Chris Bothwell has got his hands on the final golden ticket for the $350,000 Remutaka Classic (1600m) at Trentham on Saturday-week, and the Stratford trainer couldn’t be more excited.

He will head to the inaugural running of the rich feature with his six-year-old mare Roulade, who broke through for her maiden win at the most opportune time when taking out the Palamountains Animal Nutrition Maiden 2040 at Wanganui on Thursday, a ballot exempt race for the Remutaka Classic.

Bothwell went into the race relatively confident, with Roulade having finished runner-up in her last start at Otaki over a mile.

“She has been knocking on the door for a while now, so it was great to get the win,” Bothwell said.

“With New Plymouth getting abandoned it gave her one last chance to try and get a slot in that race (Remutaka Classic).

“Winning your maiden to qualify for a $350,000 race doesn’t happen very often.”

The lightly-raced six-year-old has been plagued by injury during her career, spending more than a year on the sidelines after a leg injury in 2021, and Bothwell said things just haven’t gone her way up until now.

“We had a few things go wrong with her along the way. She had a leg injury a couple of years ago which put her out for 12 months,” he said. “She is a Zed that loves Good tracks and last year wasn’t much of a summer for them and she has just taken a while to learn the trade.”

Bothwell said the win also continued Roulade’s breeder and co-owner Bill Stewart’s golden run this year.

“Mum and I went for a drive down there (Waitotara) a few years ago to have a look at a few of the horses in his paddock. We liked Roulade so we grabbed her and my uncle put a syndicate together,” Bothwell said.

“Dad and Bill had a lot of horses together over the years and after Dad passed away we got Nod and I have got another half-brother to Roulade (Waitotara Warrior), and he had his first trial at Foxton and he goes pretty smart. Her full-sister (Regal Dice) won the Kumara Gold Nuggets, so Bill isn’t having a bad week.

“Bill has been breeding for a long time. He has been quiet over the last few years, but he has bred some nice horses.

Bothwell is now excited to head to Trentham next week and has hailed the introduction of the innovation race.

“When the race first got announced, she was the type of horse that was perfect for it,” he said.

“You don’t have to have the best horse in the country to set for the race. A couple of ideas that they have brought up, like the Remutaka Classic, have given the smaller trainers a chance. It has also given the horses that have got the ability, but things have gone wrong and they have taken a bit of time to get up, something to aim towards.”

Other winners of Remutaka golden ticket races include Iffididit, Final Return, Nereus, Hanakin, and Mineshaft.