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Late last month Cavalla Bloodstock bought Power Of Tara off the group of owners that had enjoyed much success with the big Live Or Die gelding. It didn’t take Power Of Tara long to register his first win for his new owner either. Just three weeks on he was winning the Blue Jean Cuisine Winter Cup and doing so at lucrative odds of $25.

2010 BLUE JEAN CUISINE WINTER CUP

Stephen McNally took the reins of the fourth-string Brendon Hill runner in the 3200m contest on Friday night. Bailey’s Dream, Harley Earl and Tennis Ball were all more favoured than their stablemate but getting up to the 3200m generally sees the big horse come into his own. This was the case on Friday night when a patient drive by McNally paid dividends with a late burst that gained a narrow win.

Rangataua Ray got closest to Power Of Tara -the pair combining for a $187 quinella. Nominal favourites Bailey’s Dream and Bettors Strike could only manage third and fourth respectively. The pair effectively cancelling each other in the running, which left it open for a swooper to upset.

The former Group 1 winner, Power Of Tara, is now likely to tick over before a tilt that the spring cups that culminate in the Christchurch Casino NZ Cup on November’s second Tuesday.


Credit: HRNZ Website

2010 UNITED FISHERIES SUMMER CUP

Baileys Dream has had a monkey on his back for years. Niggly little problems here, injury-enforced layoffs there - there has been plenty to keep him away from a lot of big races, and keep his connections frustrated at the same time.

The latest in a long list of bumps in the road was the keyhole surgery Baileys Dream needed to remove cartilage in a knee after he went sore in the build-up to last year's NZ Cup. On top of everything else, it meant he had been away from the racetrack for more than 13 months when trainer 'Benny' Hill finally loaded him on a float again last Saturday.

Quite literally he had a monkey on his back then, too...Monkey King sat behind him in the trail for the last 1900 metres of the Listed $75,000 United Fisheries Ltd Summer Cup, and at the business end Baileys Dream all-but staved off the finishing punch that his stablemate is famous for.

"Halfway down I didn't think they'd get him," said Hill, who was just as chuffed about Baileys Dream's performance as he was about the winner's. "He only knocked up the last twenty metres. And if he'd have had a couple of runs in him, I don't think even Monkey could've got past him."

Hill knows the enormity of such a statement; after all, this is the reigning NZ Cup/NZ Free-For-All/Miracle Mile champion we are talking about here - so it proves that he rates Baileys Dream little, if any, inferior to Monkey King. "I'm probably a bit biased, but if a sound and race-fit Bailey had had the same trips as Monkey did in those three big ones, I reckon he could've won them too. I honestly do."

The only thing spoiling the perfect comeback party for Hill's two pacers on Saturday was Ohoka Dallas, who got shuffled back after being parked early and zoomed home late for a very eye-catching second. A length and a neck separated the three horses at the finish, and Hill walked away knowing that his two were right where he wanted them as the Inter-Dominions draw nearer.

"Monkey was pretty good to go, and because of his following he was more or less expected to win. Which he did, and that was great. But I'm stoked about how Bailey went. He's still a bit big and was probably only about ninety percent, so the run will really tighten him up. And Todd (Mitchell) was pretty happy with him too."

Hill says Monkey King and Baileys Dream are "completely different horses to train", and the latter takes a lot of work. "I didn't miss a beat with him, giving him a serious workout or trial programme of Saturday- Saturday- Wednesday- Saturday prior to his resumption. But you've got to be conscious of keeping him sound too, because you're just as likely to go out there in the morning and find he's sore somewhere. That's what things have been like with him a lot of the time. I know he's eight now, but he's a young eight when you consider how many starts he's had (62). And he's sound at the moment."

Baileys Dream and Monkey King will fly direct to Sydney this time next week where they will be boarding with Hill's good mate Darren Hancock in a township called Pheasant's Nest, which is about an hour and a bit from the city. Two days later the first round of Inter-Dom Heats get underway at Harold Park, then it is onto Newcastle the following Saturday for round two, and Grand Final Day is at Menangle on Sunday, March 7.

"We'll want to be firing and getting points early," says Hill, adding that it is pretty special to be taking across not one but two great horses for such a series.

Monkey King has assumed the role of pinup horse for the industry in this country - mainly because of his emphatic deeds during November, but partly also due to the sub-standard exit from the stage made by Auckland Reactor. At the time when we really needed another hero, the little black rocket from Dancingonmoonlight Farm has filled the void beautifully.

Even last Saturday's racemeeting was dubbed 'The Day Of The Monkey', and his trainer says it's an honour to be part of it all. "It's a really neat feeling. Imagine if he pulled off the Inter-Dominion as well - it'd go dowm in history as one of the greatest seasons ever, and he'd be loved even more. And why couldn't he?"

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 10Feb10

2010 UNITED FISHERIES LTD TROTTING FFA

Something very rare happened at Addington on Saturday.

Stylish Monarch won - and paid double figures. This is the horse that usually lines up showing around the $2 mark, thanks to a super-consistent career where he has finished further back than third only 5 times in 21 starts.

Saturday was the son of Monarchy's first real test in the 'big time', and that combined with a tricky second-row draw saw him overlooked in pre-race calculations. After a gem of a drive from Ricky May though, the 6-year-old punched home best to win the $40,000 United Fisheries Ltd Trotting Free-For-All.

"Most of the time he's pretty lazy during the prelim, but today he was really onto it," an impressed May said afterwards. "And usually the good ones have got something wrong with them or some little quirk, but he's foolproof. He's a really nice horse."

It was a stellar moment for Stylish Monarch's trainer Murray Tapper too, winning the biggest race of his training career. "He's the best I've trained, for certain," Tapper said. "And I've had some nice horses before, but nothing like him."

Stylish Monarch is making a habit of taking his owner Anne Patterson and trainer to new heights..he was the first horse to win when the new stabling facility at Addington was opened last May, he won Tapper a race on Cup Day in November, and now he has got a Free-For-All which contained a few prized scalps to his name.

Things aren't going to stop there though, because Tapper's convinced that Stylish Monarch's ready to target one of the biggest cherries of them all - May's Rowe Cup in Auckland. "I've never taken one out of the South Island, I normally head south," Tapper said with a smile. "But he's just a real professional horse. He's got a 'couldn't care less' attitude and the all-round game. He's the sort of horse you dream of, really."

There is one trait that Tapper wishes his star trotter didn't have though, and that is an extreme love of water. "Him and his mate Domination are buggers for playing in it," he says. "You'll go out to the paddock, and if there's any water to be found - sure enough, they'll be splashing around in it. I don't have concrete troughs any more because he has already smashed a couple of those, and he puts his foot right through the plastic ones. So you've just got to be really careful and keep an eye on them."

That responsibility will be David Gaffaney's for the next wee while, as Tapper says he is going to leave Stylish Monarch with the Rangiora horseman for now. "David's going to jog him around the roads and take him to the beach. He will probably have another couple of runs before heading north, and I'd like him to have one or two up there before the Rowe Cup too."





Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 10Feb10

2010 PGG WRIGHTSON NZ BREEDERS STAKES

Trevor Proctor and his partner Diane Dynes enjoyed their greatest moment in harness racing when Tact Lizzie romped away with the $80,000 PGG Wrightson NZ Breeders Stakes at Addington last Friday night.

Tact Lizzie didn't just get a suck along behind the pace, sneak up the passing lane and fall in to win by a nose - which you would almost expect when such a time-honoured Group 1 event was won by a $64 outsider. No. She started from the outside of the second row, looped the field with 1000 metres to go, and literally ran her opposition into the ground!

And the icing on the cake? Her winning time of 3 09.4, which represented a stunning mile rate of 1 57.2 for the 2600m mobile and even wiped a name like Mainland Banner from the record books in the process. Moments don't get much better than that. "This is our biggest thrill by a long shot," Proctor said afterwards, "I'm still shaking."

Friday's field probably wasn't the greatest Breeders Stakes line-up possible, with top mares like Kiwi Ingenuity, Lauraella and Special Ops all absent for one reason or another, but any thoughts of the event being 'easier' to win this year soon went out the window when Tact Lizzie drew saddlecloth 14. Even Proctor was almost conceding defeat as he found a spot in the stand. "Pretty much," he said. "From there (14) we'd have been pleased if she finished in the top half of the field, and thought that if she even ran a place it would have been more than what we could ask for."

Tact Lizzie had other ideas, and forever etched her name onto one of Addington's most sought-after trophies for the mares. Proctor admits that it took him a long time to work out a training regime that suits the now 10-win mare, and it is one that goes against the grain. "Hard work," he says. "You hate doing it, but it's just how she is - she loves it. And you can't give her much time off either, because she tends to tie up real bad."

Tact Lizzie is a 5-year-old daughter of Christian Cullen and the New York Motoring mare Tact Hayley. She was bred by Diane's father the late Derek Dynes, and belongs to his tough old Southland breed that has sent forth numerous good horses over the decades. After Derek's passing a couple of years ago, Tact Lizzie is now raced by Diane's mother Bessie.

Proctor has been involved in the sport ever since he moved from Invercargill to Winton in the early 1990's, and worked for Derek initially. "I'm a painter and decoratorby trade - training's just a part-time thing for me," he said. "We've only got the two racehorses; her and Tact Aunty, plus a couple of 3-year-old fillies who qualified recently."

Tact Aunty is the same age as Tact Lizzie, is also by Christian Cullen, and being out of Flash Tactics she belongs to the same family; he and Tact Lizzie have the same fifth dam, Tactics. Flash Tactics was more than capable on the track herself, winning eight times from Derek's stable and finishing in the money behind Flight South (third, NZ Premier Mares' Championship) and Kym's Girl (second, NZ Standardbred Breeders' Stakes) this time nine years ago.

The Premier Mares' Championship tomorrow (Thursday)at Addington is where Tact Lizzie could head next, although Proctor is going to leave making the decision about starting until after he gave her a jog on Sunday. "The 1950 metres probably won't suit her, she's more of a distance horse," he said. "She doesn't give you a great turn of foot, but she does cover the groud deceptively well. And she could be in foal, too. We got her served by McArdle before she came up to stay here at Laurence Hanrahan's, and the vet says she feels like it but he couldn't find the embryo on her scan."

Friday's stunning victory was also the pinnacle to date in the career of driver Stephen McNally.

Tact Lizzie's regular pilot Jonny Cox couldn't get a flight to Christchurch later than 2.00pm that afternoon, and was already committed to six drives at Winton where he thought he had one or two good chances, so Hanrahan went looking for a replacement.

"Laurence rung me last night, and I jumped at the chance," McNally said, adding that the only other time he had sat behind the mare was in last year's Hororata Cup when she missed away. "Driving in races like this is always more of a thrill than normally, because they're Group 1s and go down in the history books - and you're up against nice horses. I knew we were going fast out there, but it didn't quite feel like 3.09. It was a nice wedding present," he said.

McNally will marry his fiancée Rebecca Odering at a chapel in Prebbleton this Saturday, in front of some 200 guests. He and Rebecca have just built a house on the Motukarara property of his parents, opposite the racecourse, and with 10 in work he has got a nice number of horses around him plus he has kept busy doing farrier work as well. "Dad's working for me now."


Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 17Feb10

2010 CADUCEUS CLUB of CANTERBURY NZ PREMIER MARES CHAMPIONSHIP

After a disappointing seventh in the previous week’s NZ Breeders Stakes, southerner Beaudiene Bad Babe was back in form on Thursday night at Addington with a win in the Group 2 Caduceus Club of Canterbury Premier Mares Championship. Despite her result in the Group 1 Breeders Stakes, the Murray Brown-trained mare began as warm favourite in an almost identical field which included record-breaking Tact Lizzie.

Drawing barrier two, driver Dexter Dunn elected to ease her quietly out from the gate as the runners outside of Beaudiene Bad Babe sped to the early lead. For the first 750 metres she sat fifth until Tact Lizzie made her move. With a lap to run, Tact Lizzie surged to the front with Beaudiene Bad Babe moving to sit parked.

Tact Lizzie led them into the straight, however her huge run last week started to show as she tired. Dunn took advantage of this and kicked Beaudiene Bad Babe into top gear. She sped to the lead as her opponents tried to chase her down. But her lead was too big and she finished three-quarters-of-a-length in front of Trigirl Brigade. A close finish saw current Diamond Harness Jewels leader Crystal Star, finish in third by a nose.

The Invercargill-based four-year-old now sits on 16 lifetime wins from her 30 starts. During her three seasons of racing, she has earned $207,752 in stakes which include two Group 2 wins.

Credit: Harness Racing New Zealand

2010 PAUL & PAULINE RENWICK NZ TROTTING DERBY

She is one of the most exciting trotting fillies seen in years, and she is still yet to taste defeat after another sparkling performance at Addington last Friday night.

Shezoneoftheboyz has been a real 'find' this season, and last week she showed just how good she is when she won the $80,000 Paul & Pauline Renwick NZ Trotting Derby. The Group 1 event went against the run of play as it unfolded, and those who backed Shezoneoftheboyz into a $1.50 favourite wouldn't have liked seeing her three-deep when the field started the last lap. She improved one position when the trailling Kahdon edged into the running line nearing the home bend though, and once straightened at the top of the straight she burst through along the passing lane to win going away.

It was an emphatic way to register win number five from as many outings, and the icing on the cake for the daughter of Brylin Boyz was her time for the 2600m event - 3.17.7, which smashed the existing NZ Record for a 3-year-old trotting filly by nearly two and a half seconds!

It was also an occasion that Mark Jones will never forget either, because Shezoneoftheboyz gave him his first Group 1 victory as a trainer on the very same day that he turned 31. "I probably drove her a bit negatively if anything," Jones said afterwards, talking about his decision to take a trail behind Kahdon after 500 metres. "I knew the 2600m would find a few out though. But if I didn't train her myself I probably would not have handed up, because she's good enough to lead all the way."

Although appearing cool, calm and collected on the outside, Jones admitted to feeling a fair amount of stress that most would not have known about. "I had quite a few nerves leading up to this event," he said. "But you take pride in training your horses, and it is a bit different when you've got the hot favourite heading into a Group 1. The staff know I've been on edge lately."

Jones's association with Shezonoftheboyz has been fairytale stuff right from the word go. Formerly trained by Neil Munro, Jones first drove the filly at the trials last August when she had her first run back, and within a fortnight they had won two qualifying heats together - one by 47 lengths, the other by 17, and she earned her 'ticket' with the latter performance. "She won it really easily, going a tick over 3.11 on a cold day at Ashburton and home in twenty-eight. Not many do that," he said.

Australian horseman Craig Demmler was negotiating the filly's sale at that stage, having flown across the Tasman to drive her himself, and bigger slices of Shezonoftheboyz became available as time went by. "The initial owners were originally selling only a half share, and I had a syndicate jacked up to buy it. But it fell through; they will be regretting it now. Then about six weeks later she was for sale outright, and Craig got Peter to take her."

Peter is Peter Chambers, a Victorian who Jones has had dealings with before through Alexis which was sold to him out of his stable. Chambers is also the owner of the now 4-year-old trotter Jumanji Franco, and Shezoneoftheboyz will soon try to achieve what the former couldn't when running fourth to Pocaro at Ashburton at the end of May last year. "He just wants to win the Jewels," Jones says. "I have only met him twice - when Shezoneoftheboyz won at Ashburton in February, and again tonight; he flew over from Jakarta especially." The Harness Jewels are at Cambridge this year, and Chambers will have two right royal chances of winning a Ruby now that the Joanne Burrows-trained Jumanji Franco has found her best form again and won her last three on end.

It's Shezoneoftheboyz that will be one of the star attractions at this year's carnival though, and Jones can't speak highly enough of the filly, although you would be hard-pressed picking that it is the same horse if you saw her in training. "She wouldn't beat a maiden at home," he said. "She's a terrible trackworker. Take her off the place though, and she'll run a quarter in twenty-seven no trouble - round home, she never breaks thirty-four. But she's just the perfect racehorse. She's got high speed, and is very tough. And she's got this unbelievable attitude - she puts her head down and just doesn't want to get beat. To look at her she's got this amazing way of going, an effortless gait. Potentially she could be a very good open class trotter, and that's what I've said to Peter all along. So we're going to look after her."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 31Mar10

2010 VERO THREE-YEAR-OLD FLYING STAKES

The Mark Purdon and Grant Payne-trained Kotare Mach won his fifth race this season in the Vero 3YO Flying Stakes. The Mach Three colt has had a topsy-turvy season where he has either confidently won, or over-raced for a non-placing. However with two consecutive wins, the latest being a Group 2, Kotare Mach looks to be back on track.

Race favourite, Kotare Mach, quickly left the gates with Purdon at the reins to move toward the lead, before Sir Lincoln crossed him to take control out front. The pace was slow before the pressure came and Sir Lincoln quickened, whilst Purdon sat quietly in the trail.

Heading for home, Purdon sped Kotare Mach up as they charged through on the passing lane. Sir Lincoln looked to have a hold over the favourite before a surge from Kotare Mach saw him nudge out in front and take over the lead. Kotare Mach crossed the line with one-and-a-quarter lengths to spare over Sir Lincoln, making it a Mach Three quinella. Five Star Anvil finished half-a-head back in third.

Friday’s win was Kotare Mach’s second Group victory, with his first being the Group 1 2009 NZ Welcome Stakes. In his two seasons of racing, the three-year-old colt has won eight of his 16 starts and $151,460 in stakes for Kotare Downs Ltd. Next on the cards for Kotare Mach will no doubt be the Christian Cullen NZ Derby, which Purdon and Payne have won the last two years.


Credit: HRNZ

2010 PAUL RENWICK KITCHEN & JOINERY CENTRE FREE-FOR-ALL

Baileys Dream was back in the winners circle on Friday night, for the first time since October 2008. The Brendon Hill-trained eight-year-old has had a steady return to racing since an injury put him out for a year. Since returning in February he had not won a race, however he had placed second twice behind Monkey King. Without his multiple Group 1 winning stablemate present, Baileys Dream stepped up for victory in the Group 3 Paul Renwick Kitchen & Joinery FFA at Addington.

Starting from barrier three, Hill sent Baileys Dream straight to the lead and this is where he stayed until the very end of the 2600 metre pace. Bettor’s Strike moved to sit outside of him with a lap to run with Second Wind sitting in the one-one. Baileys Dream continued to cruise out in front with sluggish sectionals, until they turned for home.

Charging toward the line, Hill sent Baileys Dream into top gear. The challengers began chasing and although they got close, they could not reach ‘Big Bad Bailey’. Second Wind got the closest as he finished only half-a-head back in second with Bettor’s Strike a neck back in third.

Eight-year-old Baileys Dream is into his seventh season of racing. Over his lifetime he has earned over $1.2million for Cavalla Bloodstock Ltd from his 67 starts. This includes 23 wins and 25 placings across NZ and Australia. The Dream Away gelding has an impressive Group race record with eight wins and 17 placings and looks set to be another dominant force for the remainder of this season’s Group racing.

Credit: HRNZ

2010 LONE STAR BAR & CAFE 4YO TROTTERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Because numbers are thin at the top end, I Can Doosit will line up in the Group 1 NZ Trotting Championship at Addington this Friday night. That's half the reason why, the other is the horse's undeniable talent - which was on display again in no uncertain terms when I Can Doosit waltzed away with last Saturday's $25,000 Lone Star Bar & Cafe 4-Year-Old Trotters Championship. The son of Muscles Yankee joined in and breezed on by near the business end of the 2600m Group 3 event, putting away his stablemate Pocaro and the rampant pacemaker McCready with ease as he won in a super quick 3.18.

Co-trainer Mark Purdon wasn't in the sulky this time, the reins instead being handed to Blair Orange as Purdon sat behind Pocaro, and he got to experience I Can Doosit's continuing dominance from another perspective. This was win number eight from just 12 starts and the fifth in succession for I Can Doosit, who was having his first look around Addington after a northern assault that saw him burst onto the trotting scene.

"There's been real improvement in him over the last eight to ten weeks," Purdon said, not meaning to state the obvious. "And there's some very nice horses in that intermediate grade in Auckland, but at his last start before returning south I was just so impressed with how he picked them up inside the last one hundred and fifty metres. He's a very, very promising type."

I Can Doosit is the third foal of Chiola Hanover mare Sheezadoosie, following in the footsteps of Continentaldoosie (1 win) and his highly regarded year-older full-brother Sno's Big Boy (11 wins to date). Purdon knows the breed well too, because he trained Sheezadoosie throughout her career and drove her in all but one of her seven victories. "She was never a naturally-gaited trotter," he recalled. "She's got better as she got older, but she was never fool-proof and wasn't one of those horses you could throw the reins at. So she did pretty well to get as far as she did."

Purdon considers himself "very lucky" to have I Can Doosit in the stable. The gelding was bred by Ken Breckon's company Breckon Bloodstock Ltd and is owned by a syndicate he manages called Breckon Bloodstock, and if I Can Doosit hadn't been a late withdrawal from the Sales as a youngster he could have well been doing all his winning for someone else. "He got hurt, doing significant damage to the tendons around the fetlock in a hind leg after being caught in a fence," Purdon said. "I had inspected him at Yarndley Farms leading up to the Sales, and he was a real standout. There's no doubt that he would have been a $100,000 yearling had he not got injured."

I Can Doosit began his career at Winton less than a year ago, running third on debut before winning at Oamaru and then Timaru during May. "He just scraped into the Jewels, but if anything he was on the way 'down' again because he'd done a lot in a short time. Tony (Herlihy) drove him for us that day, and he said the horse wanted to do it but just couldn't handle himself over a mile. Pocaro was way above him at that stage; he's really closed the gap now."

Purdon has both trained and sat behind some star trotters in his time, and even though he knows I Can Doosit's not quite up there yet, he says the 4-year-old's not far away. "He's such a great stayer, that's his forte, and I think his performance and time last week reflects that he's ready for the next level. You can do anything with him - go to the front or sit parked; he's a real nice horse. And we haven't ruled out this year's Rowe Cup with him either."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 8Apr10

2010 STALLION STATION EASTER CUP

Those who backed the winner of last year's NZ Derby would have probably cleaned up again in the Easter Cup on Saturday night. Because the same horse won both.

Sleepy Tripp emerged as a genuine open class force when he took out this year's $80,000 Stallion Station-sponsored Group 1, overcoming a lengthy enough early gallop to sprint past the more favoured trio of Baileys Dream, Bettor's Strike and Second Wind late in the piece.

It was a rare Easter time double and one achieved as quickly as possible by the son of Courage Under Fire, coming just 12 months since he was on top of the 3-year-old tree after his Derby victory, but it signalled that Sleepy Tripp has now furnished into the horse he promised to be all along.

Co-trainer/driver Mark Purdon didn't think it would be him doing the saluting at the end of the 3200m feature though. "I thought he'd blown it," Purdon said, referring to Sleepy Tripp's uncharacteristic early mistake. "Especially since he was so far from them once he settled. I know Bettor's Strike and Baileys Dream were still behind us when we got going, but we were giving the early leaders a fair start. And we were lucky the way the race panned out after that, getting the one-one behind Bettor's Strike for the last lap and a bit when Bailey crossed to the front."

By his own high standards, Sleepy Tripp had been slightly below his best in the weeks leading up to his first real test in the 'big time'. "His form had slipped," admitted Purdon, citing the race at Cambridge in January where he was beaten into fifth behind Tintin In America as being a point where the head-scratching began. I knew what my expectations of him were, and he wasn't living up to them. The night he ran second to Crystal Star at Forbury, Blair (Orange) said he probably should have won. But he must've picked up a bit of a bug in Auckland, and we've treated him three times since he returned home. Bill (Bishop) is very, very accurate in the blood tests he does, and there was just something lingering in the background. So we just did what we could, and I knew that in time his own system would fix whatever was troubling him. Prior to Invercargill was the first time there were signs his blood was coming right, and this week I could just tell by the way he was in the coat and eye that he was near his best again."

Raced by his Pleasant Point breeders Terry and Adrienne Taylor, Sleepy Tripp has now won 11 of his 25 starts and last Saturday night's victory tipped him over $520,000 in stakes. Three of those victories have been at Group level, with two 1's and a 2 in the cabinet so far, and Sleepy Tripp will give the couple every chance of adding to that when he heads north again shortly for the Taylor Mile and Messenger double-header followed by the Harness Jewels. "He's a lot stronger to sit behind now," said Purdon, comparing Sleepy Tripp this term to what he was like at three. And I'm really looking forward to next season with him, especially since the Inter-Dominions are here too."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 8Apr10