Stapleton stable chases more success on annual Blenheim sojourn
Matt Markham - Raceform • January 15th, 2026 12:44 PM • 4 min read
He’s the first to admit that they’re a little further behind the eight-ball than they would have liked, but Deane Stapleton also knows most will be surprised with how forward his and his father’s team are for the two-day Blenheim meeting this weekend.
A lack of workouts and trials in the Mid Canterbury region over the past month have left the father-and-son duo chasing their tails a little as they tried to prepare a big team for their annual trip up to the top of the South Island, but the luxury of being able to use one of the best grass track surfaces in the country to prepare on has them as ready as they can be.
“We would have loved to have been able to get a good workout into them within the past couple of weeks, but there just haven’t been any, so we’ve had to try and do it ourselves,” Stapleton told RaceForm.
“Luckily we’re not far away from the Methven track, so we’ve been able to take them in there and get the work into them that they need. It doesn’t quite measure up to an actual run, but it’s pretty close.”
It means that punters looking at races on Friday that involve runners from the Rakaia barn may want to apply some caution both in selecting and ignoring their runners.
“You can never be quite sure how it’s going to pan out, but we’re very happy with all of them. Obviously they’ll improve a little bit with the racing, but they are as ready as they can be.”
A two-strong attack in the Marlborough Cup Prelude will see both runners well supported.
Lester is a noted performer in the country cups grade and was excellent through the later stages of last year at Addington in good fields, while Wild Willow returns to Blenheim having won last year’s Marlborough Cup.
“He (Wild Willow) was only 50/50 to go there at one stage, but I took him into Methven late last week and he worked superbly, and off that you couldn’t not go with him.
“It was good work out wide on the track and he did it really well. We all know he’s a pretty good horse on his day and he’s heading back in the right direction.
“What I would say is that off 20 metres on Friday, it is going to be tough for him and we’ll probably look to drive him pretty quietly, but he’s still a good chance because he’s a very good horse.”
The winner of five races, Wild Willow last raced at Addington back in June when finishing fifth behind Franco Sinatra.
Stablemate Lester brings form that is a little more recent to the party, having placed in behind the likes of Amass and J T Boe at Addington during December. The half-brother to open-class pacer Alta Meteor has Blenheim form on the board too, finishing third in the 2024 Marlborough Cup behind Double Time.
“He’s a great wee horse, always has been. He’s probably the one I would have loved most to have gotten a workout into, but he’s so genuine and races pretty well fresh that I don’t think it’ll worry him.
“He’s got to be driven quietly, we all know that, but Kim (Kimberly Butt) knows him well and how to best handle him. I think, on his work, if he was to get a nice drag into it at the right time and was able to unleash, I'd be pretty disappointed if he didn’t get a decent slice of it on Friday.”
Like Wild Willow, Lester is a five-race winner and a noted stand start exponent which will mean his 10-metre handicap is eaten up pretty quickly and should have him settling in the first half of the field which will have him right in play.
Outside of their Prelude and Cup contenders, there’s a multitude of chances for the stable during the day, but it’s Kairaki Spur who Stapleton was keen to point out as the best of their hopes.
“I think he should win one up there, he’s going super races at the moment and is going from strength to strength.”
He’s been eye-catching in all of his last three runs in behind Waterloo Station at Timaru, Franco Josiah at Oamaru and then Love Walked In at Motukarara last time out when fourth.
“He just gets out of his ground a little early, but he’s got the speed there. If he could be a bit closer to them this week, then he will be running on better than most I would imagine.”
Scarlett’s Legacy drops out of the Harness 5000 for her assignment, looking to replicate her efforts at the meeting last year where she won on the first day and then ran second on day two.
“Her form doesn’t tell the story of how she’s actually going, we’re pretty happy with her and if she could get a nice run through from the second row, she can give them some cheek.”
Maiden trotters Tommy and Help Me both looked live chances in their trot until race winners with low ratings were accepted into the race off a 30-metre handicap as well, but both are worth following and Ivona Dadic might be the smokey for the barn in the first of the day.
“She’s really come on since her run at Timaru the other day, she just raced a bit lethargically but if we can get her up on the bit and travelling a bit better, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she went close in that field.”
CLICK HERE to subscribe to RaceForm and get your copy delivered each week.
