Patience to pay off with Pinseeker
Matt Markham - Raceform • December 30th, 2025 11:56 AM • 3 min read
A decision to bypass races like the Invercargill Cup and instead focus on a two-race summer programme with the talented but enigmatic pacer could pay off over the next few weeks, and everything Cox is seeing and feeling at home has him hopeful.
“We could have easily headed south for Invercargill, but right now we’re better off picking and choosing our battles a wee bit and having him ready for those rather than just chasing everything,” Cox told RaceForm.
“He showed in the New Zealand Cup that he’s probably still not quite ready for that really big occasion, and by picking what we want to be in, it’s a bit easier to manage him and keep him where we need him to be.”
Unsighted since he finished third behind Esmeralda in the Methven Green Mile, Pinseeker has been kept up to the mark at home and a final serious piece of work over the weekend at Ashburton ticked all the boxes Cox needed to make the trip to Omakau on Friday for the Ranfurly Transport Ltd Central Otago Cup.
“It was the first of the two races we identified we wanted to chase with him, and we’ve been building to that. I’ve been really happy with him at home, he’s a happy horse who is feeling really bright and fresh.”
Pinseeker finished third in the same race behind Mo’unga 12 months ago, but Cox is convinced he’s got a much stronger prospect on his hands now than he did back then.
He’s since made his way right up to open class, tackling races like The Race by Betcha and doing enough to convince his connections he was worth a trip to Queensland for the Inter Dominion series.
“He’s still got a bit of maturing to do, he can be a bit funny at times, but the racing this year has really helped him and he’ll keep getting better.”
Pinseeker will start from the outside of the front line in the Group Three feature, with key rivals like Wag Star, Harrison John and Franco Sinatra drawn inside him and Alta Meteor on the second row.
“It’s a good field and the draw doesn’t help us much, but his speed should take him a long way provided he can relax and do everything right.”
After a big trip down to Central Otago for the first of his two major assignments, Pinseeker will head home and regroup before heading in the other direction for the next challenge.
“All going well, he’ll head up to Nelson the following week, but only for the second day where there is a Free-For-All mile which should really suit him.”
Cox will also have the promising trotter Prestigious on the float to Omakau for the first day of the Central Otago circuit, which also takes in Roxburgh and Cromwell. The well-bred four-year-old has had just the three starts but has shown plenty of promise.
“We’ve always liked him, he was being aimed toward the Harness 5000 but got a bit crook so we had to back right off him.
“He’s had a couple of trials to get ready and they’ve been good enough without being great. He’ll just keep getting better with racing under his belt, but is a horse we think can go on and do a pretty good job.”
Prestigious will take on a smart field in the lower-grade trot on Omakau’s programme, which includes former Australian pacer-turned-trotter He Aint Fakin as well as impressive Gore winner Major Fear.
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