Peter McKay reached the pinnacle of New Zealand racing with Puccini and now the Matamata trainer is vying to reach the same heights with his son, Wolfgang (NZ).
The promising juvenile became his sire’s first stakes performer when he finished runner-up to Quattro Quinta by a half head in the Listed Wellesley Stakes (1000m) at Trentham last month.
McKay was pleased with his run and said his charge is improving with every start.
“It was a really good run and he had improved a lot off his previous start, which we were hoping for,” McKay said.
“He has always shown he has got the ability, he’s just not known how to turn it on.
“When he came home I was going to give him a week off, but he started bouncing around and carrying on after about three days. He got through the run so easily. That’s a feather in his cap to be like that.”
Wolfgang will once again meet Quattro Quinta in the Gr.3 Woburn Farm 2YO Stakes (1200m) at New Plymouth on Saturday and McKay is hoping the step back up to 1200m will suit his charge this weekend.
“At Taranaki, if the speed gets on around that corner, I am not sure whether that will suit him or not. Hopefully the 1200m suits him,” he said.
Having trained his sire, McKay said there are not a lot of similarities between the two.
“He has just done everything we have asked and he has a bit of presence about him,” McKay said.
“The only similarity between him and Puccini is that everything he does he keeps improving on. That’s what you want to see.
“Whatever he is doing at the moment is a bonus and he will improve on once he gets to a three-year-old.
“I have got a couple of Puccini's at the moment and they are really nice horses. I wouldn’t mind getting a few more.”
Wolfgang is raced by Peter and his wife Kim in partnership with Mapperley Stud’s Simms Davison, who stands Puccini at his Matamata farm.
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