Pep Torque clerking at Woodville on Wednesday.  Photo: Peter Rubery (Race Images Palmerston North)

Stakes winner embracing new clerking role

Jess de Lautour, LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
1 May 2025

Kirsty Lawrence felt the same sense of pride watching Pep Torque step into his new career on Wednesday as she has in any of his 10 victories on the track.

An 11-year-old by Nadeem, Pep Torque has been a consistent campaigner for the Waipukurau trainer since she and her husband Steve purchased him for just $2,600 off gavelhouse.com in 2017. In the eight seasons that followed, Pep Torque won 10 races, including the Listed Feilding Gold Cup (2100m), and placed in Listed Kaimai Stakes (2000m).

His career drew to a close at Te Rapa on April 13, and just over a fortnight later, Pep Torque was the clerk of the course for the first time at the Woodville races.

“He’s always been a super quiet dude to have around the stables, he wanders out on the track and when he’d gallop at Waipukurau, he’d be pulled up by the crossing eating grass on the course proper,” Lawrence said.

“As a racehorse he never did more than he had to, and in his last run at Te Rapa, he just sat with his foot rested there waiting. It was all a bit of a whirlwind after that, we had the trials here at Waipuk on Tuesday and we took the track hack out there, but he was playing up, so ‘Ozzie’ ended up doing the whole trials because he was so quiet.

“I’ve had a long connection with Sarah Brosnahan, who is clerking at Woodville. She had two horses and likes to have a third while she’s clerking, so I said I would bring him and see what he’s like. He was absolutely perfect, he was such a dream and it showcases how special thoroughbreds really are.

“I probably got as much pride out of watching him yesterday as I did when he won the Feilding Gold Cup. We hatched a plan with Kate Hercock (jockey) to get him to that race and we won that, which was very cool. Kate calls him the old bugger, she did all the work with him and I get a bit teary watching the replay when she crossed the line and ruffles his neck and forelock.

“It was a real team effort and he was the little horse that everyone loved.” 

Although the Feilding Gold Cup was a big highlight, Pep Torque always seemed to know when it was time to perform.

“In his first win, he won over 1000m at Tauherenikau,” Lawrence said. “My best friend’s husband had committed suicide two days prior to the races, and he ran with a blue armband on for depression. He came out and won that race, and George (Simon, race caller) was quite choked up when they crossed back to him.

“Eight of his 10 wins were with apprentice riders on, so he’s given a real boost to a lot of the riders. He had three wins at Trentham with Charlotte O’Beirne on him, one of those he was paying about $74 during Wellington Carnival time.

“Everyone needs a little pep talk every now and then, and when you’re having a tough time, he’s always been that horse to give people opportunities.”

While Pep Torque may have retired from his first career, he’ll remain in Lawrence’s stable in preparation for his clerking duties.

“He loves being in the stable, Susan (Best) who works for me is in the ownership of him and he is her absolute pet, she calls him Favourite Brown,” she said. “He’ll just stay ticking around, working with the babies and live the life he’s accustomed too.

“I’m thankful to Sarah, she trusted me that he would be a good horse, and she’s had about six of my off the track thoroughbreds now.

“I’m really stoked for him to have a job, it’s pretty cool for thoroughbreds to do clerking and his only issue is that he’s not grey.”

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