Bonny wee mare continues to bring the thrills
Matt Markham - Raceform • July 4th, 2025 10:00 AM • 4 min read
Lawrence McCormick still has to pinch himself some days when he looks out the window and sees Vertigo standing in the paddock at his Ashburton stables.
Bought for $2,900 as a young horse, the chestnut mare by the unfashionable stallion Peak has turned out to be one of the most astute buys through online auction website Gavelhouse with a return of more than 40 times the initial outlay for McCormick and his owners.
There’s luck involved there, sure, but to win 11 races and place on 17 occasions shows there’s a little bit more than just good fortune at play.
“We did get lucky,” McCormick told RaceForm. “Gavin Smith had her initially and he’d done a great job, but she was a little bit on the weak side. When she went up online, I asked him about her and he was quick to say she’d be worth a look at. As it has turned out, that’s one of the best decisions I’ve made, the one to buy her.”
Now a seven-year-old, Vertigo has won at least once in each of the past four seasons and the placement by McCormick is clearly evident as she’s worked her way up and down the rating system to maximise the return for her connections.
“She’s been a pretty good horse for the rating system. There’s definitely a mark higher up that’s a little too rich for her most of the time, but when she gets into that right grade and in the right race, then she’s really competitive.”
That was evident last Friday night as she burst up the lane to win impressively, first up after a month away from the track, underlining McCormick’s conditioning ability with a horse.
He wasn’t expecting the win, but did admit to having a few thoughts about things potentially panning out well.
“She has always gone well fresh, especially over the 1980-metre mobiles, so I did think she could run a good race. But to win was a bit of a surprise, especially in the manner in which she did, because she did it so easily.”
Noted for her exemplary stand start manners, that Vertigo is also equally as proficient when behind the mobile puts her in a rare category of trotters who are dangerous in both. But that’s just Vertigo according to McCormick – a horse who doesn’t tend to worry about much, if anything at all.
“She’s pretty relaxed, not much fazes her to be fair. I think what’s helped is that I’ve never really had to go to the well with her, she’s always been a horse we’ve handled pretty quietly.
“You don’t see me out launching her three wide and attacking the speed in races. Yes, she might step away quickly and compete for a handy spot early, but then she’s generally going to sleep just off the speed and that’s been a huge help.”
While the numbers already make for impressive reading, there’s still plenty ahead for Vertigo and her connections to get excited about.
She’ll step out at Addington again this Friday night to compete in the first heat of the Silk Road Series for the higher-rated horses – yes, taking on something a little stronger than last week, but still a field within her range.
“I think she’s still got a fair bit ahead of her still. We’ve been lucky that we haven’t had too many injury issues with her and she’s been able to handle the racing.
“As long as she’s happy and sound, we’ll press on with her for now. She’s got a bit of residual value now as a broodmare, given she’s pretty well-bred, so eventually she’ll head in that direction.”
McCormick has the total sum of two racehorses in his care at the moment and can boast the proud record of a 100 percent strike rate for last weekend after Father Mike followed in the footsteps of Vertigo by winning on Sunday.
Also purchased as a young horse, Father Mike has been a work in progress for his trainer, but after a long spell he appears to have come back a much more mature trotter.
“I’ve always liked him, but he’s had a few gait issues at times and caused a bit of frustration. I was taking him into Ashburton not that long ago and he could get around there, which was a bit concerning, but slowly he got better and he’s been very safe this time in so far.”
After two eye-catching efforts in his first two runs back from the spell, McCormick took bad luck out of the equation on Sunday and allowed Father Mike to work into race during the middle stages and he held too many guns for his rivals.
“I think, given the way he won, that the next grade up won’t offer him too many problems because he’s just getting better and better with time and racing.”
The weekend double gave McCormick his 30th win as a trainer from very limited numbers. He has trained 22 of those on his own account, while another eight came when in partnership with Chauntel Kentish.
And, with horses like Vertigo and Father Mike in the barn, there’s every chance those numbers are going to just keep on increasing – proving that you don’t always need the big teams to get the big results.
