John Wheeler’s conditioning skills were again evident when he produced the injury-plagued El Patron to grind down his rivals for top honours in the Grand National Steeplechase on Saturday 10th August 2013. ”The master Bell Block horse trainer brought the 10-year-old back from the wilderness with the Racecourse Hotel & Motor Lodge-sponsored feature in mind and it was mission accomplished at Riccarton on Saturday. Raced by Wheeler and New Plymouth businessman Jim Martin, El Patron finished third in the Koral on the opening day of the meeting in what was his first sight of the big fences since he had won a steeplechase at Rotorua in 2009. “I love winning races and winning the Grand National with this horse in unbelievable – just fantastic,” Wheeler said.
