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Malcolm Gillum driving Kiltie Boy

The sudden death of Malcolm Gillum occurred in Rakaia last week. Aged 66, he died in the garden after returning from his regular morning walk with his dog.

Gillum was a Templeton trainer whose notable horses were Kiltie Boy and Harvey Wilson, both as young trotters. By Scotch Abbe, and owned by Gillum, Harvey Wilson did not race beyond his 3-year-old career, when he raced 10 times and won six races in succession. He won twice at Hutt Park, followed by the NZ Trotting Stakes in which he was driven by Jack Smolenski to beat Isa Rangi by seven and a half lengths, and then the Rosso Antico Stakes when Gillum handled him to beat Pompano Prince and Gold Horizon.

Kilty Boy, a chestnut entire by Gerry Mir, arrived four years later and raced from two to five, racing 41 times for eight wins and 17 placings. He won three times at three, and three from only seven starts at five. His major wins were over Twinkle and Viva Remero at Addington in 1981, and an open class one from Regal Flyer and Game Pointer the same year. Kiltie Boy went to stud where he sired three winners, notably Happy Highlander, who became the dam of star trotters Glenbogle and Whatsundermykilt.

Gillum was part-owner of the handy First Lord mare Looking Forward, who won her first two races out of Reg Curtin's stable, and four after Gillum took her over himself. He was co-breeder of the good Jamie Hanover mare Bridget O'Flyn, and possibly his last winner was Two Shillelagh.

After leaving Templeton, Gillum trained for some years at Omakau before settling in Rakaia about six years ago. As an administrator, Gillum was a willing worker for licenceholders, serving on the committee of the NZ Trainers' and Drivers' Association and for some years as National President.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 14Feb07

Russell Carter was 84 when he died last week.

An enthusiastic trainer/driver from his Springston farm, Carter's pride and joy was Miss Pert, a mare by Waratah he won nine races with. The biggest was the 1979 New Brighton Cup when she defeated Main Star and Timely Robin.

He drove her in all her wins, and her Inter-Dominion Heat second to Wee Win, but was not in the sulky for her Grand Final third to Rondel and Sapling, giving it instead to Jack Carmichael.

Earlier, he won eight races with Our Smokey, a son of Smokey Hanover who started with Felix Newfield but won his races for Carter. He drove Peterson's Pride to win her first two races for Trevor Mounce, and won two races with the ill-fated Sooties Delight, a Stand Together grand-daughter of Miss Pert's trained for him by Murray Edmonds.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 9May07

The passing of Doris Nyhan last week brought back memories of a truly fairytale chapter in NZ light harness history.

Doris, who had been in private care in recent years with failing sight, would have been 95 next month, but she is survived by husband of 70-odd years Don, 97, and sons Barry 70 and Denis 68. Barry's son Grant has a young daughter, but whether the Nyhan name in harness racing continues beyond the sons and daughters of Barry and Denis remains to be seen. Grant drove a bit in his younger days but is no longer actively involved in the game, while Kim is a licenceholder at Motukarara and has the maiden Spiderman racing at the moment, and Margot is well established as a trainer with partner Peter Davis, but has no children.

Whatever the future holds in that respect, the Nyhans will be forever associated with two of the greatest names to have graced the sport - Johnny Globe and Lordship. As per usual, luck played a large part in the purchase of the first, but Doris owned Lordship after borrowing the U Scott mare Ladyship from the Haslett family and breeding her to Johnny Globe, at a time when the champion pacer was hardly getting a mare in his initial years at stud.

Johnny Globe would be leading sire in NZ for four consecutive years in the early 70s however, and Lordship would continue in the same vein and make the Nyhans' Globe Lodge at Templeton an influential and successful nursery for over three decades and through the 90s. Denis drove Lordship to win 45 races including two NZ Cups before becoming a successful trainer in his own right, with another champion Robalan among others, while Barry managed Globe Lodge for much of Lordship's many years at stud.

Doris was born in Petone to German immigrants, George and Louise Hublitz. "George managed the Gear (freezing) Works at Petone, and I'd say that's where Doris got much of her business acumen from," said Denis. "She was a very well-organised and strong-willed person, and provided the structure to the partnership, which allowed Dad to concentrate on being a horseman without worrying about the peripheral concerns. She provided the backbone of the family and the whole show - she was a quiet achiever while us fellows got the limelight. Behind the scenes she could work with horses as easily as she could give us orders. When it came to raising us, fair to say she was a very no nonsense mother, but she was also very fair," he added.

Don was the son of trainer Dan Nyhan, who won the 1909 Auckland Cup with his own horse Havoc and drove the 1913 winner Jewel Chimes. As a young man Don was working hard to get ahead at Ashurst in the Manawatu in the 1930s when he met Doris and married her in 1936. They soon had two sons, and to 'make ends meet' as a horse trainer Don would get up at 1.30am and do a milk run around Lower Hutt before training the horses at Hutt Park. Doris had no experience with horses when they met, but would often also make the journey to Hutt Park, which would involve her driving the horses over a narrow bridge 'with no sides'.

Their first big break came when Pahiatua breeder F E Ward gave Nyhan a horse to train called Gold Flight. He was a son of Rey de Oro and Slapfast, a mare who had taken a yearling record in America of 2.22 1/4 in 1925 and had been imported soon after by Sir John McKenzie. Slapfast never grew and proved of little account however, and McKenzie sold her for a princely 12 guineas and she wound up with Ward, who had a bad back and needed a driving horse to get around as opposed to a motor vehicle.

After having some success with Slapfast at shows, and given her imported pedigree, Ward was encouraged to breed her to the successful sire Rey de Oro, who had moved to a Central Districts stud in his twilight years. "Gold Flight was a really good, fine looking horse and won around £3000 which was a lot of money during the war years," recalls Denis. Long-time NZ Trotting Calendar editor Karl Scott had been the agent in selling Slapfast to Ward, and subsequently held the little-known sire Sandydale on lease for a season at stud. After persuading Ward to send his mare to Sandydale, Slapfast produced a filly Sandfast which showed Nyhan a promising mile in 2.10 as as 2-year-old in 1942.

Nyhan decided she was worth putting aside to strengthen, but she got out of her paddock and into a nearby swamp, and was discovered buried in a bog up to her neck. After enlisting the help of some boys to get a rope around Sandfast she was saved, but she was never the same after the strain, and she was retired after one unforgettable race. Sandfast first had a colt by the Jack Potts horse Conflagrate, but she killed that one, before producing a colt by the supremely tough Globe Derby horse Logan Derby, who had also moved into the area to stand at stud not long after retiring from a long and grand racing career.

When Ward's wife passed away and he decided to return to his homeland of England, he offered the Logan Derby-Sandfast colt to the Nyhans. Don was not at all impressed with the pot-bellied and worm ridden weanling though, and also in the back of his mind was a desire to move his family to a new property in Canterbury. Out of sentimentality spurred by Gold Flight, Doris decided to hand over £50 she had been saving towards a fur coat, or "so the story goes, according to Don".

Intending to build the colt up with a view to selling and recouping the outlay, Don had a change of heart when he broke the colt in at 10 months and he showed him a half mile in a remarkable 66. The Nyhans had moved to Templeton by the time Johnny Globe won the 1950 Timaru Nursery 2YO Stakes, and the rest as they say is history. While troubled by his feet for much of his career, the legacy of standing around in swampy ground as a foal, Johnny Globe careered away with the NZ and Great Northern Derbys and almost tore off the NZ Cup the next season, at a time when only two other 4-year-olds had even attempted the race, some three decades prior. Johnny Globe was the leading stakewinner that season though with 8 wins and over £9000, and the stake for his close second to Van Dieman in the £7500 Cup alone was more than enough to build a good house.

Starting a hot favourite for the Cup the next year, Johnny Globe collapsed soon after the start and almost died, while the next year he was a certainty beaten when second to Adorian after losing 60 yards in an early skirmish. Having his fourth attempt as a 7-year-old in 1954, little 'Johnny' was given little chance from 48 yards with the likes of the brilliant Rupee off the front, but he would not be denied this day and returned to scenes never before or since witnessed at Addington. At the time wrote 'Ribbonwood' ..."World record pacing figures of 4.07 3/5 were returned by the indomitable dynamo of character and courage, Johnny Globe, in wrestling NZ Cup honours from Young Charles and Rupee after the most scorching and thrilling stayers' epic in harness racing the world over. And his trainer/driver, D G Nyhan, richly deserved all the compliments and congratulations showered upon him. Nyhan had come in for some trenchant criticism of his driving of Johnny Globe in some of his past races. Whether it was all merited is of no moment now. On Tuesday, Don's handling of 'Johnny' was in every sense a masterpiece: the perfect understanding and harmony between horse and driver was an inspiration."

Johnny Globe would retire as a 9-year-old as the winner of 34 races (including a record 15 FFAs) from 99 starts and £42,887, a record for a standardbred or thoroughbred raced solely in NZ. He was officially farewelled at Addington in December, 1956, when a huge crowd emotionally cheered and sang as a band played 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home'.

And as if one champion in a lifetime was not enough, not long after he sired another for the Nyhans in Lordship, who through the 60s would win two NZ Cups and rewrite many of his sire's records, including stakemoney and FFA races won. "Johnny Globe was not a very fashionably bred horse at the time - he suffered the prejudice against 'colonial-breds' even though his grandam was imported. He got four mares in his first season and sired (top 2YO and aged trotter) Au Fait and half a dozen mares in his second. But after siring Lordship and then when Adios came along, he started to earn some respect."

Sandydale was by Abbedale, the sire of Hal Dale, in turn the sire of Adios and grandsire of Meadow Skipper, while Logan Derby was by Globe Derby from a Logan Pointer mare and would sire other great pacers and trotters in spite of suffering similar prejudices at stud both here and in Australia. "He was really a horse born ahead of his time, and then you threw a U Scott mare into the picture to get Lordship, and it didn't really get any better. That's when horses were horses - I don't care what people say about the breed today."

Nyhan also recalls how easy it would have been for his Mother to sell Lordship to Australia "for colossal money" after he'd won his first race - the Welcome Stakes. There was a Captain Taylor buying up every good horse going at the time and he offered £6000, which would have been enough to buy the biggest and flashest house in Christchurch. Later there were lots of offers to go to Australia and America for that matter, but Lordship never left the country, because of her the best interests of the horse and the family came first."

Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 11Jul07

Bob Porteous died suddenly last weekend, aged 82.

He will be remembered most recently as the breeder and owner of Last Link, a 10-year-old son of Sundon that he also trained up until the start of last month before the horse was transferred to Nigel McGrath's stable. Last Link has won 12 races to date, most of them as a four and five-year-old and one every season since.

He also raced and trained Last Link's dam, the Game Pride mare Game Jill, and from one season of racing as a 5-year-old she won three of her 16 starts. Porteous also trained Last Link's full-sister Sunworthy to win three races.

Bob and his wife Jill bred and raced a lot of winners over the years, and probably enjoyed the most success with the progeny of unraced Smooth Fella mare Joyella, from who they bred the winners Dark Shadow, Filibuster, Guinea Stamp, Joyella's Girl, Noodlum's Fella and Noodlum's Joy.

He is survived by his wife Jill, and a host of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Credit: HRWeekly 17Oct07

Hop grower and harness racing owner, breeder and trainer, Joe Hill was big in both.

His recent death marked the end of a long, rewarding career in the Nelson district in which his activities were awarded with national honours. For his services to racing and the hop industry, he was awarded an OBE. He became a Paul Harris Fellow for his services to Rotary and he was awarded the Order of the Hop - the highest honour that can be bestowed from the world hop industry.

He joined the trotting club in Nelson in 1951, ans over a 20-year period he was either President, Vice-President or immediate Past President. He was elected a life member of both the Nelson Harness Racing Club and the Nelson Jockey Club. He opened the members' stand in 1958, was instrumental in the building of Redwood Hall, and was President when the club bought land and a house adjacent to Richmond Park.

He raced numerous horses, the first being the galloper Fairhall Lad, in partnership with his wife, Nana Jean, followed by Desert Cloud and Sovereign Cloud, and the pacers Polita, Daring Dancer, False Fella, Thunder Boy, Gold Boots, living Lady, Turf Lord, Joe Allan and Royalty. His best horse was Blue Chip Rock, which won the 2004 Easter Cup at Addington.

Hill made many friends in the harness racing industry, hosting parties at their Gladstone Road home over race weekends, and he shared a long friendship with the late Ted Lowe

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 9May07

Barney Tisdall, who died recently at the age of 83, bred, owned and trained Idolmite a grand pacing winner in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Tisdall was called Barney by the doctor who delivered him on the family farm, Ngapuna, at Middlemarch. The name stuck, although he was registered as Trevor by his parents.

Tisdall served in World War 2 in Italy and Japan from 1944 to 1946.

He married Audrey Matheson in 1948, which led to his interest in standardbreds. Her father, Alec, raced the useful pacer Colours Flying out of the Templeton stable of Derek Jones.

Tisdall secured an owner/trainer licence in the 1970/71 season when he won with Petermite at Wyndham. The Hundred Proof gelding had won a race at Greymouth the previous season when trained by Pat O'Reilly and driven by Kerry O'Reilly. Tisdall stepped up his training activities when he shifted to Dunback in 1976. Idolmite was the star. Others he prepared included Dannymite (seven wins), Tom Pepper (8), Willie Mite (4) and Skip Master (4). Tom Pepper won the 1979 Waikouaiti Cup at Oamaru from a 30m handicap.

Tisdall bred Idolmite from a mating of Local Light and Lady Maling, who was loaned to him by Bob Cleave, of Oamaru, in return for grazing stock on his Dunback property. Lady Maling died in 1975, the year after she foaled Idolmite. Her cold foal by Armbro Del also died.

Tisdall, in a generous gesture, leased Idolmite back to Cleave and Bill Carling, of Waikouaiti. She won three races as a 4-year-old when trained by Cleave, who was forced to relinquish the lease when he injured his back. Tisdall took over training Idolmite and she won her next four starts. She wound up the season (1977/78) with eight wins. Colin De Filippi drove Idolmite in her last win that season, beginning an association that netted nine wins. Her record, on retirement, was 17 wins and 32 placings from 81 starts for $110,495 in stakes.

Credit: HR Weekly 31Jan07

John Burgess and Grant's Wish winning at Motukarara.

John Burgess, 79, has broken his own record as the oldest reinsman to drive a winner in NZ. Burgess drove Grant's Wish to win a maiden trot at Motukarara on Monday, 29th January.

Burgess became the oldest reinsman to drive a winner in NZ when he partnered Katie May, a half-sister to Grant's Wish, to win races at Methven and Waimate late in 2005 as a 78-year-old. Burgess is also the trainer, breeder and part-owner of Grant's Wish. The Brookside horseman races the 5-year-old mare with the estate of his wife, Shirley, who died three and a half years ago. "I met Shirley when I was 14, bike riding and running. It took me a while to get over her death," Burgess said. "The horses have helped me cope."

Grant's Wish is the fifth trotting winner Burgess has bred from La Finale. The others were Peter Dylan (5 wins), Star Blaze (3) and John's Buddy (2). La Finale (Beau Nonantais-Tutahi When) won a race at Oamaru in December 1989 for Burgess at odds of 53-to-one. The runner up was Night Allowance, who won the Inter-Dominion Trotting Final in Auckland four years later.

Burgess has been involved with trotters for 56 years. He trained and drove his first winner, Winter Star, at Methven in April 1970. He stood down from driving at the end of the 1992/93 season when a rule stipulated a retirement age of 65. He made a comeback seven years later when the rule was changed. He has since driven 13 winners. "Paul Nairn (the noted trainer of trotters) talked me into getting my licence back," Burgess said. Burgess lives close to the Nairn stable.

Burgess assists his son Graeme on a property raising pigs and a few cattle. He is no stranger to long hours of work. He held down employment at a meat processing plant and a cardboard factory for 20 years, working between 14 and 16 hours a day. He began teaching himself the rudiments of training standardbreds. He was helped by trainers Don Nyhan and Derek Jones. "I learned most working part-time for Bill Doyle for eight years," Burgess said.

Grant's Wish traces to Passive, an outstanding broodmare for Doyle. The U Scott mare left eight winners from nine foals. Her progeny included When, winner of 18 races including the 1962 NZ Trotting Free-For-All. Her brother (also by Light Brigade) Asia Minor won 15 races including the 1967 NZ Trotting Championship. Passive (U Scott-Violet Wrack) also left Wipe Out, winner of 10 races as a pacer in the late 1960s. Doyle passed the trotter Ready Money to Burgess in 1983 after the gelding had been through the hands of several trainers. Burgess won five races with the son of Nevele Gourmet and Big Spender. He has also won five races with Silver Crown.

Credit: Tayler Strong writing in HRWeekly 31Jan07

The World Drivers' Chamionship may have been won and lost on a scratching. Belgium's Christophe Martens took the title, but only after a twist that left NZ's Colin De Filippi in a hard place to come back from. After 16 races, De Filippi started the last night and the final four heats on 147 points, the same as Martens.

On arriving at Addington last Friday night, Martens was disturbed to learn that his drive in the last heat - Wokeupthismorning - was out and his new drive Hunters Cloud would run for the second time that night. Martens knew he could come off badly, and said so. "It was unfair. It doesn't happen with out horses in Europe. It was the only time in my life, when I might be in this position," he said.

Following his concerns, Hunters Cloud was withdrawn. Without a drive Martens was given the points median of five - eliminating the faint possibility of more had the horse run, and the cruel probability of less. This took him to a score of 180, and a nervous 10 minutes waiting to see if De Filippi could snatch victory from near the door of defeat with Whythehellnot. All he had to do was run first or second and hope Whythehellnot was up to it.

In the meantime, Martens finally settled on watching the race in the drivers' room, maintaining he took in the whole race, rather than his sole focus being on the kiwi colours. "It was awful, the wait; very long moments. Not so good here, but fortunately I'd won three races one night in Australia," he said.

With the Championship still a live issue, the last race was something of a drama. Until the 400m, De Filippi was looking good. But when push came to shove, Whythehellnot did not rise to the occasion, battling away up the straight to finish fourth after having every chance. The race was won by the consistent Awesome Deal, driven perfectly by the Finn Antti Teivainen.

Martens, aged 37, is Belgium's first world champion. He drives more in France, where he said hrness racing is thriving, rather than Belgium where it is "going down". Like the other European drivers, he had not driven a pacer before.

De Filippi said he enjoyed the experience and the drivers set a high standard. "I don't think there was anything in any race that caused a problem," he said. De Filippi returned from his final drive with a broad smile for his lively and boisterous fan club that said 'close, and a lot of fun.'

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

Christophe Martens (Belgium) 180, Colin De Filippi (NZ) 177, Bjorn Goop (Sweden) 158, Kerryn Manning (Australia) 143, Antti Teivainen (Finland) 129, Andy Miller (USA) 117, Eirik Hoitomt (Norway) 112, Gilles Barrieau (Canada) 104, Hugo Landeweg (Netherlands) 102, Veiko TamJarv (Estonia) 87



Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HR Weekly 15Nov07

WALLY IRELAND

The death occurred on June 23 of Wally Ireland, a prominent and successful North Canterbury harness racing identity. He was 85.

A saddler and saw doctor, Ireland worked for Vic Alborn and Cecil Devine and drove Maori Home to win the NZ Free-For-All in 1951.

In 1965 he bought Heathmount with Bernie Stratford, and the bred Classiebawn, the winner of 10 races including the NZ Standardbred Breeders Stakes in 1978.

Classiebawn produced nine winners from 10 foals; Mark Ireland winning seven with Montrose, and Michael Stratford, Brenie's son, winning eight with Stonechrubie.

Credit: HRWeekly 4July07

As a trainer of Dominion Handicap winner Simon Katz, Dick Prendergast is remembered more for his talents with a trotter. He had so many of them. In a 10-year period, between 1985/6 and 1994/5, his horses won more than $1 million. For someone who did not turn to training as a career until he was 42, it's a proud record.

Now he's 76. He has two artificial knees. He has three vertebrae fused together in his spine. He has a stent in his heart. He says the rest of his body is nearly "knackered." So his decision the other week to retire from training "was easily made."

For me, I had the good fortune to deal with a mind that was in better shape than the body. When Dick said he would make a few notes, I did not expect a neatly handwritten script that would save countless hours of research. So many good horses would have gone without mention had his memory not been as sharp as it is.

His official start is 1956 when he became licenced, but historically its earlier than that because his father, Bill, who had a carrying business, won the Sapling Stakes with Wildwood Chief for Wes Butt. Dick was 28 when he trained and drove his first winner. From Hyde, he took his Direct Heir mare Tessa to the Cromwell meeting in March 1959, where she beat Spree, driven by his brother, Mick.

In 1963, he moved to Palmerston, where he worked as shearer, truck driver, contract fencer and farmer, and held an amateur trainer's and driver's licence. When health problems became an issue, he sold the farm, brought 60 acres opposite the Oamaru Racecourse, built a house and stables and started breaking-in horses.

The next step was to a racing team, and he soon had one, with Israel an early star. By Crockett, and owned by Dave Cuttance, Israel won seven races, went through the 1981 NZ Cup meeting unbeaten in the intermediate grade, and won a prize for doing that. At the same time, he had the good pacer Hajano, by Jersey Hanover, who won eight, and his half-brother Johnny Balbo, who won four. "Johnny Balbo was sold to the US for $50,000 - big money thirty years ago," he said.

By this stage, Prendergast was in the game for keeps and, deciding there was too much travelling from Oamaru and aware of work opportunities needed for the family, moved to Chertsey where he bought Slim Dykman's stable. "We did so with some trepidation about breaking into the ranks of Canterbury trainers, but our first three out of the gate - Bay Sun, Major Hest and Johnny Balbo - all won."

This, he said, was the start of a "golden era". He worked 25, and had three on the staff. The pin-up boy was undoubtedly Simon Katz, a handsome son of Noble Lord and the Eagle Armbro mare, Carly Tryax, who rose above his pedigree. Prendergast drove him to win the first 12 of his 18 wins, then son-in-law Anthony Butt took over and won the NZ Trotting Free-For-All and the Domnion Handicap in 1987, and Simon Katz won the same prize Israel did six years earlier. His placings included a second in the Rowe Cup, third in the Inter-Dominion Grand Final at Moonee Valley, and his stakes topped $300,000. Within a year Simon Katz was dead from cancer.

Good trotters followed a top one, among them Zola's Pride(8 wins), Robbie Hest(8, including the NZ Trotting Stakes), Springfield Yankee(8), Whizzing By(8, including the NZ Trotting Stakes and Dunedin Cup), and Worthy Adios. Double Stitch won six, and he says Hickory Stick was the fastest he had. "This horse came from Stuart Sutherland as an open class trotter who had broken down and had not raced in eighteen months. In the space of twelve months for me, he won five races, including the Banks Peninsula Cup, the Ordeal Cup and the Canterbury Park Trotting Cup."

Although trotters were always the stable flavour, smart pacers were there, too. Light Foyle won nine before being sold to the US where he won another 30, General McArthur won four before breaking down, free-legged Bay Loch won four, and Eddie Ray won four. A special project was The Coaster, a son of Soky's Atom who was a good pacer for Brian Kerr and won six. Starting off as a maiden trotter, The Coaster won another six at that gait. Others of note were Weston Gee, Weston Bo, Light Buffy and Geena Hest.

"I made a profession from a hobby, and because I got a lot of trotters, it was a brand that stuck. There will always be horses that disappoint you, but others will give you great memories. I think I drove alright. If it was spasmodic, it was not so much me driving a bad race but driving a bad horse." As a driver, he especially treasures winning the Ordeal Cup and the Canterbury Park Cup with Simon Katz, the Trotting Stakes with Robbie Hest and Whizzing By, finishing second in the Dullard Cup with Simon Katz, and winning one of the last saddle races in NZ on Roman Scot for Davey Todd.

He had an excellent strike-rate with developing young horsemen, with Phil Williamson, Graham Ward, Michael Heenan, Greg Tait, and Carl Markham training under his wing, and Kerry O'Reilly, Anthony Butt and his wife Leonie invaluable in other areas. He was a keen and able administrator, serving more than 40 years on various OTB committees, and horsemen's associations.

With no more feed-ups to do, yards to clean and boxes to muck out, 'noms' to think of, track to grade and truck to run, Prendergast has time to do things a man of his vintage should happily retire to. "It's time to watch progress of our many friends, and particularly of my grandson Chris Butt" - who is working for Tim Butt and Phil Anderson - "who will soon have his trials licence, and his sister Kimberley who is doing very well in the pony club."

-o0o-

Hard knocks are part of being a driver, and Prendergast had his share.

The worst was at Invercargill about 30 years ago when he was driving Kimrock. There was trouble at the start and a couple of drivers were tipped out. The rest set off. In the meantime, the ambulance went to th rescue and was parked in the middle of the track. It was there when Kimrock came round and hit it. Prendergast was tossed into the air, and landed heavily.

He drove his float home afterwards, and Leonie recalls she had to carry him inside. That was in January, but it was not until November that he had surgery on his back, and it was another six months before he was near right again. "It had an affect on his life," she said. "He's never really been a hundred percent free of pain since."




Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 31Oct07