Jumps racing often gives thoroughbreds a second career on the track, and for Lucy de Lautour, it serves as a perfect transition into life on the hunt field.

The Waipukurau horsewoman prepares a small team of jumpers, while regularly hunting with the Hawke’s Bay Hunt Club alongside her husband Will. For over a decade, the couple have welcomed a number of retired hurdlers and steeplechasers into their team of hunters, many of which had a decorated career on the track.

The first of them was Barado, a three-win steeplechaser prepared by Paul Nelson and owned by the I See Red Syndicate, of which the de Lautours are a part of.

“When we moved to Waipukurau, we were given Barado after he retired from racing and he was the first off-the-track thoroughbred that we hunted,” she said. “He was an amazing, safe hunter, and it all just went from there.”

Following Barado, the family were offered another progeny of Bahhare in Brushman, Mark Oulaghan’s two-time Wellington Steeplechase winner, and Ho Down, an eight-race winner for Nelson, including an Awapuni Hurdle and Hawke’s Bay Hurdles.

Each of them made a seamless transition into their new lives and were often ridden by de Lautour’s children, while never losing their athleticism, stamina and jumping ability.

“We feel very privileged to be entrusted with these horses and to give them another life after they’ve finished racing,” de Lautour said. “They are kind, willing and a real credit to their former trainers.

“They’ll be turned out at the end of the jumping season, and some will go straight away the following year, while others will have a year off if they need it.

“Generally, we’ve found if they have good natures and are sensible, they transition into hunting really well. Some of them have found it a little bit exciting initially, but after a few hunts and recognising what’s going on, they start to settle and really enjoy themselves.

“Particularly with Brushman, Ho Down and Barado in the earlier days, they were incredibly genuine and I put my children on them to hunt without any concern.

“They adapt to jumping wire really well, we practice at home over smaller fences, but they have good brains and recognise that they aren’t able to brush through the jumps as they would in a race. They’re very respectful of the fences.

“They have an incredible ability to cover the ground, they go all day and recover very quickly as opposed to some of the crossbred horses.

“They’ve all been very sound. Even those that may have had injuries in the past have stayed sound throughout their time hunting. It has certainly been dependant on each individual and their general wellbeing, but several have continued hunting right into their late teens.”

Now aged 22 and 23, the original trio of hunters are living out their retirement on the hills at the Nelson and de Lautour farms, and they have welcomed the likes of high-class hurdler No Change and Group One performer Peso.

As she always hoped to do, de Lautour is now hunting a couple of her own former jumpers, including another Hawke’s Bay Hurdle winner in Kipkeino and Great Northern Steeplechase placegetter Donardo.

“Kipkeino and Donardo were horses I trained myself, and both have transitioned into hunting very well,” she said. “We’ve also purchased a couple of thoroughbreds to hunt, with Swift (trained by Harvey Wilson), and The Huntsman, who was trained by Kevin Myers.

“Over the years, people have been amazed watching horses that have raced for eight or nine years to step into a new life and adapt to the environment so well.

“They have a holiday when hunting finishes at the end of July and they’ll come back in during December, meaning they can have a nice, slow build-up and be ready when the season starts at the end of March.

“They absolutely love it, they’re very excited when the truck comes out.”