Jared Udy and Denise Cottam celebrate success at Cambridge

Wild Kiwi is a standout performer in the Udy/Cottam kennel. Photo credit: Yvette Bodiam.

Te Kauwhata trainers Jared Udy and Denise Cottam had a day to remember at Cambridge on Thursday, when the couple bagged five winners on the card.

Their winning streak got underway in Race 4, where Thrilling Tucker caused an upset to score at $10.60. His victory was followed by Get Me Home in Race 6 ($11.10), Jam Packed in Race 7 ($4.70), My Mate Speight in Race 9 ($14.50) and Wild Kiwi in Race 10 ($4.60).

Remarkably, not one them was a favourite. In fact, a $1 all-up bet on their five winners would have returned $36,885.

“It was a great day,” says co-trainer Jared Udy.

“Especially with the double stakes. I think the only better day we had was when we went down to Christchurch and Buddy Boom won the Galaxy!”

Wild Kiwi, in particular, is a standout dog in the Udy/Cottam kennel currently. He clocked 21.05 in winning on Thursday – the quickest of the day – and he’s now won 19 races from 79 starts.

“He’s a super dog,” enthuses Udy. “He’s a dog that will go great for 10 or so starts, then he might start to get a niggle in his shoulder. We then have to back him off and freshen him up, and he comes back better than ever every single time.”

For Udy and Cottam, it’s been a difficult few months. Being based in Te Kauwhata, they’ve been victims of Covid-19 enforced restrictions.

“We’ve been in lockdown. We weren’t even allowed to race or attend trials at Cambridge for a few weeks. We had to modify the property a bit and work the dogs a bit harder.

“Realistically, we’ve probably only got half a dozen dogs that like racing at Cambridge. The rest are all deadest Auckland dogs, and obviously we haven’t been able to race there.

“But they’ve had a chance to stick at the Cambridge track for a few weeks in a row. They’ve been getting fitter over the 375m and the extra work we’ve been doing at home as well paid off.

“All of that added up to the day we had on Thursday! On paper, we weren’t expecting a day like that – but it’s nice when it happens.”

By Liz Whelan