 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2000
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Lorraine & Ron Nolan pose with the Cup |
They are said to be a very decent couple - and smart horse people. Put in a driver who has emerged from the shadows of the best and a pretty fair horse and the picture of a formidable combination is complete.
Good enough to set a World Record, a step up from Bogan Fella who tried so hard to go the last round when he was behind on points; in the end the victory was so comprehensive that nothing came back feeling hard done-by.
This was Hawera's day, the day the country folk came to town with a big brown horse who would have been a movie star had he been human. And with them the Cambridge float driver who at one stage gave harness racing away when the going was too tough.
Standing on the edge, where he likes it, away from the hugging and kissing and tears that go with the winning of a Canterbury Draught NZ Cup, stood Ron Nolan, a slight and modest man looking younger than his 67 years. On the podium, with officials, sponsors and media and handling it with her usual passion was his wife, trainer and astute horsewoman, Lorraine.
Shawsy, or Tony Shaw, who went by the book and went to the front with the best stayer in the field, was still in the sulky, warning the descending multitude of various bodies to stand back because Yulestar was keen to give something a good solid boot. The warning came too late for one poor cameraman who lurched out of the ring after a thud that obviously found a home. "He's like that," said Shaw. "Just keep clear of him." Had she been near at the time Lorraine would have said the same. "He got Ron, and he got Tim Butt and someone working for Robert Cameron whe he was at Mooney Valley last year. It's part of his personality. He gets an adrenalin rush, but he was really quite civilised today."
As it turned out, and as many predicted after his win in the Flying Stakes at Ashburton last month, Yulestar was like a battleship amongst cruisers and river tugs. Between then and his excellent Kaikoura second, the flame of favouritism seemed to flicker a bit, and he went to the start sharing the role with Holmes D G and Bogan Fella.
Bogan Fella and Yulestar left the tapes smartly and got through to nice positions early while others got flustered and missed away, and Bogan Fella had a spell in the lead before the race was two minutes old and Yulestar did the same. "I had no plan but if they settled and slakened off, I'd go," said Shaw. "I sat down beforehand and picked where I would get the best run through. When I came round, Mark was happy to let me go. I had a bit of a scare when Kliklite broke early on. With a round to go he was just jogging."
Jogging! At world record speed - 3:59.1.
On the corner, Bogan Fella was all out to keep on the back of the big country boy who could pass for a thoroughbred without a push. There was nothing else in sight except space, and there was plenty of that. Kym's Girl cut into it with some spirit on reaching the passing lane. She had some reminders to give out because many had forgotten how much she likes the Cup meeting. She ran up to Bogan Fella as if she had just joined in but then it dawned on her, too, that this was a fast hike and she'd done her share of it. And just when the placings were almost in the frame, Under Cover Lover came with a whistle and shout and had fair claim to think she should have finished closer. She was near last at the 800m and it was well into the straight before she could pop out and sprint home. Happy Asset who followed Chloe Hanover out was fourth and trailing over the last lap, was held up on the corner and had a gallop at the 150m when looking a real place chance.
Late that night, the Nolans settled back to see the race again with another grand couple who had done the same nearly half a century earlier. Their hosts while in Christchurch are Don and Doris Nyhan, both in their 80's, who won the Cup in 1954 with Johnny Globe and twice after that with Lordship.
The Nolans bought Yulestar when he was a yearling for $9,000. Ron admits he didn't know anything about the sire Cameleon but considered the mare Victoria Star, a good racemare by Lordship, an asset in the pedigree. They were new to harness racing, having been in gallopers for 40 years. "We thought it was time to buy a colt. The first horse we had was Joyful Fella. He won a trot but was hopeless." Their Cameleon colt, born on Christmas Day and named Yulestar because of it, showed immediate promise but was big and needed time. In the course of his programme at three, the Nolans arrived at Trentham for a meeting on the grass. "Thats where he had a terrible fall when Maurice McKendry was driving him. I stood in the middle of the track at Trentham and said to Ron 'that's the end of our dream'. I'd seen it in slow motion and I thought he'd broken his neck. He was last to get up. It was just a miracle he was alright, and he was; there was nothing he had to worry about." But it did open the door for Shaw. McKendry elected to to drive a horse for Sean McCaffrey when Yulestar raced two starts later at New Plymouth, and Shaw was put up, and he's stayed.
By his own score, Shaw is not in the class of McKendry or Tony Herlihy. He has his own float business based in Cambridge. His public relation skills are excellent. "The game is easy when you've got the right horse. I think I was the fourth to get on the horse, after Tony, Maurice and Colin Butler."
Shaw started out with the late Bob Mitchell, then his son Robert, Brian O'Meara and Clive Herbert. "It was a good apprenticeship. Then, about seven years ago, I went overseas for three years, just around Europe and England. I don't regret doing that. My career wasn't going anywhere at the time. I thought if I worked hard, I would get back."
For Shaw, winning the Cup "is the ultimate. I've tried to leave the champion tag off him, but to me, thats what he is."
Shawsy is a champ, too. He thought of his Dad Russell who was somewhere in the crowd. And he thought of his old mentor Jack Baker who got his career going. "He's about 90 and virtually blind. I'm sure he would be listening to the race." And hear this Jack, no one could have done it better.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in the HR Weekly