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In the feature event at Addington on Friday, the Group Two NRM Trotting Stakes for two-year-olds, it was merely a training run for race favourite Fear Factor.

Returning a winning dividend of $1.30, Fear Factor showed her dominance in the first 200m when bolting straight to the lead from barrier four.

It was then an armchair drive for Blair Orange as he dictated the terms and eased the Sundon filly home under a hold in the home straight.

Ulter Boy capitalised on his trail trip, running home for second three-lengths behind the favourite and Sun Lad finished solidly down the outer for third placing.

Fear Factor has now won three races from four starts, two of which have been Group Two features for $46,000 in stakes.

She is now a clear contender in the race for Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year, with the defection of her closest rival Constar.

Constar was scratched from Friday's race due to a viral complaint.

Credit: Harness Racing New Zealand

If ever a horse deserved to win a big race, it's Some Direction. And last Friday night she got her moment in the spotlight when powering home to beat Inspire in the $30,000 Group 3 Gianni's Pita Bread Canterbury Park Trotting Cup.

Part-owner, co-trainer and driver Justin Smith had Some Direction beautifully placed on the outer early, so well positioned in fact that he didn't even need to ask her to move until the field approached the final bend. Once he set her alight Some Direction swept around the field and trucked home better than anything, winning the 3200 metre event in a creditable 4:11.7.

The victory put an end to the run of 'big event almosts' that her and her connections have had to contend with lately, because she has run fourth in each of the last three Group 1 races she has tackled - March's Trotters Championship (to Allegro Agitato), last year's Dominion Handicap (Pompallier) and the NZ Trotting Free-For-All (Allegro Agitato) a week earlier.

It seems like Some Direction has been around for ages - and literally, she has; the Sundon mare gained her first win at Waskdyke in February 2001, over five and a half years ago! In all she has made 120 starts, and has now won 20 of them. Considering that last Friday's win was her first major one, her stakes tally of over $216,000 in amazing in itself, but if anything it just highlights how consistent she's been throughout her career. For the record, those 120 outings have also yielded 17 seconds, 13 thirds, 24 fourths, 11 fifths and 11 sixths...only 16 times has she not taken home a cheque.

"Yeah, she goes pretty good most weeks," said Smith afterwards, in his typically understated manner. She's got speed and she can stay - she hasn't really got any faults. She would be impossible to replace." Now nine, Some Direction still looks and is performing like a horse half her age, and there is no talk of retiring her just yet. "When she won her last race last season, it was one of her best performances ever; that helped decide it," Smith said.

Some Direction's been victorious at Addington 11 times, Ashburton (four), Washdyke (twice), and Rangiora, Oamaru and Forbury Park (once). As that suggests, she is not a horse that the Smiths go very far with. "She's never been a good traveller, even on short trips," he said. "And she's no quite as good the Auckland way round either. There's always another race for her here at home."

Some Direction's next main target will be the Cup Meeting at Addington, where Smith says that backing up three days apart won't worry her one bit. In the touch she's in, it would be no surprise to see her grab an even higher accolade...



Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 18Oct06

The training team - Tony & Michelle

Sly Flyin's comeback this season has been nothing short of amazing, and last Friday he added another chapter to the fairytale when he brilliantly won the NZ Free-For-All at Addington.

The grand old campaigner was never in the race after starting from the second row, and even trainer/driver Tony Herlihy conceded that "things looked hopeless" early on. By the time they had swung for home, nothing had changed - Sly Flyin was surronded by a wall of horses and chewing steel, throwing his head in the air. "I thought at the top of the straight that we only needed a gap," Herlihy said. "That's why I had pulled the blinds and his plugs by then; I knew if some space came that it probably wouldn't last very long, so I wanted to have him all revved up and ready to go."

Waiting for his moment to come, Herlihy somehow managed to squeeze Sly Flyin through a narrowing gap inside White Arrow and then let him rip...on a surface deadened by constant rain, the way he ate up the deficit and caught the leaders in less than a furlong was truly remarkable. "I suppose his sprint is his biggest asset, and like a lot of horses he is probably a fraction better coming from behind," Herlihy continued. "But we have never really had the chance to drive him any other way because he is off long marks most of the time. He is a pretty all-round horse though, and he wouldn't give it away easy if he was bowling along in front either."

The Sands A Flyin gelding has now headed back across the Tasman searching for retribution in the Miracle Mile - a race he was primed to win last year before disaster struck. He had won the Newcastle Mile in a sizzling 1:53.6, but just days out from the Miracle Mile his trainer received the heart-wrenching news. "He was staying at Vic Frost's, and Vic rung me on the Monday saying he wasn't happy with him at all. It wasn't his legs this time - they had always looked ugly anyway - it was his near-side hoof that was sore. We got it x-rayed and discovered a growth that was pushing against the pedal bone, so he was flown to Brisbane and ha it removed."

Sly Flyin remained in Australia for about six weeks, then had another three or four months off when he got home; everybody knew it was 'make or break' time afterwards though - Herlihy would try the gelding once more and if he didn't stand up, his career was over. Strangely enough, the 'new' Sly Flyin is as sound as he has ever been. And for that Herlihy continually praises the work by Michelle Wallis at the beach, where Sly Flyin's been stationed for most of the last 18 months.

"With all the spells he has had due to injuries, he actually hasn't had a lot of racing. And he has still got the mind of a young horse. He is very energetic, and always thrives on work and wants to be out there. We bought him up and trialled him two or three times during the winter, but then when there were no races for him we backed off again. In hindsight that was the making of his preparation - because even though he hadn't raced for eleven months, he had been in work close to six. I'm just so pleased for Michelle, because winning the Free-For-All was such a big thrill for her, and all of us. If we can keep him sound, he could be around for another year or two yet."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 22Nov06

Report For Duty is too strong for Tuherbs & Power Of Tara

Report For Duty stamped himself as a horse of real class when he won the Wyatt & Wilson Print 4YO Superstars Championship at Addington last Friday night.

Report For Duty made such a swift beginning from his 10m handicap that he was looming up outside the leader Tuherbs within a furlong, but trainer/driver Pat O'Reilly wasn't stopping there. He continued to push on with purpose, eventually crossing to the marker pegs passing the 1900m point.

All of a sudden, O'Reilly's pre-race plan had fallen into place - even earlier than anticipated..."I wanted to run the last mile as quick as we could," he said. "It didn't matter whether he got left parked or what, I was going at the mile. And I wasn't going to hand up to anybody." O'Reilly's tactics stemmed from knowing his pacer is such a great stayer, and faith that if he put the son of Washington VC up on the pace, he wouldn't quit on him. As it was he was left a sitting duck to a horse like Tuherbs poised in behind, but in the end his nearest rival just couldn't get past him.

You can put this down to two things - Report For Duty's scorching final sectionals of 27.8 and 28.9, generated from a horse who has an incredible will to win. O'Reilly did little more than give his pacer small taps with the right rein and whip down the straight, and if anything he was pulling away from them again at the post.

Report For Duty has now made seven appearances for six wins and a second, his only 'glitch' eventuating at Motukarara back in March when he was "knocked down" at the top of the straight before picking himself up to run Lladro to a length. There's over $53,000 in the bin for owner Jock Austin now too - not a bad effort for a horse that never got a bid when he went through the Sale ring, eventually changing hands a month later for $6000. Austin spends his days on Koh Samui, a small island near Taiwan where O'Reilly says he "doesn't do much" after making a successful living out of land development. "I have known him for 25 years, ever since I grazed sheep for him. He was a sheep-truck driver back then, and a real hard case; he worked hard too though. Jock's a great owner, but above all he is a great loser. He never gripes about anything, even if things go wrong," O'Reilly said.

The partnership's been a very lucrative one over the years, but there's every possibility that their latest winner will rise to levels not reached before. And who knows...12 months down the track, Austin might just have to make a trip backto NZ to see his horse line up in the biggest event of them all, because O'Reilly feels he has got a Cup horse on his hands.

"Maybe even two," he enthused, referring to Shea Stadium as well. "He has gone huge tonight, sitting outside Pay Me Christian during the twenty-seven quarter down the back and coming again to run third. They're both as dumb as each other. And Report For Duty' got a lot of growing up to do yet - I reckon he'll be better still in another year."

O'Reilly's two pacing stars are going to slip out of the limelight and have a quiet couple of weeks until Cup time now, and he's already got another target in mind for his latest winner. "I wouldn't mind sending him to Auckland later on," he said. "Just for the Messengerthough, not the mile. He does work better that way around at home."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 11Oct06

Changeover (outer) masters Gotta Go Cullen

I've lost count how many times Geoff Small ventures to Addington and tears off a major race. He was at it again last Friday night, and this time he walked away with two of the major spoils when Changeover won the $30,000 ICE Bloodstock Rising Stars 3YO Championship and then Winforu took out the $30,000 Fitness Canterbury Classic.

There's a good reason why Small's representatives are always worth following whenever he ventures away from hometown Patumahoe though - he doesn't believe in just making up the numbers or giving his owners unnecessary expenses; if a horse comes down to Christchurch, it is a serious chance. And so it proved again.

Changeover was sensational, coming from three-deep along the markers to run down a horses like Gotta Go Cullen. It's true that the latter was 'softened up' somewhat by Days Of Courage siting outside him, and Changeover had everything go his way, but he still must have paced his last half in under 55 seconds to do so and that's lightning quick!

"He is a heck of a nice horse, so it didn't really surprise me," Small said of the performance. "The only worry I had was that it was his first-up run, but he seems to have come through it okay. It did pan out for him though, he followed the speed good and kept at it. That is his real long suit."

Raced by the Auckland Trotting Club's Trot 2006 Syndicate, Changeover was resuming after a four-month spell on Friday but he was pretty ready for it. So was driver David Butcher, who got stopped on numerous occasions during the racemeeting at Cambridge the night before. "Everywhere I walked people were coming up to me and saying,'so, what are you going to do with Changeover?'," Butcher smiled. "That is the joy of having so many owners in the one horse though, they are having a lot of fun. He was always going to be a bit better with time. Because he was quite a big horse at two, but he did a good job all the same," Butcher said.

Changeover had been off the place twice in readiness for his resumption this season, and his trainer was happy enough. "His two trials up here were really good, and then he went down to Christchurch about eight days before the race. I flew down on Monday to work him at Addington, and he felt like he was ticking along quite nicely," Small said. "We opted not to go to Aussie at the end of last season because we thought he just needed more maturity. And he is really suited to Addington because it's a big track, it's where he can show off his staying prowess. At this stage of his career that is where he races best."

Changeover will reside in Canterbury for the meantime, with his main target being the Sires' Stakes Series and the next heat on October 20. Small said he's 'allowed' for another heat at the same course in case he doesn't qualify during the first one he tackles, and after the Sires' Stakes Final on Cup Day his next big mission is the Sales Series race back in Auckland towards the end of the year.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 11Oct06

Mary admires the trophy while Cambell replies

Campbell McJorrow had a heck of a time convincing his partner Mary Wych to travel south with him so that they could both be on-course to cheer on Winforu in last Friday night's $30,000 Fitness Canterbury 'Classic' at Addington.

Now in her late 50's, Wych has been in hospital care and wheelchair-bound ever since she suffered a stroke five years ago. So even going along to 'local' racemeetings in Auckland and Cambridge requires a great deal of effort; getting on as plane and flying to another city seemed like too much of a task.

But McJorrow stuck to his guns, Wych finally relented, and after what unfolded last week she is coming back - on November 14 to be exact, where she'll be perched proudly ringside to watch Winforu take on the country's best pacers in the NZ Cup. "Mary really didn't want to go south this week," McJorrow reiterated. "But I just had this 'sixth sense'. And knowing what Geoff's comments were leading into the event, I thought this was going to be Winforu's best chance of getting some form again, even though he had drawn the second line."

Geoff is Winforu's trainer Geoff Small, and McJorrow says the Patumahoe horseman was adamant about making a statement on Friday night - as far as the horse was concerned, and as far as the Cup itself was concerned too. "There is no joy in going back and getting boxed in, so the plan was to push forward if we got the chance," he continued. "It was kind of nice how he managed to cross over to the lead right in front of the grandstand where we were watching him from, too. Winforu's a bit bigger and stronger now, and in a way, he was almost due for a win after being unlucky lately."

And what a victory it was. The In The Pocket entire never took his foot off the accelerator once he reached the front, and after speeding home in 27.8 and 29.3 he stopped the clock at a blistering 2:20.5. Not only was it a fantastic performance under the icy cool conditions, because twice he had to battle head-first into a strong easterly wind, but Winforu's time also equalled the national record for an aged male pacer and was the first NZ record this season.

"Mary's certainly got a good set of lungs on her," McJorrow smiled, re-living the final moments of Winforu's victory. "But she just gets such a thrill out of any of his wins, especially since she bred him herself and has followed him all the way through.

"Knowing that the winner of last week's race automatically got into the Cup was always very much in our minds, so it's great that now we don't have to worry. He's better fresh, and we were hoping for the easiest run into the Cup as possible; we didn't really want to go to Kaikoura. His only other race before then will be Ashburton now."

So what does being in this year's Cup mean to the couple? "It's a huge thrill," he said. "Being in Australia to watch him in last year's Inter-Dominions was great, but I accept the fact that the NZ Cup is the 'Holy Grail' of harness racing in this country. And it's any horse owner's dream, especially when you've bred him yourself. You've only got to look at how many horses are bred and raced, and what a small percentage of them actually make it into the Cup. I know Geoff's always wanted to win the race - and I know Winforu's no Elsu either. But if you are in it, you can win it.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 11Oct06

In hindsight, there could not have been a more fitting result to last week's Garrard's Sires' Stakes Final. It was nearly the $150,000 event that Fergiemack threw away after his inexperience saw him lug in a couple of times up the straight; it was almost a Group 1 victory that Nicol Thorn was only millimetres away from winning, becoming the first female reinswoman in New Zealand's history to do so.

But in the end and where it counted, Ferjiemack and Gotta Go Cullen were locked together as they hit the line - inseparable, even in today's world where technology can sort out the closest of race finishes. Both horses deserved their victories because they worked hard for them...Gotta Go Cullen burned plenty of early petrol into the first bend to wrest the lead that Thorn so dearly wanted, and Fergiemack had been parked from the outset before receiving cover from the only mover in the race (Christian Warrior) 800 metres from home.

At that stage, having gotten away with a couple of easy quarters and seeing where Herlihy was, Thorn let Gotta Go Cullen "go a little bit" and they sped down the back straight in 28.6. The final quarter was half a second faster still; Fergiemack peeled out of his one-one position on the last bend as Changeover surged through on the inside as the line drew nearer, only to fall a half-neck short.

It took what seemed an age before the dead-heat was declared, and even back at the stables you could tell that Thorn was still trying to get her head around what had just unfolded. "It has just started to sink in now," she said, knowing she had created her own little piece of history. "It feels like we lost, but we won. To even draw with Tony in a Group 1 is amazing though, because he is one of the best drivers in New Zealand."

Prior to the Sires' Stakes Final, Gotta Go Cullen had been the star 2-year-old all season, winning five of his seven starts and being placed in the other two. He had even proved to good for Fergiemack in his first three raceday appearances, but many believed that the gap between them had closed - especially since Fergiemack had won his next two starts, and the fact that Gotta Go Cullen had not raced for seven weeks.

Thorn's mind was at rest after the latter's slashing midweek trial at Rangiora. "It wasn't so much the way he went in the trial, but how he recovered," she said. "He showed he was ready for tonight, and that he wasn't stressed by anything. And it was so good to feel him try after he was headed, because he hasn't had to do that much. I was looking for Tony because I know his horse has always got that devastating finish, and my boy had not learnt to race them up until now. He is just going to keep getting better.

For Fergiemack's trainer/driver, he was quite happy to walk away with a shared victory in the Sire' Stakes Final rather than being on the losing end of a nose decision. "He just cocked his head a little bit and got sideways down the straight," Herlihy said, re-living how close Fergismack came to costing himself the race. He made us worry a little bit the first time I started him, and he has lugged out a couple of times since then too. Hopefully the trip down here will help him mature up a bit."

Also by super sire Christian Cullen, Fergiemack never burst onto the 2-year-old scene in the same fashion that Gotta Go Cullen did this season, but he is certainly making up the lost ground now. He has kept improving throughout," Herlihy said. "He has always been good-gaited, and he is still growing and strengthening."

Herlihy says he would definitely rate Fergiemack "in the top five" when it comes to the juveniles he has driven. "I have had some nice ones," he said. "Chokin was the best, and Montana Vance was another good youngster. Bella's Boy was a nice 2-year-old too, and had he not run into a freak like Light And Sound he probably would have won a lot more. "This fellow is pretty exciting though, because he has got a lot of potential."

Fergiemack and Gotta Go Cullen will resume their rivalry when they both step out in the NZ 2-year-old Championship at Alexandra Park on June 16.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 24May06

Joan & Peter Cocks with David Earnshaw

It's doubtful whether David Earnshaw, a long-time employee with Tim Butt and Phil Anderson, has ever taken his driving gear to Addington on Cup Day. He will this year, and not for any old race - for the NZ Cup itself.

Butt says Earnshaw was "in the picture" for the drive on Tribute, and said he couldn't see any reason why he'd lose it. "He's won the New Brighton Cup, the Kindergarten Stakes and a heat of the Sires' Stakes Series with the horse, so he really knows how to drive him. He's a good, little horseman, and he did the job for us last week," he said. Earnshaw, in fact, has driven Tribute six times for three wins, two fourths and a miss from his 35 starts.

Tribute set a solid pace in front of his stablemate The Flyin Doctor for much of last Friday's Cup, and he was as strong at the end as he was a lap out. The Flyin Doctor closed well and was a close second, while Roman Gladiator was a sound third, and looks on the verge of hitting immediate winning form.



Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 20Sep06

The ATC 2006 Synd after the win

The ATC Trot 2006 Syndicate came from near and far to fill the Addington birdcage with merriment last Saturday. Parked up the front, 76-year-old Margaret Reeve was as merry as most. Family members got her wheelchair in amongst them as they celebrated the win by Changeover in the PGG Wrightson NZ Yearling Sales Series 2yo Open from Christian Warrior and Mombassa.

Margaret came up from Ashburton for the big event, though the race was not particularly clear to her. She has impaired vision and cannot walk. She can't read and can't see television. "I lost it all about five months ago...it's awful," she said. "But I love being part of the syndicate and having the horse to race. It is my only interest, and Rob Carr has been so good. He phones me and tells me what is going on," she said. As it happened, Margaret bought the last share in the syndicate. "Rob told me there were two men interested but they hadn't paid the money. So next morning, I was down at the bank first thing and had the money away that day," she said.

Margaret will be back at Addington this week, but she is not so confident that Changeover will match it with Gotta Go Cullen. Trainer Geoff Small thinks the same as Margaret. "We have got a nice horse who has improved slowly all year, but Gotta Go Cullen is very, very good."

Changeover was bred by Carr and Don Kirkbride, who bought her dam Chaangerr off Bunty Hughes and Alan Meadows after they had bred seven foals. "She didn't come cheap," said Carr, who manages all the ATC Syndicates. "She was in foal to Artsplace, and they kept the foal she had. We sold Changeover for $28,000, and I had gently suggested to the trainers selecting for the syndicate that they avoid buying one that I had bred," he said.

If Small heard him, he didn't listen. "I had always wanted one from that family," he said. "He was early in the Sale, I had a budget and he made it. For Rob, it is a double coup," he said, adding that he was indebted to the usual high standard of help he had received staying with his old school buddy, Jeff Whittaker. By In The Pocket, Changover is expected to develop form that will make him a Classic chance at three.

Carr and Kirkbride have kept a Bettor's Delight filly from Chaangerr which is with Tony Herlihy, they have a weanling filly by Presidential Ball and the mare is in foal to Bettor's Delight,

Christian Warrior came off a nice trail on the outer to earn $33,150 for second, while Mombassa held his ground for third. They outclassed the others.


Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 17May06

It is no surprise Vin Devery has put Dreamy Atom back in foal to Badlands Hanover. The other product of that mating is Western Dream, which led for the last mile and won the $100,000 Nevele R Fillies Series Final at Addington with the comfort a hot favourite should. It could not have been much easier.

Alinghi ran up boldly before the corner and looked a worry for a time. But other than that flurry, there was nothing of matter for the final 15 seconds except the gap to second, and if Alinghi would hold it - which she did not.

Dreamy Atom has been a gem for Devery and his wife, Daphne. The Soky's Atom mare won six races and was 2-year-old Filly of the Year in 1998. As a broodmare, she has been a source of good income, having left Happy Dreamer which was sold to the U.S. after two starts here; Dream Royale, which won her 13th race at the weekend in Queensland; the Tim Butt trained middle-grader Presidential Dream, and Western Dream, the best of them all. She has raced only 16 times, and won 12. Her stakes are more than $260,000, and there is fair expectation it will be close to $300,000 with another high placing in the Oaks on Friday night. The Devery's have one more from Dreamy Atom to come, a filly by Artiscape, which is being weaned anytime soon.

The Artiscape is one of only two foals they bred this season. The other is a Julius Caesar colt from a Smooth Fella mare; two others died soon after foaling. To supplement numbers, a Badlands Hanover-No Time Franco filly was bought at this year's PGG Wrightson Sale.

There is still much ahead of Western Dream. She will contest the Australian Oaks in late July, and she has the Breeders' Crown heats and, in mid August, the Final. "We plan to give her a spring spell and bring her back for the mares' races in late summer and autumn," said Vin. He recalled that his success has come a long way since the time he raced the Johnny Globe mare Facetious with his brothers, Alan and Ray. "She won four of five, and it the fourth grandam of Western Dream," he said.

Western Dream is three short of equalling the number of wins by the Devery's former star, Honkin Vision. "He won fifteen, And every Cup Week when we come up, we call in and see him on the way home. We always look forward to that," he said.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 17May06