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BRYCE BUCHANAN

Bryce Buchanan passed away last week after a short illness, aged 68.

A respected and forthright horseman, formerly from Southland before settling in Canterbury, Buchanan was the father of Glenys and father-in-law of Terry Chmiel. He was successful in all aspects of harness racing, as a breeder, trainer and driver and studmaster.

He gained his licence in 1960 with a recommendation from Charlie Dillon, moving to Templeton in 1964 to work for Jack Carmichael. In 1968 he gained a licence to train his own horses, and soon after settled briefly at Ohoka. He returned south, and in 1976 had established Cedar Lodge Stud, where he stood the stallions Knowing Bret, Gaines Minbar, Transport Chip and Mister Hillas.

It was a time when he had great success as a trainer, winning 20 races in the 1980-81 season, 16 in 81/82 and 19 in 82/83. Horses of this era included La Valaise, Really Sly, Lord Dalrae, Seafield Celeste (5 wins), Sly Chip, Kiwi Dillon, Chippies Girl and Kiwi River. It was also the time he bred Maestro by Gaines Minbar from Dreamy Melody. He was sold to Bob Knight as a 2-year-old, and (as Our Maestro) developed into a great pacer, winning a heat of the Inter-Dominions and a Miracle Mile.

In 1994, he moved to Winton, and then to Leeston in Canterbury where he trained in partnership with Glenys. Terry spoke of the influence he was to their family and career. "He was always there to give us help and advice, and provided the property from where we train. He gave us owners, and was always so good with our kids. He was straight up, and said what he thought. That was him. The salute I gave on winning on Saturday (the Sapling Stakes with Boom Gate) was really for Bryce," he said.

Buchanan's biggest winner was probably the grand trotter Cedar Fella, who won him seven races in the early 90s, before he won a further 10 for Warren Stapleton. Smart horses he trained with Glenys were the trotters Power In Motion(6) and Lord Rotarian(5), Superkev(6), Don't Tell Kate(4), and Buster Mee(3), and on his own account Rupeni, Pocket Boy, Diggers Rest, Truly Princess(3), Don't Tell Kate(3), All Care(3), Lover's Wish(3), One Night In Bangkok(3), Power In Motion, Lord Rotarian, Beelzebub(3), Just Ella(6), Caste Di(5), Megaman(4), Franco Revel(4) and Castle Van(4).

He trained two winners this season and 137 since 1985. Along with 74 trained in the five seasons before that, his winning total as a trainer was probably near 250. His best seasons as a driver were between 1981 and 1983 when he won 55 races, and he'd won at least 100 before adding a further 80 from 1985. In giving his family opportunities, he drove only 12 times in the past 11 seasons.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 15Feb2012

KEN ROBERTSON

Ken Robertson, who won numerous standardbred races over 54 years training on the beach at Ocean View (near Dunedin), has died at the age of 83. Robertson achieved most of his success with unsound horses or those considered past their prime. He was an exponent of beach training before it was generally popular.

There was a private funeral for Robertson as he requested. It was attended by his wife of 54 years, Carole, and only child, Carla, who is married to Leithfield Beach trainer, Robbie Holmes. Roberson had a winning experience as an owner a month before his death when his black and cerise colours were carried by Double El at Cromwell. Carla arranged for him to lease a share in the promising Holmes-trained pacer a fortnight earlier in view of his failing health. Double El has since been sidelined with a foot problem.

Robertson was born in Cromwell in November, 1928. He lived in Dunedin as a youth close to the Forbury Park racecourse and gained experience with trainer Alec Crawford. He was at Ocean View when he bought his first horse, Red Glare, for "next to nothing". Robertson trained and drove Red Glare to win at Kurow in 1954 at odds of 25 to one. Nicknamed "Brickie" he was then involved in the building trade and trained as a hobby.

He turned professional in the 1960s after many requests to try horses whose owners felt needed a change of environment or were unsound. He won the main race at Forbury Park in October, 1965 with Lauder Scott, the outsider in a 10-hosre field. Lauder Scott was then a 9-year-old and had not won for 12 months.

Adioway and Master Alan were the same age when they won good races for Robertson. He considered the win of Adioway in the Mobil Oil Flying Mile at Addington in 1968 as his best. Adioway came from last at the top of the straight to beat some of the best horses in commission. Adioway had won 8 of 19 starts when trained at Yaldhurst by George Noble. The gelding was unsound and had not raced for two and a half years when he was leased by Robertson and Jim Crack, of Invercargill.

Robertson rejuvenated Master Alan to win the Southland Invitation Stakes at Gore in 1967 when the gelding had been off the winning list for two years. Master Alan had earlier won 16 races including the Easter Cup at Addington. The trotter Morven Lad ended a losing streak of 84 starts over four years when he won for Robertson at Roxburgh in 1970.

He won with the trotter Neutron Bomb at Invercargill in 1997 at odds of 35 to one. Neutron Bomb, co-owned by Kerry Dance, was then a 10-year-old and had his previous win as a pacer three years earlier. Robertson and Dance won five races with Doone's Chip in the early 1990s.

Robertson raced horses on all bar two of the South Island tracks and ventured to Hawera where he won with Johnny Shiloh in 1973. Robertson won six races as an owner with the trotter Perfect Trust in 1990s, training the gelding for his last three wins.

Robertson knew the distance his horses worked on the beach but he never timed them and rarely took a horse to a racetrack to trial. "I work them solidly, no jogging with two or three sharp sprints, I know by the feel if they are fit," he said in an interview three years ago. His skill had not dimmed in the twilight of his career with four of his last five winners having their first starts from his stable. The last was the trotter Harvey Krumpet at Forbury Park in June, 2008, the outsider in a 14-horse field, paying $73.30 to win.

Credit: HRWeekly 29Feb2012

NEIL ESCOTT

The February 1 launch of the new Racing Integrity Unit coincides with the first day of retirement for Neill Escott. Harness Racing's First Man of Integrity has his last day as Chief Stipendiary Steward at the Oamaru meeting on Sunday week. He spoke of 37 years as a stipendiary steward with Weekly Editor, Mike Grainger.

STARTING OUT
"I was looking for a change of lifestyle. At the time I was working as a Stock and Station Agent. I had two young kids and I was leaving home before they were up and getting home when they'd gone to bed. I saw that the NZ Trotting Conference, as it was then, was advertising two positions and one was for a Trainee Stipendiary Steward. I went through a series of interviews and got the job.

I came under the wing of L.A. Butterfield, and the other full-time stipe in Christchurch at the time was Les Purvis. Our deputies were Doug Watts, Laurie Mahoney and Errol Williams. I was very fortunate starting off with Butterfield, who carted me everywhere. He told me to sit in a corner, say nothing, and keep my ears and eyes open. He was very experienced, confident and he would administer justice fairly. It was important to have the ability to read a race. You either had it, or you didn't. Fortunately, I had it. There were a number of things that gave you that confidence, and knowing the the colours was just one of them. When I started, race filming was just in it's infancy, and Roy Kennard was in the process of refining it and taking it to where it is today.

STEWARDS THEN
After L.A. Butterfield came Harry Fryer, who was Senior Stipendiary Steward, and then Peter Mackenzie took over. I did a lot of meetings in Southland with Peter, and I had no trouble with him. He could be arrogant, I know, and I know many did not see eye to eye with him, but he did have a heart. He was an excellent race-reader and a good steward, and he loved his golf and squash, and he did so much work establishing the Gore squash courts that the building was named after him.

Michael Carrigg came next - a Queenslander from Rockhampton. It was obvious that those who made this decision did not think there was anyone here capable of handling those duties. At the time I was not considered suitable for the position. You have to take those things on the chin, but it's fair to say I was disappointed I was not appointed then. I took over after he died.

STEWARDS NOW
We are so fortunate today that we have a growing number of stewards who have been out on the track and have that experience. It's something like 'employ a thief to catch a thief'. It's harder with filming for anyone to beat the system, but you get to know by body language if someone is telling porkies or being on target with the truth. But even with the film, there are people who throw up a smokescreen for the JCA, and put up too many excuses.

CHANGES
Raceday filming and laptops. I recall when all reports were hand-written. The employment of former licenceholders who have on-track experience has been a new and successful change. Clubs giving junior drivers increased opportunities has been a great step forward forward and the standard of race driving - with the exception of amateurs - has improved dramatically. There are no longer many charges that come under the serious category, and that's a result of more trials and workouts as well as racemeetings.

On the demerit side, I still think the JCA is a big expense for clubs and needs fine-tuning. I don't agree with the JCA taking the line of asking a driver or trainer if they are in a position to pay a fine. The penalty should fit the offence and there should be no choice. You don't get asked what you'd like if you get a traffic notice, so why here? I also think it's wrong there can be no appeal on raceday placings. There should be an avenue by which aggrieved owners can appeal those decisions.

FIASCOS
Well, the worst day of my life, ever, was at Methven. Everyone remembers it.
To start with, there was a power failure early in the day. It meant that there was no payout of winning tickets that had been sold. So the meeting was put back 10 minutes. The club's Tote Steward then decided to go to lunch without telling anyone and he hadn't passed this information on to the Starter. I was in the room when I heard Reon Murtha on the speaker saying the Starter was bringing them into line. This would have been the fourth race. I went out to see what was going on. And before I could do anything, they were off. I thought the best thing to do would be to go out on the track and stay close to the gate and wave the drivers down...bring them in like Pied Piper and they'd all follow... Some stopped, some didn't. Of course, the tote was still open, and wasn't closed until they were halfway home. After that it rained...poured down. One fiasco after another. They decided to rerun the race after the last. I think eight went round again. (For the record: the T.S. Harrison-Nevele R Three-Year-Old Stakes was won by Beaudiene Bolta - John Hay - from Megatrend and All The Rage. Eight started after 12 were scratched, including the original winner, Twilight Time).
I got home feeling gutted. Mackenzie was down south and phoned and asked what was going on. But the first to call was the galloping stipe Bruce Craik who offered his commiserations, and then a few weeks later much the same thing happened to him. And just to keep the wound open, I started getting some odd presents in the mail box...white gloves, stop signs and loud hailers...good fun.

One inguiry that still disturbs me was the Hoppy's Jet one at Oamaru. The horse was just beaten on the first day after coming with a late run. Michael De Filippi drove him as he always did, and that's how it suited the horse. After viewing replays of the race, the committee of the day did not lay charges. On the second day, the horse was in a race for junior drivers, and he went straight to the front for Paul Hampton and won. I had strong support for the decision I had taken, and I'd been told action by some trainers and drivers would be considered if the matter went further. I had always been against clubs having penalty-free races for junior drivers on the second day of a meeting, and soon after that change was made.

We were at Nelson for one meeting, when Dennis O'Reilly asked where Make To Royce was. The horses had left the birdcage and were round at the start, and just about to come into line. Carrigg asked me what we should do, and I said use the common-sense rule - scratch it. It was plain to see the horse wasn't there. Then Ian Cameron came up the shute with the horse, saw what was happening, then turned around and went back. It was a bit embarrassing, being owned by an Executive member, as it was.

On another occasion, I was at Wesport and Roy Craddock was the Starter and he was having a hard job getting Tufty Boy to line up. He was rearing and plunging and needed an oxygen mask each time he came up for air. Craddock then called out if anyone had a rope. A rope was duly presented and four big men pulled the horse into line. When they left, Tufty Boy took the rope with him, and it dragged behind him for the entire race.

Another Coast incident was at Reefton when the Starter saw the balloon go up, and saw it come down and let the horses go. The balloon was a kerosene drum full of concrete. What happened was the rope that took the drum up broke, crashed and broke a chap's collar bone. It could have been worse.

MEMORABLE PERFORMANCES
Final Decision in the New Zealand Cup and Lord Module in the Matson will go down in history as two of the greatest efforts we've seen. Steel Jaw's huge win in the NZ Cup and then the death of his owner in the birdcage after the race was memorable. Two of the best trotters I've seen were No Response and Nigel Craig and of the modern-day horses, Monkey King. And I'd have to mention the time trial by Mount Eden at Addington after Charlie Anderson had to grade the track after the last race. So much has changed. Years ago, you wouldn't see a 2-year-old until the Sapling Stakes in June, and now there are four or five 2-year-old heats at many of the trial meetings. Just recently, I think we inspected eight 2-year-olds ond day just from one stable."

Escott, a man of 100 cliches, said he retired thankful of the assistance and help of the majority of clubs and licenceholders. He served under 10 Board Chairmen - Dick Rolfe, Dewar Robertshaw, George Cruickshank, Sir James Barnes, Jack Phillips, Max Bowden, Ralph Kermode, Jim Wakefield, John Penney and Pat O'Brien and four General Managers - John Rowley, Ian Mill, Mark Todd and Edward Rennell. "I always admired Jack Phillips. He'd always speak to the staff...very human, down to earth...never changed.

If I had one wish it would be to see a common approach to rules and regulations between New Zealand and Australia. I participate in the annual meeting of stipendiary stewards between the two countries and everyone wants to do their own thing. If there was more consistency, people would know where they stand. It's not like that now. Probably the highlight of my career is when I've been given the opportunity to put my views, on behalf of the New Zealand industry, to the Annual Meeting of Chief Stipendiary Stewards in Australia. But to get changes is like pushing rope uphill."



Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 19 Jan 2011

Spero Denario takes Dexter's tally to 100 for the season

DEXTER DUNN

Dexter Dunn achieved yet another record at Addington last Friday night.

It wasn't the five wins he had on the 11-race card, nor the fact that four of them were in a row, and he's not the first driver to win back-to-back Premier Mare's Championships either.

No, the latest milestone that harness racing's whiz kid added to his burgeoning CV was for reaching 100 wins in a season in the quickest time: 174 days to be exact, 24 less than the previous record of Maurice McKendry's set in 1988/89. Remarkably, Dunn wasn't even born at the time - he came into the world about seven and a half months later. Dunn had been 'knocking' at this record for a while, driving his 100th winner one day too late two seasons ago and over-shooting the cut-off by nearly a fortnight last term.

But he was always looking likely to claim it this time round, because there was no brief stint across the Tasman in August for the likes of the Breeders' Crown so he was here and chipping away at the target much sooner. "I never set out to break records," Dunn says,"if it happens, it happens."

The fact is that he just does though, and after a rollicking start and a plethora of winners it's looking likely that he could top the 200 mark again in 2010/11. He'll be away overseas for most of July when he represents New Zealand at the World Driving Championships, but at his current rate he'll probably have put the double-tonne behind him before he hops on the plane.

In fact, the only records really left for Dunn to break now are his own ones.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 26Jan11

DUAL GAITED TRAINERS

It seem slightly traitorous to some that high profile harness trainers are casting their eyes over the thoroughbred industry to extent their interests.

The way the gallops are going, you would have to wonder why? But when people of the calibre of Barry Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen announce they are increasing their commitment to the galloping code, and supporting acts like Todd Mitchell and Brian Court have already taken the plunge, it seems a trend in the making. If so, it is one old enough to have grey hairs.

A century ago, one of New Zealand's leading harness trainers was the Palmerston North-based Lou Robertson, a superb horseman though inclined to test the patience of officialdom with some of his adventures. He left New Zealand for Australia when bookmakers were banned here (1910); became a top harness trainer in Melbourne, but switched to gallopers at the request of his owners. He won the 1915 Caulfield Cup (and again as late as 1949) and after that trained several turf stars until the remarkable year of 1935 when he won the Cox Plate, the Melbourne Cup, the VRC Derby and the VRC Oaks in a matter of weeks. Lou was ludicrously superstitious but never regretted his journey to the 'dark side' from harness.

Dave Price of the same era was the man who spied the freak pacing mare Princess on the road to Ashburton in the 1880s and turned her into a goldmine on both sides of the Tasman. When he was disqualified for life for pulling Princess in Australia he toured in a circus with her doing riding tricks. He developed our first genuine Addington superstar, Ribbonwood, and travelled to America to buy the famous foundation mare, Norice.

The banning of bookmakers hastened Price's permanent exit to Australia when he switched to thoroughbreds in Sydney in 1922. His list of top horses would fill this column. He was famous enough to have his racing memoirs published in a series in a top Sydney newspaper - and he had plenty of stories to tell, especially about his New Zealand career.

In the 1920s an Australian trainer, Peter Riddle, set up a trotting stable in Domain Terrace at Addington and soon had remarkable success. He returned home, took up with gallopers, and owned and trained a fabulous horse called Shannon which later set world records in America.

Bill Tomkinson (for his son Jim), Ces Donald, and Jimmy Bryce (for his daughter Rona) were among prominent trainers of the 1930s to have gallopers (at least ones which were supposed to do that), while that remarkable horseman 'Dil' Edwards was winning the best races at Addington and top races at Riccarton at the same time from his Yaldhurst stable.

Jack Shaw was a famous dual-gaited trainer, having the champion trotting mare of the 1930s in Worthy Queen and the champion galloper of the 1950s in Beaumaris. Claude Fairman, who trained the famous pacing mare, Blue Mist, used to help out with Shaw's gallopers. Lately of course, Graeme Rogerson has been trying a similar change in reverse - as Freeman Holmes did more than 100 years ago.

Graeme has found it a challenge, as is any training enterprise, but is a hard man to beat. History suggests Barry, Natalie and company will be well up to the task doing it the other way round.

Credit: David McCarthy writing in HRWeekly 26Jan11

HENRY SKINNER

There was standing room only om Monday at the funeral service for harness racing identity Henry Skinner who died in Invercargill on June 20, aged 78. He was described in the many tributes as a no fuss horseman with great judgement and practical skills. This was backed by his results.

In a driving career spanning 45 years, from his first drive in the 1956-57 season to his last in the 2000-01 term, Skinner reined the winners of 717 races. Among his major successes were the 1979 Auckland Cup with Sapling, the New Zealand Messenger Stakes in 1976 and 1978 with Forto Prontezza and Sapling, the 1989 New Zealand 2-Year-Old Championship with Honkin Vision and the 1989 Dominion Handicap with Tobago.

He also suffered some near misses suc as when Hi Foyle came up against Young Quinn in the 1975 Inter-Dominion Final, or when Sapling was nutted in both the 1978 New Zealand Cup and the Inter-Dominion Final, or when No Return got clear too late in the 1993 New Zealand Derby. In addition to those second placings in major races, he came close in another New Zealand Cup when Forto Prontezza, a pacer he also trained, came third.

Prior to his entry into harness racing, Skinner had been an apprentice jockey and won his first race at Tapanui in 1948 as a 15-year-old. Among his key wins were the 1949 Invercargill Gold Cup on Gunther, carrying seven stone seven pounds (47.75 kgs) and consecutive Great Western Steeplchases aboard The Denbigh in 1951 and 1952, the latest carrying 11 stone one pound (70.5 kgs). Not long after that, increasing weight led to him swapping saddles for sulkies.

Although it took him 12 seasons to reach his first 100 winners, those were in days when harness racing dates in the south were limited, as were the number of races each day. He topped 30 in a season for the first time with 38 wins in the 1973-74 term and another eight times later. His best tally, of 39, came in 1986-87.

Skinner's solo training career began in 1960 but he netted just the on win in his first term. By the time it ended in 2007, his tally was 327 wins. In addition, a successful five-term partnership with Allan Devery - from 1987 - yielded another 76 wins. Honkin Vision, who won both the 1989 2-year-old Sires' Stakes Final and the 3-year-old version six months later, was their biggest winner.

Skinner was carried into the service to the 1965 Herman's Hermits hit 'I'm Henery the Eigth, I Am' and his daughter Tracey Laker recalled the times he would ring and sing the song down the phone line to her to report on a successful day at the races. She also remembered going to races with him in the days when parking attendants were required, and spoke of the lack of success the white coated brigade had when trying to change her father's parking habits.

Peter Davis, who worked for him for about six years, spoke of the ongoing Skinner influence. Some of the routines he followed, such as when mouthing, Davis said, have stuck with him to this day.

Skinner's casket was draped with the red and white colours he wore so prominently for many years. He is survived by two daughters, Tracey, and Vicky Popham, and five grand-children Morgan, Nic, Georgia, Meg and Flynn.

Credit: Mac Henry writing in HRWeekly 29Jun11

ALEX MILNE

Trail-blazing trainer Alex Milne, considered an expert with young horses, died in Gore, aged 90.

On Boxing Day, 1974, he produced Parlez Vous at Ashburton to beat the champion Noodlum, the first horse to do so. Six days later, at Addington on New Year's Day, he did it again. The race was the E F Mercer Flying Mile and he became the first three-year-old to clock a race winning time of 2.00 (in NZ). Race driver Alex Milne junior recalled it was Parlez Vous's fifth win in a row. Nine months earlier, Parlez Vous had won the New Zealand Kindergarten Stakes with Henry Skinner in the sulky.

In 1978, Matai Dreamer - driven by Milne junior - won the same race after breaking early and giving the field a massive start. Matai Dreamer and then Armbro Wings won Great Northern Derbies in 1979 and 1980. New Zealand 3YO of the Year, Matai Dreamer was named by Milne junior as probably the best of his late father's many winners.

In 1977, Milne had prepared Almac to win the Kindergarten Stakes, prior to selling him to Australia. According to Milne junior however, the Australians came early, paid for him and wanted their own driver, Eddie Sim, to take the reins. "The Australians brought their own hopples. It was the first time we'd seen shorteners, but when they measured them against the ones he had been wearing they couldn't get them long enough. They went ahead and used them, he ran third." Almac was renamed Black Irish in Australia and went on to have a distinguished career including victory in the Queensland Derby.

Milne junior said that when his father weaned, he kept the foals in all winter, mouthed them and drove then in a sulky as weanlings. "He said that if you get them doing work, they'll eat better. He didn't put them in a sulky very much, he seemed to know just how often to do it."

Milne also had then driven differently on raceday. "When I started driving, you used to sprint early, back off and then sprint home," Milne junior said. "When Dad took young horses to Canterbury his way was to make a mid-race move and at the 800m, put the pressure on to take the sprint out of them. They were conditioned to do that."

One of a family of nine, Milne's mother died when he was four and his father when he was 14. He was brought up by locals in the community and became a cheese maker at the local dairy factory. Another chapter in his life saw him take a team of horses to Walter Peak Station on the banks of Lake Wakatipu where he ploughed over 200 acres of land. It is believed the exercise took about two years and was instrumental in developing his equine expertise.

Married before the war, Milne returned from service in 1947 and immediately went sheep farming near Edendale. He had a family of four daughters and three sons. One of them, Ewen Milne, now of Christchurch, drove and trained for a time while Alex Milne junior continues to do both at Edendale. Grandson Nigel drives successfully in Australia. Such were the demands of farm and family that Milne was in his 40s before he took up training. Cover On was his first winner. He later took it to Wellington to race and then sell.

In the 1964-65 season he ha five wins, four of them with Van Patch who was the first of a significant number of winners who secured four or winners for him. Inclded were Matai Chip, Matai Blue Chip, Matai Bret, Monarque, Maai Moon Beam, Matai Gogi, Matai Skipper and Arden Bay (runner up in the New Zealand Derby). Another was Watbro who started in the New Zealand Cup, led up but was run down.

Camsplace Alec, the winner of two as a juvenile (1996-97 season), five at three and four at four, was the last winner trained by Milne. Raced by him in partnership with Balfour studmaster Allen Jones, Camsplace Alec was then transfered to Brian Hancock in New South Wales and won another 33 times. Matai BBC (Nevele R Series heat winner, 17wins in Australia) and Matai Princess (Southland Oaks heat winner) were the last horses he raced. The 1978-79 season, with 23 wins, was Milne's best and he was Southland's leading trainer that year.

Credit: Mac Henry writing in HRWeekly 3Aud2011

Jack with Yankee Loch

JACK CARMICHAEL

Old habits die hard in the harness racing game so it is just as well that age is no barrier to success.

Ask former top trainer Jack Carmichael, of Templeton. He recently renewed his licence 71 years after he first went racing and soon revealed that old skills also die hard, producing his own Flaming Frieda, driven by Ian Cameron, to win at Timaru.

"It was just circumstances, really," says the modest veteran of well over 700 wins. "I retired a few years ago (2005) and handed in my licence so I wouldn't be tempted to take on a horse. I didn't believe in just going on for the sake of it. I was going to breed from a mare I had, Frieda Holmes, and sell the foals as yearlings." He first foal fetched $9000 and the next one $20,000. Then "Hoagy" as he is widely known (after the composer of the famous song Stardust) was unhappy with the $9000 offered for the third foal, Flaming Frieda, and took her home.

"I had her here and was working her along and, well, with the cost of training fees today I thought I might as well do it all myself. I was getting up at the same time and pottering around with them anyway. I never changed my routine really, everything was here and I didn't think I had forgotten how."

Carmichael's career is steeped in trotting tradition. He began by riding in saddle races on the West Coast in 1940, including the noted saddle pacer, Mankind, a minor legend of the era. Jack drove his first winner, Dawn Grattan, at Hokitika in 1942. "I was related to Wes Butt (whose property was known as Mankind Lodge) who had a big team then and worked with him. I was in the army at the time. We were sleeping under the public stand at Riccarton and training there. I managed to get weekend leave to go over and drive and it was hard to get in those days." Those were the days when it took 12 hours for the average equine rail trip to the West Coast, after which horses campaigned there for weeks at a time, giving rise to the quip "trained on the train". "You certainly didn't do much with them between races. They often raced twice on the same day and with the travelling that was about it."

Carmichael went on to star in much bigger arenas. He trained and drove the 1973 New Zealand Cup winner Globe Bay for Christchurch garage proprietor Stan Wheatley, who bought his dam after her half-sister, which he owned, was "nobbled" at a Hutt Park meeting. Coronet Lass started Jack off in the training ranks after years of working with Butt and farming. Chequer Board, Glen Moira, the erratic but brilliant Micron, and Astralight were among his many stars, but his record in Inter-Dominion trotting finals with Precocious(1975) and Yankee Loch(1989) were special highlights.

The aptly named Precocious had an unusual career. When she was a two-year-old, an unnamed colt jumped the fence and put her in foal. The resulting filly, appropriately named Over Fence, was not only a good winner but later left a high class trotter in Precocious Lad. "I only trained Precocious at odd times. Bob Mitchell had her at the 1973 Inter-Dominion and I went over to drive her. We were off the back mark and it wasn't going to be easy. An old bloke there took me aside and told me the locals would make things tough for me in the final but I should remember that stewards might give me a 'holiday' but they wouldn't take the race off me. Sure enough, one driver in particular tried to push me off the track for a whole round. I gave as good as I got, remembering that advice, and won the race. There was a long enquiry but the old bloke was right. They gave me a month's suspension but we kept the race. The other driver, Bert Alley, became a good mate of mine."

It was experience against the tough Australian drivers which paved the way for the second Inter-Dominion triumph with Yankee Loch in 1989, also held across the Tasman. "I had a good mare called Kate's Return. She frustrated me until I found out she loved going to the front. When I went over to Australia they just attacked me all the way and ruined her chance. So when Yankee Loch's turn came and I knew he would race best in front, I rang an Australian driver, Jim O'Sullivan, who had won big races at Addington at that time and asked him to drive him in the series. Jim went to the front and they didn't attack him like they would have if it had been a Kiwi driver. Yankee Loch beat the hot favourite, True Roman."

Jim Curtin drove Yankee Loch in New Zealand to win several major races. But Ian Cameron is the "stable driver" at the moment. "When you go to the trials, fellows like Jim are either away at the races or booked up. Ian has always driven quite well in my opinion and he helped me out when I went to workouts. He's done nothing wrong."

Jack bears no grudges against Australians, incidentally. His wife, Dorothy, comes from there and they have had a long and successful marriage. Besides his work with horses, Jack put in years of administration with the Owners and Trainers Association running trial meetings at Addington. He is one of the select few elected to Addington's Hall of Fame.

So are there any more champions in the pipeline? "No, I wouldn't say that. Flaming Frieda (by Courage Under Fire) is a little bit better than average. She went through a bad spell when I had to tie her up to do much with her but it was Jim Dalgety who reminded me that perseverance was the key to success. She can do more yet and I have some Badlands Hanover youngsters out of the mare. I have tried one of them (Harvest Boy) and when he lined up I even put a fiver on him because I think he will be alright, but he needs a bit of time."

Time is something Jack Carmichael feels he still has plenty of. "I've been lucky but I notice a lot of horsemen seem to live to a good age. I think the early-to-rise and early-to-bed might have something to do with it."

Jack, 88, this year and the oldest professional trainer in the country, is still fascinated by horses after 75 years working with them. By any standards, the career of a genuine stayer.

Credit: David McCarthy writing in The Press 2 July 2011

GLENIS STEVENS

When Glenis Stevens left her home for the last time on Friday, November 25, her husband, trainer Mike Stevens, would normally have been in the car with her. After 46 years of marriage Glenis and Mike were rarely apart. "We were inseparable," Mike said. "Everything we did, we loved doing it together." Even shopping, which Glenis loved, but Mike didn't, was done together.
However, that day he was flat out making hay at their 87 acre training property near Ashworths Beach in North Canterbury.

So Glenis headed off alone on the trip to collect their granddaughter, Courtney, aged 10, from the North New Brighton School, then return to the farm before attending a family party at daughter Jo's home in New Brighton to celebrate grandson Hayden's 14th birthday.

A short time later tragedy struck when Glenis was involved in a head-on car crash on State Highway 1, near Waikuku. She died at the crash scene, only a few kilometres from her home. She was 66. The driver of the other vehicle suffered minor injuries and was taken to Christchurch Hospital.

Mike and Glenis met at the Waimairi Surf Life Saving Club, when she was 15 and he 18. It wasn't love at first sight Mike said, but it was love after their first kiss. Five years later they married and in 1967 set up a panel-beating business in New Brighton. They raised three daughters, Jo, Toni and Anita, and have three grandchildren, Courtney, Hayden and Wade.

Mike also became a Christchurch City Councillor for six years in 1989. Unfortunately Mike and Glenis' business was damaged in the September 4, 2010 earthquake, but repairs enabled them to carry on. However, after far more serious damage, sustained during the February 22 quake earlier this year, the building was unable to be repaired and they decided to close their business down.

They shared many interests including swimming, surf lifesaving, whitebaiting, playing cards, rugby and racing standardbreds, most of which Mike trained. Aithough West Melton trainer, Robert Anderson, a good friend for many years, has also trained a few for them and he has Mike's four-win trotter Dragons Den, in work at the moment.

Over the years Mike and Glenis owned many nice horses, including Glenroydon (10 wins), Shantahlia Image (7 wins), Placid Bill (5 wins), Simon's Sister (5 wins), Hayden John (3 wins), Sunny Ilsa (2 wins), Paul Patch (3 wins) and the present race team, Su El (1 win), Dragons Den (4 wins) and Tomsincharge (1 win). They also owned the former top trotting mare Ilsa Voss for a time, breeding three foals from her, Isla Hanover, Top Voss and Magic Choice (4 wins). "We have been lucky to have had so many good horses," Mike said.

However their favourite was Smooth Dominion, which was the rank outsider but ran a close second for driver Robert Anderson in the 1997 NZ Cup won by Iraklis. "He would have to be our favourite because he was the best," Mike said. The excitement of having a runner in the New Zealand Cup was magnified many times over for Glenis and Mike with such a close run to the finish and only half a head between Iraklis and Smooth Dominion on the line.

After the race they were interviewed by Sheldon Murtha for Trackside. He asked them how it felt to watch their horse run so close in the big race? Unfortunately they couldn't answer his question, because they hadn't seen the finish. The excitement of the race, and Glenis's unique, exuberant cheering style, caused her to faint right at the crucial time, and so they missed Smooth Dominion's finest moment. "She dropped like a stone," Mike said. Later, in true Stevens style, they celebrated with a 'Smooth Dominion ran second in the NZ Cup party' which was a big success.

Glenis and Mike travelled to many racetracks around New Zealand together with their horses. A trip to Kaikoura in October this year brought a win for them with outsider Su El, who was last on the turn but stormed home to rock the tote paying $111.40 and $20.20. Mike said they also enjoyed taking horses to the West Coast during the Christmas holiday circuit there. "It is a great place the Coast, and the Coasters make it special," he said. "We loved going there."

Although they hadn't had the right horse to campaign on the Coast circuit for the last two or three years, Mike and Glenis had been hoping to take Su El there this year. A trip has not yet been ruled out. If the Elsu-Made To Order mare can win another race before the Westport meeting she would be eligible for the Westport Cup, a race Glenis would have loved to see her win.

A celebration of Glenis's life was held at the Sefton Hall in North Canterbury on December 1, with a big crowd of about 500 family and friends attending, and many of them wishing to give oral tributes. "There were that many people who wanted to speak we went for nearly two and a half hours, but if everyone who wanted to speak had done so it would have been much longer," Mike said. "It was a real credit to who she was. Everybody loved her because she was so happy."

Mike said he asked people to donate money to the North New Brighton School Swimming Pool Club, to repair earthquake damage done to the pool, instead of buying flowers. Mike's father attended the school, so did he and his three daughters, and now his grandchildren also go to school there. More than $6000 has already been donated in Glenis's honour for the project.

Credit: Shelley Caldwell writing in HRWeekly 21Dec11

GAVIN HAMPTON

Your father, Joe, had racehorses. Were you always going to make a career with them?

No way. I actually started working in town as an office boy but I got a bit sick of that.We had always had ponies to ride to school at East Eyreton where Dad had a farm. Anyway I was helping out at home. Dad went to the races at Ashburton one day and came home and said he had found a job for me. It was working for F J Smith in Auckland (Takanini), so I packed up and off I went.

F J Smith? He was the Englishman who had been in America and was a champion trainer always immaculately dressed?

Yes, he had a lot of success here. He was a top horseman and he knew all the latest things they were doing in America. I was there for about 18 months.

I suppose since he was one for appearances everything had to be spot on?

My word! We had two horses each to look after. There were 19 of us working twenty horses most of the time and we lived in a house there at Takanini. Each day you had to have all the gear hanging up outside the stable and he would inspect that and the horses.

A tough test?

He used to have a white silk handkerchief. He would rub it over the horse's rump and hold it up to the light. It had to be clean or you had to do it over again. He would do the same with the gear, giving it a dust test. The included the horse's covers. We had to wash and scrub them every day. He was a stickler for that. He also had a big collection of treatments he gave to the horses. If you ever went near there you were soon told to get back to work. He died not that long after I left there.

You came home?

Yes, I was training a couple at East Eyreton. Then Dad sold the farm and I moved out to Belfast. I was at George Ashby's for a while and then at Kent Smith's stables next to the Belfast hotel.

A tough start?

I started training for £2 10 shillings a week. But you could get a bag of chaff for five shillings and oats were cheap so it wasn't too bad. The top trainer charged up to £5.

I remember you had a good horse called Masterpiece soon after. How did that happen?

He was a Southland horse and Herbie Booth owned and trained him. I got to know him at Forbury when the meetings were spread over a week. At the end of it he offered me Masterpiece. He had won about four races then and that took him out of the Southland racing classes.

A good horse to work with?

A stallion but a lovely horse to do anything with. We won a lot of good races against the top horses an hell, they were good then. He won a free-for-all beating Vedette, but I never got him to the NZ Cup. He broke down in a suspensory ligament before the race. We bred mares to him. He later left Master Alan, which was a top wee horsepeople will remember.

What was it like for a young guy with a top horse then?

Well, it wasn't all easy. A leading trainer I wont name went all the way to Invercargill to try and get it off me. He told Herbie I didn't know what I was doing and h would do a better job. Herbie turned around at th end and said the horse was at Gavin Hampton's and he was staying there. In fact he sent me up other horses including a trotter called Ecosse which won a lot of races. Herbie died near the end of Masterpiece's career, but his son kept the horses with us.

Ecosse, another stallion. He was by U Scott? What was he like?

Yes, by U Scott, a little weed and a dirty little bugger. You just couldn't trust him. I remember I sent him over to Lyttelton one day to go to Wellington. In those days they used to hoist them onto the boat. When I go to the boat there was a hell of a scene. Horses bandaged everywhere. He was next to Johnny Globe who was a lovely quiet horse and had attacked him and everything else he could get at. I didn't have many mates on that ship.

What had been your first winner?

Rowan McCoy, which Dad bred and owned. A good trotter on her day.

What was the story behind Signal Light that you drove in the 1951 Inter-Dominion trotting final?

Dad had a rabbiting contract in Hakataramea and that required horse. He used to go to the Tattersalls Horse Bazaar in town to get them and that was where all our best racehorses came from when he decided to breed from a few of them. Suda Bay, the dam of Signal Light was one of them. She later left Court Matial for my father. He bought another one, Margaret Logan, which was to start a line for us. They were only going for hack prices.

Did Signal Light have his chance in the Inter-Dominion?

Yes, and I thought it had it won. Then Gay Belwin came along and took it off us in the last few strides. Signal Light won a Trotting Stakes and he was placed in a lot of the biggest races. There were terrific horses to race against then. I especially remember Dictation. He held all the records. He was one of the best trotters I have ever seen if not the best.

Court Martial. He made a big impression, especially as a sire?

He was a good stayer as a racehorse but he was a terrific stallion. He left horses like Moon Boy, lots of top liners. Dad stood him at stud in Riccarton on Hawthornden Road.

A big operation?

Not with old Court Martial. He was a dream. they'd walk him into a paddock of mares and he would just stand there while they tested the mares and palpated them. They'd call him over , he would do the job, then start eating grass. Nothing ever bothered that old horse. He was 35 when he died.

After Masterpiece, Signal Light etc, your next headliner was Radiant Globe. What can you tell us about him?

He was the best horse I trained. Right from the first time I put him in the cart he was special. He gave us a lot of thrills and the two biggest disappointments of my racing life.

How did you get him?

I really only had him to break in initially. Graham Holmes suggested they give it to me. Bob White, who was then a barman in Blenheim - he later had his own pubs - had bred him from a mare he bought from Westport for about $100. She didn't have a lot of breeding. John Hart had a share in him with Bob. As I said I liked him right from the start and they let me go on training him. He was better than anything else I handled.

What were the disappointments?

A New Zealand Cup and an Interdominion. You don't get many bigger disappointments than those two in our game.

Which Cup was that?

1971. He was second to True Averil whom he had beaten in the New Brighton Cup not long before. He was the favourite and he should have won it.

What happened?

I was in front. He was happy there. He could start to pull if you tried to do too much with him. Anyway, we were going along sweet as a nut when Robalan came around. They wanted to lead and there was some noise going on and my horse started to pull. It cost him the race.

Still second though.

When Robalan wouldn't go away I let my horse run clear of the field. He was only going to pull his way into the ground otherwise. We had a big break on them at the turn and it was only in the last few strides True Averil got him.

What happened at the Inter-Dominion?

They wouldn't let him into the final because he had missed the first round of the heats. That was the year Mount Eden didn't make the final either. Radiant Globe was going terrific that year but he had a muscle problem just before the heats started and we couldn't risk him like that. He got enough points in two rounds to get into the finals but they wouldn't let him start. He won his consolation heat by half the straight and went faster than they went in the final. He'd have won that too if he had got a go.

A kind horse?

Just a lovely horse to do anything with. Kids could ride him no trouble. A bit of an actor too. His only bad habit was that he liked to pull battens out of fences. I got a long piece of polythene pipe about 20ft long and gave him that to distract him. He loved that. He would stand on his hind feet and swing it around like a circus pony. The papers came out and took photos of him in action.

You ended up taking him to America?

Yeah. It wasn't a great result. When I first got there I had him at a farm, riding him and doing pacework with him. They thought it was a novelty riding a free-for-all pacer, but I did a lot of it with him. He thrived out there but Del Insko, who had charge of him, wanted him in town to step up his work. He didn't take a lot of work and he didn't show his best up there. In the end he broke down.

Wendy Dawn was a good filly you raced?

Yes, I bred her by Johnny Globe, like Radiant Globe was. Her mother (Meadowbrook) was from Rose Logan which Dad had bred from. She showed me quite a bit early on but when it came to race time I just couldn't get a start with her anywhere. Not many trials then and a lot less races. So I entered her in the New Zealand Derby for her first race. A bit daring then.

How did she go?

She ran fourth, pretty good first up. It was Tactile's year. Her second start was in the NZ Oaks and she won that.

What a career start. What happened next?

Not a lot to be honest. She was smart but she never really got any better. She was also a bit disappointing at stud. She left Tilringer which was useful, but not a lot else.

You did a lot of freelance driving later?

Yes, I had some good clients. Swannee Smith gave me drives on Gay Lyric when he was going well earlier on and Starbeam was another I got a drive on. Jim Curragh had Kind Nature and others and I drove Sassenach and Stampede. Lucky Boy was another and Alandria which Jim Winter trained. I drove Philemon earlier on. Paul did very well in his own right as a driver. He was probably better than me.

How did you get on Stampede?

Mainly through Andrew Sellars. I had driven horses for his father earlier. Alan Devery was training him and said "who is Gavin Hampton?" Andrew said to him he would soon find out because I would be driving him. We did alright together.

What are the horses which live in your memory over the years?

Lordship, Johnny Globe, Cardigan Bay. I mentioned Dictation last time and there was a great trotter in the 1940s called Certissimus who was just beautiful to watch. He died young. Radiant Globe is the horse of my own I will always rate right up there.

Credit: Interview with David McCarthy in The Press 19Feb 2011