 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2011
PEOPLE
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
YEAR: 2011
PEOPLE
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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
YEAR: 2011
MESCELLANY
AIR TRAVEL IN 1930's
It was the 1930s when Addington earlybirds were "buzzed" by a low-flying plane swooping across the course, with big waves from two passengers.
By 11am, one passenger, Ces Donald, was back at Addington to drive trotter Stand By in the first race. Stand By won, and Donald became the first horseman to drive at Auckland's Alexandra Park on one day and at Addington in Christchurch the next.
Among his Addington runners was the appropriately named Lindbergh in the feature race. Donald was anxious to drive his horses at both venues, and be in Christchurch to arrange entries for the meeting's last day. However, the conventional route - an overnight train to Wellington and the ferry to Christchurch that night - made that impossible.
Donald left Alexandra Park at 5.30pm and caught the Limited Express to Wellington at 7pm. He had arranged for the guard to rouse him and his travelling companion, Fred Kidd, so they could leave the train at Feilding about 6am.
A prominent pilot, Captain McGregor, had flown to Feilding from Christchurch the previous day. Donald and Kidd boarded the plane about 7.30am and the flight to Christchurch was uneventful. Donald was at Addington before 11am.
"It was my first trip in an aeroplane and there was no problems," Donald said at the time. "I did not do it just to drive Lindbergh. I have a lot of horses here and they need my attention."
"A lot of horses" was right. By 1937, he had 161 horses in his care in an era when 10 comprised a large stable.
However, the flight was not the only first for Donald. He started training in 1922, and 50 years later became the first trainer in any code to win 1000 races.
Credit: David McCarthy writing in The Press 7 Jan 2011
YEAR: 2011
INTERDOMINIONS
The New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club (The Met) announced today that the 2011 Christchurch Casino Inter Dominion Championships would be run by The Met at Alexandra Park in Auckland on Friday 25 March, Friday 1 April and the Grand Final Meeting on Friday 8th April.
In announcing the change, Chairman David Rankin advised that a key consideration for The Met was the safety of patrons and staff at the Addington Raceway venue in Christchurch. “An Engineer’s report on key building structures at Addington received yesterday reveals that our large Public Stand has some structural issues which cannot be addressed in the short time frame available. Similarly the Metropolitan Stand (Members) needs to have some glazing repairs and there is some non structural damage to end infill panels which need to be replaced for safety reasons. The glazing is expected to be completed by 25 March and the infill panels can be shored up temporarily to allow use of this stand. However, we are working within a tight time frame for which the risk of completion is too great. The older Twiggers Stand and the new stables are not affected.”
“The transfer to Auckland will to a large degree mitigate our financial losses. The Auckland Trotting Club, not wanting to take advantage of our plight are allowing us to be there as a “tenant club” with no rental and contributing other net revenues to us as their way of supporting harness racing in Canterbury and the financial turmoil the earthquakes have created for us in Christchurch. We are gratified by their generous support. Harness Racing New Zealand has been hugely supportive in ensuring the Inter Dominions will be a success financially for The Met and we are extremely grateful to CEO Edward Rennell and his Board.
Practically, there was no other decision available to us, but nevertheless we feel strongly for the Canterbury Trainers, drivers, owners, our members and the Public who were looking forward to this event in Christchurch and gave us every encouragement to continue at all costs.”
“Also, we cannot ignore the Christchurch Community which is reeling as a result of the major Earthquake on 22 February and it seems inappropriate for us to hold a Harness Racing Carnival at a time when so many people are suffering. We appreciate the Minister for Civil Defence (and also Minister for Racing) John Carter and the Christchurch City Council were not prepared to direct us to not hold the event, despite the fact they doubted whether the Christchurch infrastructure could cope.”
The Met CEO, Shane Gloury said he was “absolutely gutted” he and his team could not deliver the Inter Dominions to Christchurch people and the local industry. “Our team at The Met have been working hard over the last two years to have the very best horses from Australia and New Zealand race in Canterbury as part of a magnificent Carnival. Unfortunately we are not able to showcase this product in Canterbury due to the events of the past 8 days. However we will still be able to conduct a great Carnival up in Auckland.”
Over 50% of the horses nominated for the Series are trained in Canterbury and Gloury said that he was conscious of the additional costs associated with campaigning horses in the North Island for a two week period that were not originally budgeted for. “We are looking to ameliorating that in some way, but don’t have much in the resource department to achieve what we would like to do” he added.
“The Met has had two very tough years financially and the financial implications of the business downturn and the earthquakes have needed careful management” said Rankin.
“We understand there are those from outside of Christchurch that would have liked to attend an Inter Dominion Series in Christchurch, but are fearful following the recent earthquakes.”
Other feature races that were due to be run as part of the Inter Dominion Carnival in Christchurch will not be transferred to Auckland but will be run in Canterbury at later dates to be announced over the next few days.
The Met will be making necessary arrangements with sponsors, supporters, tour groups, members, industry participants and others over the next few days to ensure that a successful outcome and bumper Inter Dominion Carnival is conducted in Auckland between 25 March and 8 April.
Credit: Shane Gloury 2 Mar 2011
YEAR: 2011
HORSES
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Nevele R Stud said goodbye to one of its favourite sons when Falcon Seelster was put down on Friday.
A former great racehorse and then champion sire, Falcon Seelster was 30 and in failing health. Stud General Manager Peter O'Rourke said it was a matter of ending his discomfort. "We'd hoped that there was a chance he could brighten up with the warmer weather, but that wasn't happening. He couldn't get up three days in a row, and then he couldn't get down to rest. We didn't want to see him suffer," he said.
Falcon Seelster was bought by Bob McArdle and Wayne Francis from Castleton Farms in 1995. He was a superior performer on the track, capping his career with a world record 1.51 mile on Jug Day and earning more than $US1m. For the start of his stud career, Falcon Seelster was a shuttle stallion until his status as an EVA Shedder prevented him from returning for good until 2003.
"With Holmes Hanover gone, it's the end of an era," said O'Rourke.
As a sire, Falcon Seelster surpassed his ability on the track with a galaxy of great performers - 11 Australasian Group 1 winners Elsu, $2m; The Falcon Strike, $1.2m; Howard Bromac, Seelster Sam, All Hart, Franco Seguel, De Lovely, Franco Jonquill, Seel N Print, Coburg and New York Fashion. Six of those horses were Derby winners, and two - Elsu and The Falcon Strike - were Australasian Grand Circuit champions.
He has sired eight in 1.50, including Attorney General, 1.48.4, Allstar Blue Jean, 1.48.8, Franco Catapult, 1.49.4, and Ross The Boss, 1.50. He has sired 108 Australasian winners of more than $100,000, 720 Australasian bred winners, and 88 in 1.55 or better. Seven have won more than $1m including Nevele R Stud sire, McArdle ($2.4m).
All told, his stock has won more than $110m.
Falcon Seelster is making his mark as an exceptional broodmare sire, his daughters having left Bondy, Laurella, Fiery Falcon, Franco Emirate, Fly Like An Eagle, Millwood Meg, Ohoka Arizona, Veste, Mr Yankee, In The Force, Rona Lorraine, Im Mark Antony, Mach And Me and Lilac Stride - all Group 1 Winners - plus Franco Jamar and Pembrook Benny.
He has 32 yearlings, 61 mares due to foal, and his frozen semen is available.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 21 Sept 2011
YEAR: 2011
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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Power Of Tara was simply a class above his rivals last Friday night in the season’s opening Cup build up race. Power Of Tara and Bondy shared favouritism and when Bondy found the lead early he looked to be holding all the cards. Power Of Tara worked up handy and found the lead going into the final lap and it still looked to be advantage Bondy.
When the whips cracked in the home straight though only Power Of Tara responded. Bondy didn’t quicken from the trail and was nosed out of second by Mr Chrome who did well from third on the markers.
Power Of Tara had cashed in on his trouble-free build-up and cemented a spot in the Cup via automatic qualification for the win. He will look to enhance his Cup claims further this Sunday in the PGG Wrightson Hannon Memorial.
Credit: HRNZ Website
YEAR: 2011
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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The often underrated Musgrove was a tenacious winner of the Listed Ordeal Cup at Addington last Friday night. He won the race at the expense of his more-favoured stablemate Dr Hook, who was third and not as sharp as he was in winning in a slick 2.01.7 mile rate for 2600m a week earlier.
Musgrove has an excellent record - 15 wins and $140,000 from 69 starts - but he has been a devilishly hard horse to follow. His intermediate seasons were notorious for his patchy starting manner, but that's now pretty much the way it used to be. He ended his last campaign on a winning note, and started his present one off the same way, beating Burano on August 26. He was then beaten by Dr Hook a week before the Ordeal, although there wasn't a lot in it. In view of that, Musgrove shouldn't have been discarded in the betting the way he was - $15 was more than enough for a seasoned horse in such enthusiastic form.
Driven by ex-trainer David Butt, Musgrove worked up and took the lead off Dr Hook at the 1400m. A hard horse to head on most days, Musgrove called the shots from there and held off Clover Don, who was quick at the end and ran him to three-quarters of a length. "His manners have let him down in the past," said trainer Paul Nairn.
The chestnut is raced by "Bolty" Paterson, who bought out the previous owners in the horse a year ago. There was no rush to make excuses for Dr Hook, who was a little flat trying to find two lengths in the run in.
Nairn is seldom without a good reserve bench, and he has one: Idid It Myway is jogging and due back, he has a 2-year-old from Inspire he likes, and No Boundaries, a 3-year-old by Pegasus Spur from Time Of Reckoning, is a name to remember.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 21 Sep2011
YEAR: 2011
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
Young harness racing star Terror To Love stepped onto the track at Addington Raceway tonight considered by many as a boy in a man's world. But for those who ever doubted the talented four year old was deserved of his place at the elite level just yet, they were given a true heads-up with a stunning performance to win tonight's Group 3 Glenferrie Farm Canterbury Classic.
Left three wide without cover for the last 600m, the son of Western Terror collared a parked Smiling Shard at the top of the straight before holding all at bay to book himself a place in November's Christchurch Casino New Zealand Trotting Cup. Trained at West Melton by the father and son partnership of Graham and Paul Court and driven by Jimmy Curtin, Terror To Love looks every-bit deserved of his place in the big league, co-trainer Paul Court glowing in his praise for his stable star.
"He's just getting better and better all the time, he's improved so much from last season and seems to back-up so well from his races. It's real exciting times for all the connections and just so satisfying for us all. When you have one of your horses perform like that at the highest level it's very rewarding, and in particular for all the staff who put the hard yards in everyday," Court enthused.
The win came as little surprise to those who knew the horse best, but as Paul Court explains, they're under no illusions as to the task ahead. "At that level you really need a little bit of luck, and he got none last week. I timed him to run his last 800 in 55.1 and 400 in 26.6, and he got no money. He's got the most speed of any horse I've sat behind, it's instant, and he's tough as well. Yes we're definitely going for the NZ Cup, it's just a matter of how we get there," Court says.
The win was just reward for long time stable client Terry McDonald who has invested so much in harness racing over the years. There would be no one that would deserve the win more than Terry in our most famous race on that second Tuesday in November.
There were few excuses for the beaten brigade, although Smiling Shard was a brave second, just a length in arrears of the winner after being parked from the mile. He continues to improve with every run. Highview Tommy was an improvers third while Power Of Tara stuck gamely for fourth after trying to lead over the final lap. The winner’s time was 3.12.7, home in 56.5 and 26.6. Terror To Love has now won 11 races from just 24 starts and over $214,000 in stake earnings.
Credit: Ged Mooar 17 Oct 2011
YEAR: 2011
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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The brilliant son of Mach Three stepped perfectly in the Avon City Ford Cup (2600m stand) for co-trainer Mark Purdon who settled the entire handy on the outer for the most part of the race, before coming with a well-timed finishing burst to grab the Cran Dalgety trained pair of Smiling Shard and Bettor's Strike short of the line.
It was a superb fresh-up performance by Auckland Reactor and the win guaranteed him a start November's Christchurch Casino New Zealand Trotting Cup. For the connections the results was undeniably satisfying, but for trainers Mark Purdon and Grant Payne, it was the horse's stand-start manners that were given the biggest seel of approval.
"He stepped perfectly to be honest, we could have run into trouble shortly after the start but he managed to dodge a few, to his credit the horse handled it beautifully," said Mark Purdon.
With a three wide train developing a lap from home, Purdon was forced to sit, wait and hope for a run over the concluding stages. His wish was grant 300 out, the brilliant pacer unleashing a whirlwind finish to snatch victory from a game Smiling Shard. "I didn't want to give him a hard run first-up and wanted him to be running on at the finish apposed to getting tired, so it was a logical choice to sit and wait," says Purdon.
Auckland Reactor appeared settled and relaxed throughout, a far cry from his previous start, where six months earlier he pulled himself into the ground during the running of the Trillian Trust Auckland Cup, eventually dropping out to finish second last.
"He travelled good tonight and never really got right on the steel until the last 500, when I pulled him out he felt terrific and just kept on coming," Purdon said.
It was certainly refreshing to see the Auckland Reactor race with such kindness and tractability, allowing Purdon the freedom of choice when comes to how he chooses to drive the talented pacer. And while he ticked all the right boxes in tonight's feature, and seems destined for a date with the New Zealand Cup, the same can't be said for Franco Emirate who completely muffed the start, driver Jim Curtin getting too far back to even consider a pursuit.
The big son of Christian Cullen will be causing the connections some unhealthy headaches as the attempt to rectify the horse's inability to step cleanly. West Melton trainer Cran Dalgety will come away well satisfied with Smiling Shard, who still looked a little pretty, and Bettor's Strike. Both horses performed with distinction.
Perhaps the run of the race could be bestowed upon champion pacer Monkey King, who after being slow away, made up tremendous ground in the straight and looks right on song for a NZ Cup three-peat. Four year old Terror To Love was given no chance after driver Anthony Butt dropped his guard at the 900 and was humped four wide, the son of Western Terror was then sent via the cape turning for home and finished a meritorious seventh.
The winning time for Auckland Reactor was 3.15.9, home in 55.8 and 28.4. It was the seven year old's 27th win from just 38 starts.
Bring on the Christchurch Casino New Zealand Trotting Cup on November 8 at Addington Raceway.
Credit: Ged Mooar 3 Oct 2011
YEAR: 2011
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
2011 RICOH FREE-FOR-ALL
Paul Davies, the bloodstock agent who buys horses for Otago owner, Russell Nieper, remembers the day Jim Curtin trialled Franco Enirate at Addington. "He came back laughing," Davies remembers. "He said he had just driven the fastest quarter he had ever trialled a horse there and he had trialled a lot of horses. He thought he was a bargain even though the price was substantial," Davies said.
The Nieper, Davies, Curtin triumverate have been a force in harness racing for several years since the retired Otago supermarket owner first contacted the agent. "It was a ring out of the blue. Russell said he had raced a lot of horses and a lot of slow ones and was looking for a new direction."
Highview Badlands, a substantial yearling purchase, was among the first, a winner of the West Coast bonus and nine in all which Davies had recommended to Nieper. Quick Reflection and Radar Installed are among several Nieper successes buying tried horses. "Russell was happy to go that way instead of breeding and it is my job to sort them out. Franco Emirate became available after he had won one race. The price was substantial but it has proven worthwhile. Russell is a great owner and client. He lets Jimmy make the racing decisions and he backs my judgement in buying horses, some of them for very good money. You can hardly do better than working with somebody like that."
Nieper started out racing horses with colourful southern personalities such as Noel Crighton and Murray Hamilton and said he had his share of success with both. "Young Pointer was placed in a Rowe Cup and now I have got into gallopers with Murray as he moved into them and I have a share in Kid Columbus which won the Grand National Hurdles at Riccarton this year. I have had a good association with those blokes." Only a week before Franco Emirate's triumph at Addington the Nieper/ Curtin team was posting a double at a modest Manawatu meeting with Hokonui Ben.
Jim Curtin is always a man to take one step at a time. To drive another horse to win the New Zealand Cup when he could have been driving his own - and possibly could have won all going well - is a rare feat but the product of some astute thinking. "It wasn't just the starts. The standing starts showed me he was a little immature for those big races at this stage. We will see how he goes in the free-for-all on Friday before I get down to details about what happens next. The Miracle Mile might be a possibility but ideally I would like to go over later for races like the Victoria Cup."
Franco Emirate never gave his $1.50 backers any cause for concern while Mark Purdon and Grant Payne's All Stars stable produced the next three home, headed by Ohoka Dallas in the hands of Colin De Filippi.
On a more important note, Jim's wife Sandy noted that when Franco Emirate wins a race with a rug as a trophy it is invariably red. "I'm glad. I like red and he looks good in it. If he goes to Australia he will certainly be wearing a red rug."
Credit: David McCarthy writing in HRWeekly 10 Nov 2011
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