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2009 SEELITE WINDOWS & DOORS NZ TROTTING FREE-FOR-ALL

Justin Smith read the draw and knew it would be tough. A second-line draw in the $100,000 New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All was not what he wanted for Speculate.

But Speculate is nothing if not tough, and she was convincing in the face of fast finishes from Real Deal Yankee and Running On Time. It is fair to say it was not a vintage field, with Stig, One Over Kenny and Ray on the sideline, and Springfield Richard avoiding the perils of a hard race with the endurance of the 3200m Dominion following so close.

Smith would pefer more than three days between the contests too, but the prize on Tuesday was big enough to be there. Smith trains Speculate with his mother Lynn, who said the mare is particularly fond of her pony mate, Flicka. "She can be a bit of a bad eater, and won't eat unless Flick is there."

The club presentation to Lynn and her husband Gerry was appropriately made by Met committeeman Bruce Hutton, whose family has been connected with the family of Lynn's father Bill Doyle for as long as they can remember. "I know Bruce used to babysit Justin, and at one time or another all of the six Hutton boys would have worked for Bill."

The progress Speculate has made in less tha six months, from a one-win trotter in June to possible favourite for the Dominion, is one they say has been beyond their wildest dreams. Keen breeders, the Smiths have welcomed their first foal of the season, a colt by Lookslikeatrooper from the Chiola Hanover mare, I'm Returning. The breeding is not one that will be repeated. Lookslikeatrooper is Speculate's massive son by CR Commando who was gelded after serving just the one mare, and who will soon embark on a racing career of his own.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 12Nov09

2009 NRM SIRES' STAKES 3YO FINAL

Cup Day's NRM Sires' Stakes Final featured three sons of Mach Three, and in the end it was the least-favoured of the trio that tore away with victory in the $200,000 Group 1 thriller.

Most eyes were firmly fixed on hot favourite Kotare Mach who sped out and led easily early, but there were worrying signs coming into the straight the first time when Mark Purdon was leaning back in the sulky, trying gamely to restrain the over-racing colt. A lap later the exertion took its toll, and Kotare Mach started to falter around the home bend just as his rivals were throwing themselves into the fight. Bursting on the scene down centre track was Sir Lincoln, and he ran away to win the star-studded event by three and a half lengths.

"He's a bloody champion," said trainer Ray Green afterwards. "This is the best horse I've ever trained. He's got a beautiful action, and a huge motor - he's the real deal, this horse. And he hasn't just won today, he has been clearly superior to them. He has surprised me even, I knew he was good, but..."

Anyone whose spent a bit of time around Green will know that he is not one to talk up his horses. No, the likeable Huapai horseman is happy just to go about his business taking the good with the bad. So when he starts making the sort of statements he has about Sir Lincoln, it is clearly evident that this is a pretty serious animal we are talking about.

And you couldn't take anything away from the colt's performance on Tuesday...he started from the outside of the second row; got stirred up by the false start and according to driver Maurice McKendry "pulled hard most of the way"; hardly saw what the marker line looked like during his first trip to Addington, yet ran away and hid near the finish - all in a mile rate close to 1.55.

"You can see why I have got a bit of confidence when talking about him," says the 64-year-old. "I wasn't holding my breath that he would win today, though. Everyone was saying that Kotare Mach would lead and just run away with it, so I was almost resigned to the fact that we were just down here for the ride. But you never really know what you are up against. And it is like everyone else out there today - they didn't know what we were like either. I knew if he had to work, he would do the business."

The first hurdle for Sir Lincoln to overcome was his horror draw, something which Green took on the chin. "We always draw the outside of the second line - it seems to be a North Island thing," he said with a smile. "I remember one time we brought two horses down here, and they drew the outside of both lines."

Raced by John Street's and Graeme Blackburn's company Lincoln Farms Ltd, Sir Lincoln is a bit different to the norm because he was bred by the partners, not bought at the Sales. And Green says the colt showed something virtually from 'Day One', adding it was "pretty obvious early on that he stood out amongst the ones being broken in."

Sir Lincoln has returned home now for a week off while the next plan of attack is decided upon. "We will be chasing every feature race there is," Green said, adding that he would like to win the Victorian Derby with him. "This horse has got the potential to be a sire, so you have got to win those sort of races to enhance that."

There is one aspect which Sir Licoln's trip south will improve him in too, and that is being away from home. "He was born on the farm, and had never spent a night off the place in his life before coming down here. We are at Ken Barron's, which is always a great place to stay, and he was a wee bit unsettled to begin with; he has got several mates at home, and was probably missing them. So Ken loaned me a little Courage Under Fire 3-year-old (Cruz Control, known as 'Sparky' around the stable) - we packed him up alongside Sir Lincoln and he was fine after that."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 12Nov09

2009 FIRESTONE - SOUTHERN DEMOLITION & SALVAGE FREE-FOR-ALL

Auckland Reactor wasn't in the main event but he definitely proved a star attraction, running away with the 1950m Junior Free-For-All in an outstanding time of 2 17.8

The scary thing is he could have gone quicker than the 1 53.7 mile rate he clocked, had any of his rivals been able to get closer than five lengths away and make some sort of race of it. Purdon wasn't exactly out there to set any records either, and Auckland Reactor crossed the line with plenty in the tank.

"It's like when you are driving a really nice car on the open road, and you glance down at the speedo and realise you are going a lot faster than you thought," said Purdon, almost in disbelief himself of the Mach Three pacer's time. "He was really revelling out there today and enjoying his work. He felt good at the 1000 metre mark and it just carried on from there. You have got to compliment the guys responsible for the track - it was just fantastic."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 12Nov09

2009 HELLER'S SMALLGOODS DOMINION

Phil Williamson left his stable star at home on Cup Day, knowing full well that there was an even bigger cherry to bite into three days later. In the end the decision proved a masterstroke, and Springbank Richard won last Friday's $250,000 Group 1 Heller's Smallgoods Dominion at Addington with an emphatic performance.

It must have been a pretty hard call to bypass the NZ Trotting Free-For-All on Tuesday, especially when you train the best trotter in commission at the moment and he is at the top of his game. But Williamson had a plan and he stuck to his guns, casting aside the lure of a $56,000 cheque in preference for one worth nearly three times as much - not to mention the kudos that went with it.

"I felt it was like having a test match before a test," the Oamaru horseman said, justifying his reasoning. "If I started him in the Free-For-All, it was just going to come down to how he would recover in the two days afterwards. And I don't think he would have. He still might have been able to do the two, but the risk was there. I knew that I could do the work with the horse leading into the race, hopefully having him as good as I could get him on the day."

More prevalent in the back of Williamson's mind was the fact that his family had never tasted success in the 'NZ Cup of Trotting' - which is remarkable in itself, because over the years 'Team Williamson' have won almost every major square-gaiter's race that there is on the calendar. But not the Dominion, and that made him even more focussed. "It's a very difficult race to win," he says. "We have been placed in it that many times, and you only get one chance a year - that made me even more determined to try and win it this season. I don't know how Tim (Butt) has managed to do it so many times. I even joked with him before the race today, saying we were halfway there because he wasn't in it. But no it was something that we hadn't achieved, and now that we are on that list I can go to my grave happy," he said with a smile.

Of all the major trotting events up for grabs each season, the Dominion really stands head and shoulders above the rest because it's list of past winners is like a veritable 'who's who' of the sport in this country's history. In the last dozen or so seasons alone you can reel of the likes of Merinai, Cedar Fella, Lyell Creek(three times),Take A Moment(three times), Martina H, Pompallier, Whatsundermykilt, Mountbatten and most recently Stig - and now Springbank Richard has nestled himself amongst the greats.

It was some effort too, because after being four-wide for a big part of the early running the son of Sundon pushed forward to be parked and later took the lead, exertion which should have meant he was a sitting duck for a horse such as Sovereignty that was enjoying a cosy run on his back. The two favourites engaged in a ding-dong battle up the home straight, and Springbank Richard's margin of half a head on the line probably didn't do the stayer's effort justice.

"When we were wide around the first bend, he was wanting to rip and tear even then," said driver Nathan Williamson afterwards. "I was happy to sit there - he wasn't and that was the only thing I was really worried about, him getting too keen and over-racing. One of his earplugs came out at about the six hundred metre mark, and when I pulled the other one on the home bend he still had a kick."

Williamson Snr says the plan for Springbank Richard from here is a couple of trips across the Tasman. "We may go to Australia now for the Trotting Grand Prix (December 4) and the Bill Collins Mile a week later, then come home and go back across in January for the Inter-Dominions," Phil said. "That is if I can get the right flights. He doesn't mind travelling, it is just that he frets for home when he is away and loses a lot of weight on a trip."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 18Nov09

2009 WOODLANDS NEW ZEALAND FREE-FOR-ALL

Monkey King became the 28th horse in our sport's history to achieve the notable NZ Cup/NZ Free-For-All double in the same season when he produced another brilliant display at Addington on Show Day.

It was typical Monkey King-like stuff: sitting off the pace, waiting like a sniper to pick off his opposition one by one. For when it comes to having the last say, few can pack a punch bigger than the Monkey's, and if anything his win in the $250,000 Group 1 Woodlands Free-For-All on Friday was even easier than the Cup victory three days earlier.

"Far out," said trainer 'Benny' Hill afterwards, pausing to reflect on the enormity of his pacer's performances during Cup Week. Hill and the rest of Monkey King's connections were understandably still buzzing from Cup Day. 'Sam' iced the cake for them, but his victory was even sweeter because it also included the prize scalp of Auckland Reactor.

Like Auckland Reactor's other four rivals, Hill knew they were going to have to be good after watching the champ romp around Addington in record time on Cup Day. "We sort of didn't want to be too negative heading into this race," he said. We thought we would run second to him, plus there was an element of hope that Monkey would win if things went his way. I know that Monkey couldn't have done what the Reactor did on Cup Day - running a 1:53 mile rate like that, and doing it easy. Horses have their purple patches though, and this is his week. Our aim is to have him this well again next year, and try and come back and do it all again. In the meantime, we will just enjoy this moment while we can."

If there were any doubts about heading across the Tasman for the Miracle Mile, they disappeared in the space of two and a half minutes on Friday. "We were probably already going anyway, but today has sealed it," Hill said. "And if anything, that race in Aussie should be even more set up for him ...a lovely big track, and eight nice horses in the race that should ensure that the pace is true. He is a real neat little athlete, and he's different to most horses in that he is only 430kgs compared to the norm of around 530. But it's just the way he conducts himself and looks after himself - he's not hard work."

Hill kept a close eye on Monkey King in the days following his epic Cup victory, saying that despite the lure of another big carrot on their back doorstep, the pacer would not have been there if he hadn't come through it with anything less than flying colours. "The other four I had in all had a bit of a cough after their runs today. But when I took Monkey for a pick of grass this morning he let out a squeal and tried to front-foot me a couple of times - so I knew he was right, the little bugger."

There was plenty of controversy surrounding last Friday's Woodlands Free-For-All, with other talking points being the driving tactics of Phil Butcher but more importantly the shock defeat of Auckland Reactor. Not one person could take anything away from the little black rocket from Dancingonmoonlight Farm though...this was his time, and Cup Week in 2009 will forever be remembered as the 'Year Of The Monkey."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 18Nov09

CADUCEUS CLUB OF CANTERBURY NZ PREMIER MARES CHAMPIONSHIP

It's Ella saved the best 'til last. The last 50 metres of her event on Friday night, that is; the last 50 metres of her racetrack career.

Because it was that precise moment - after four years of being in training, dozens of miles along the beach, countless hours in the pool, and 53 trips to the races - that her troublesome near-side front leg said 'enough is enough'. Ricky May said he felt It's Ella wobble a quarter of a furlong from home...despite the fact that Foreal was still in hot pursuit, and not to mention the energy-sapping run she'd had to endure, It's Ella gritted her teeth and stayed in her gait to the line.

It's almost like she knew where the finish was too, as once she'd passed the post she let go and rolled into a gallop. Maybe it was because her owners were there to see her, perhaps she wanted to prove for one last time that she could start from a horror draw and still beat the best mares in commission; whichever, it was a performance that personified courage in every sense of the word.

On this occasion It's Ella didn't just blast out and take the lead like many would've expected. There were a couple drawn closer in than had their own plans and gunned out early, so much so that even main danger Foreal was beaten in the jostle for prominent positions, and It's Ella hadn't been any better off than three-wide before finally crossing to the pilot seat with a lap to travel. Foreal and Anthony Butt had kept her out there when May hade his move in front of the grandstand, actions which Butt had to justify to the stipes afterwards, so It's Ella had used a heck of a lot of petrol getting to the front.

At break-neck speed, with Foreal now beautifully slotted in the trail her and a dickey leg that was about to falter, It's Ella should've been a sitting duck. Should've been, but wasn't. "Frig she went good," May said as he hopped out of the cart, shaking his head in disbelief. "She just did that on her ear, and look at her - she's not even blowing."

The pair had been greeted back by trainers David and Catherine Butt, and although thrilled with the victory their concerns now rested solely on It's Ella's condition. She'd visibly been favouring the leg on her way back from the birdcage, and when David asked her to be walked briskly to the wash so he could see for himself, It's Ella was definitely tender and dipped even more noticeably in her action. "Yep, she's finished I'd say," Butt lamented. "The ol' leg's worn out. She's got a low bow in her leg, below the fetlock, which is one of the worst places they can go in the tendon. It's an injury she's had for a while and it flared up again, but she's one of those amazing mares who doesnt feel pain. It had gotten worse though, and she'd been pulling up sore - we've only swum her for the last fortnight."

Raced by Jim and Irene Holland together with Megan McLellan, wife of the mare's former trainer Brendon, It's Ella was spelled due to injury this time last year after taking out both of the big mares races at Addington. Sighted again in October, she managed another 11 outings in her comeback and took her win tally from 13 to 16 for nearly $300,000 in stakemoney. It was always the plan to retire her for good after this Friday'd NZ Breeders Stakes anyway, being in foal to Falcon Seelter - it's just become nesessary a week ahead of schedule.

So it's finally over for the super Washington VC mare. There's a saying that first impressions last, and It's Ella certainly made a decent one when winning on debut at Ascot Park in February three years ago. But for mine it's her last race that'll stick with me, because that is the night when It's Ella overcame all sorts of adversities to go out on the highest of notes. And had it not been for a freakish performance of Nick Off Holme on Cup Day, It's Ella would've been taking a national record with her...

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 30Jan08

PGG WRIGHTSON NZ YEARLING SALES 3YO FILLIES PACE

It might have looked a close call for Lizzie Maguire in the $130,000 PGG Wrightson NZ Yearling Sales Series Fillies Pace last Friday night, but one who knows says she was more than a half-head and shoulders above the others. Her performance to sit parked for the last lap and dig deep to hold off trailing snipers CC's Mademoiselle and Susie Maguire drew praise from Peter Ferguson. As the driver, he knew that Lizzie would pull out all stops if the occasion called for it. And this one did.

Attacked by Susie on the inner and CC's Mademoiselle on the outer, Lizzie fought them off and although the margin might have suggested a strained and unconvincing win, Ferguson said it was not. "She was going away at the end. She went a little bit fresh and got keen down the back, and then sprinted strongly over the last 300 metres. With Gareth's horses you know they are fit and they're not out there unless they are a chance. He is very professional, and the welfare of the horses comes first," he said.

As Gareth Dixon, Lizzie's trainer has gone beyond the ranks of up-and-comers for a place amongst the elite. "I've got to get the results and win races at this level," said Dixon. "Kerry" - whose daughter Helen races Lizzie Maguire - "is a big investor. He's a very big owner and spent more than $300,000 at the Sales last week...two Cullens, two McArdles, a Presidential Ball...wins like this are important," he said.

There was clear evidence again of the professionalism Ferguson speaks of by the manner in which Dixon has monitored Lizzie's career. He would have given her a quick holiday after winning the Jewels and had her racing for spring rewards. Instead, with his eye on the horse and mind on later objectives, he put her aside for 10 weeks. "We would not have been able to do these big races now, go on to the Jewels and perhaps have a longer season if she didn't have the longer break then. She's very relaxed and there is still some improvement to come," he said.

In only her fourth start, and her first since late December, CC's Mademoiselle has emerged as a player at the top level, and Susie Maguire was also a game contestant in the finish, edging past the pacemaker, Fight Fire With Fire.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 20Feb08

2008 NEVELE R STAKES

It might be a tad too soon for the 'C word', but the 'F word' certainly got mentioned more than a few times after the running of the Group 3 Nevele R Stakes on the card of the Cheviot HRC meeting at Addington on Sunday. 'Freak', I mean, because the winning performance of Hemisphere was exactly that - freakish! And only time will tell whether she achieves 'Champion' status one day, because it's a little bit harder to be dubbed that, but no-one could doubt that she's already started down the right path.

In a display of pure ground-devouring speed, Hemisphere started her run from near last on the home turn, coasted up to the leaders in second gear and simply breezed on by. The effort was franked by driver John Hay's comments afterwards... "I was surprised how quickly she got around them," he said. "She reached the lead within a couple of bounds, and then knocked off."

Hemisphere is the pride and joy of her 53-year-old Invercargill owner/breeder John Higgins, a neighbour of the filly's trainer Murray Brown. Higgins reckons he's raced "about a hundred" horses over the years, on both sides of the Tasman, and is starting to concede that his latest winner could easily be his best yet.

Hemisphere is an all-Nevele R product, being by Badlands Hanover from the OK Bye mare Trans Tasman, the latter a half-sister to the likes of Caps Off, Glencoe MacDonald and Badlands Bute that Higgens bred after Danny Boyle lent him Te Phyno for a year. "Trans Tasman was mad, and never raced," said Higgins, who has been a life insurance broker for 35 years. "And Hemisphere was striking as a filly, nothing worried her. She was real quiet early, but was always first to the gate and first in line for her feed." That might go some way towards explaining Hemisphere's stature now, because for a 2-year-old she is tall and built like a tank. She's not really quiet anymore either, as hand-in-hand with her size is an apparent fondness for lashing out with those powerful back legs.

Higgins, Hay and Brown are obviously all good mates, and he jokes about the time he came close to selling his star filly. "John was down our way one day, and I asked him if he wanted to take Hemisphere home with him and put her in the Ready-To-Run," Higgins recalled. "And he said 'nah, I can't be bothered - keep her and race her yourself."

Now you get the feeling that even good money couldn't pry the filly from Higgins's grasp, and he humbly thanks a lot of people for the position he finds himself in today..."Maurice Kerr for the way he broke her in; Ray Faithful for the second prep; Murray and his wife Marilyn of course, and 'Archie' Armour for the way he's looked after her in her early trials and workouts - he always thought that she was a Group 1 filly. You don't like to get too carried away, but after what she has done to date it's hard not to get excited," Higgins said. Hemisphere will stay at Hay's in the meantime and then head north for next month's Caduceus Club Classic, followed by the Sires' Stakes Fillies Series and ultimately the Harness Jewels.

It hasn't all been positive for Higgins though, because he recently lost Hemisphere's yearling full-brother at the breaking-in stage when he died of a suspected heart attack. Also the dam of an as-yet-to-be-sighted 4-year-old Caprock mare and the 3-year-old Safely Kept gelding Pontificate who has had one start for a fourth, Trans Tasman was given a year off after her second Badlands Hanover and is in foal to Courage Under Fire.




Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 12Mar08

2008 PGG WRIGHTSON NZ YEARLING SALES SERIES TROTTERS FINAL

Clive and Rona McKay are enjoying an unprecedented run of success at the moment. Since early last month, the horses they either co-own or race outright have won no less than 13 times, and this was capped when the only two that they had at Addington last Thursday night - Absolute Magic and De Gaulle - both saluted the judge again. Absolute Magic has now won his last four straight, De Gaulle his last two; added to Fiery Falcon's four-race winning streak, Sir Clive who is unbeaten in two starts and Rona Lorraine, we're talking about one hell of a purple patch.

And they're not just any old race wins either...a Group 1, two Group 3s, a fillies Graduette and most recently the (Listed) PGG Wrightson NZ Yearling Sales Series Trotters Final. These winning cheques alone add up to just under $242,000 - not bad coin over six weeks of racing! No-one could justifably begrudge the McKays their success though, because they spend a fortune supporting the industry that the love. For instance, just last month they outlaid a mammoth $220,000 for one of the yearlings they bought at the Sales.

Like most of their horses, this is where they sourced De Gaulle from too, and trainer Michael House says he can't take any credit for it himself. "Clive picked him out, it was all his doing," House said. "And I said 'but he's by Continentalman...', and Clive said 'no, I'm buying it!'. He was taken by his bloodlines - being by a son of Malabar Maple and Continentalvictory, from a mare by Sundon out of Tussle. He said you'll never see that many great horses so close up in a pedigree."

De Gaulle's opening campaign as a 2-year-old was nothing startling, with one runner-up prize being nestled amongst two 'pulled-up' performances, but this season the colt has gone from strength to strength. He was left in front on the first day at Nelson in January and bowled along to score well, and this month we've seen him produce huge finishing bursts to win at Forbury and now Addington.

"That's been the plan with him," House said. "We took him to Nelson for a trip away, and put him in standing start races to get him mannered up. And he hadn't lost a pound since coming home from Forbury. Mr Reliable I call him. Although in saying that, he trained terrible during the week and even made a break when I was working him. You couldn't have had him tonight on that, but it just goes to show how much of a professional he is. He's not a very sound horse, and has lots of little problems all the time, but he'll come right I think."

On De Gaulle's plate for the remainder of the season is the NZ Trotting Derby, the Sires' Stakes and the Harness Jewels, after which he will stay in Auckland and possibly even cross the Tasman. "Clive and Rona are wanting to spread their horses far and wide," House said. "Plus they like taking trips away to go and watch them race as well. So we might lose De Gaulle to the Langs at some stage."




Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 19Mar08

2008 PAUL RENWICK KITCHEN & JOINERY FFA

Baileys Dream stamped himself as the horse to beat in Friday night's Easter Cup with his win over the pacemaker Classic Cullen, Awesome Armbro and stablemate Monkey King at Addington five days ago.

Baileys Dream was last on settling in the $50,000 Paul Renwick Kitchen & Joinery Free-For-All, and despite having to sit parked for the last lap the powerful Dream Away gelding showed unrelenting tenacity to score in a sizzling 3:11.6 for the Group 3 2600m mobile.

Gone were the childish tendencies that cost him victory in both his Auckland Cup campaign runs - the real 'Bailey' showed up this time. "That's the best way to drive him...don't do much early, and then mooch around to get on the pace," said trainer Stephen Reid, who was in the sulky for just the second time in Baileys Dream's 52 start career. "With him, it's not about the trip; it's about him being happy, and he definitely was out there tonight."

Baileys Dream seems to thrive on his southern sojourns, as eight of his 10 wins in the last two seasons have been achieved in Canterbury. The 6-year-old has now won 21 in total, netting over $820,000 in stakes.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HR Weekly 27Mar08