is still looking towards some spring features if a sale doesn’t develop. 

“We are just going to let the dust settle,” he said. “There has been a bit of interest in him overseas, so we will just see what happens, otherwise we will have him ready for those races around the middle of September.”

With the success Todd is having on the track with NZB Standardbred graduates, he is looking to return to Karaka next month for the Weanling Sale in a bid to try and find his next star.

Todd has plenty of success buying out of the Weanling Sale, highlighted by Group Two performer Forever Dream (NZ) (Downbytheseaside), who he purchased out of Woodlands Stud’s 2022 draft for $22,000.

Vendor	R. G. Anderson
Purchaser	Mr RW Todd
Owner(s)	Mrs G J Kennard, P I Kennard, G A Hand, Mrs K J Woodham, G A Woodham
Breeding	Art Major - Betterthankaty
Sale	2022 National Standardbred Yearling Sale, Christchurch ($62,500)
Breeder(s)	R G Anderson, M J Stevens