| FEATURE RACE COMMENT |
YEAR: 2009
 |
Size, or the lack of it, didn't count for much as Smiling Shard had his day in the sun at Addington last Friday night.
Part of the Dalgety-Dunn dynamo, Smiling Shard was safe and sharp, leading for the last lap of the $200,000 Garrard's Sires' Stakes Final before putting a spring in his step from the top of the straight to win by more than five lengths. Courage To Rule was a solid second, followed by Stormy Sirocco, and Beaudiene Christian got the best of a battle with stablemate Limited Edition to run forth, nearly 15 lengths from the winner. The hot favourite Kotare Mach was unable to make the lead and, irritated by the grit in his face, started throwing his head when third after 400 metres, scrambled and broke. He caught up, made a flying visit forward to almost join Smiling Shard in the lead at the 600m, but that was where the big run ended.
For Cran Dalgety and Dexter Dunn, it was a memorable way to mark the opening of the new $7m stabling complex, and it came with more than a side salad, because Living Proof, Lightning Raider and Bubba Ho Tep won as well. Earlier in the night, Dalgety had been praising the efforts of Living Proof, Diomedes and Almost Ambition, all nice 3-year-olds who had gone near the cut but not made it for the Harness Jewels. As good as his team is, he said he was missing a good Stakes horse. Within the hour, Smiling Shard had put that to rights, the Group 1 win worth more than $100,000. And there is more to come. He has the $200,000 Harness Jewels in a fortnight, and the Breeders' Crown is more on the agenda than off it.
Dalgety still thinks he is lucky to be where he is with the horse, knowing he didn't operate at the Sales in quite the professional manner he would do normally. "I was up at Karaka and the first I saw of him was in the ring. He was on the small side, but he looked mature for his age. To me, it looked as if he had a bit of backbone, and I thought he was the type that would suit the Earlybird Series in the north. They guaranteed five Heats worth $30,000, and running them no matter what the numbers were, so that was a super incentive."
While that was all well and good, Dalgety went home with a spec buy costing $41,000. "No owners and going to a good home. And I had to push Grinfromeartoear because Mr Feelgood hadn't won the Inter-Dominion then." It wasn't hard, with Cran's wife Chrissy holding a share, and the others being taken by Peter Gorman, Alan Vernel and Alistair Rooney. In the case of Rooney, he was keen to mix and make friends with a new crowd, and Smiling Shard has given him wonderful opportunities to do that. "It's been great," Rooney said. "We go down and give him a pat before he races and again when he finishes. Cran and Dexter are more than professional, and tonight we've met the colt's breeders, Mark and Debbie Smith."
With two wins and seven minor placings, Smiling Shard has been what Dalgety says "filling out the numbers" in the big races. That was before, and now he's not. He showed that as well as being a thoroughly genuine competitor in town hall company, he can have his day as the best of them as often as the others.
Although Dalgety is closing fast on his record number of wins last season - 62 and he has 50 now - he has raced past his stakes tally; $666,000 this season, whereas last season his stable won $571,000.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HR Weekly 20May09
YEAR: 2009
 |
| Smiling Shard is Dexter's drive to achieve the 200th season win. |
By now, it's old news. Everyone in harness racing knows that Dexter Dunn created history last Friday night at Addington when he drove his 200th winner for the season.
Television channels, radio stations, newspapers and magazines the length and breadth of the country have dedicated airtime and space to record the fact that it is the first time any driver or jockey has amassed such a total - and as it arrives in your mailbox five days later, the 'Weekly' can't tell you anything that you haven't already read, heard, spoken about over the dinner table or raised a glass to at your local pub.
That's all thanks to the media coverage in little ol' New Zealand, and imagine how far and wide the news would have spread to other parts of the world...definitely Australia, America too most probably, and perhaps even Europe.
Forget the bigger picture for a minute though, and let's concentrate on a slightly smaller but more important one closer to home: thanks to the deeds of a gifted teenager who possesses an unrelenting desire to succeed, the biggest winner out of all this will be harness racing itself.
Long gone are the days when sports were just sport, they are businesses now. And to continue to function and hold their market share, not only do they have to maintain their existing clietele and all-important sponsors - they have to keep attracting new blood in both areas as well. Golf's status symbol is Tiger Woods, tennis is blessed with an almost unbeatable Roger Frederer; it's not out of place to mention one Dexter Dunn in the same breath.
And that is why a guy like Dex is one of the best advertisements that harness racing in New Zealand could ever wish for, because the spin-offs from the hype and publicity he generates is immeasurable. There are the young children who think Dex is cool and want to grow up like him...the teenagers coming through our cadet scheme who have something to aspire to...the $1 each-way folks who will open the purse simply because 'D Dunn' is listed as the driver...and the large punters who aren't afraid to unload because they know he is one of the best reinsmen out there.
On one hand Dexter has to be generating much-needed turnover, and on the other he's giving tomorrow's participants the incentive to get involved - that is two very crucial bases covered. So we should be proud of what he has achieved, and salute him as a true champion amidst his much older peers.
It was somewhat fitting that Dexter achieved his milestone on home soil at Addington last Friday, and not at Cambridge the night before, because it meant he was able to share the occasion with friends and family at the same time as he humbly accepted a special presentation from the NZMTC.
"None of it would have ever been possible without the support of Mum and Dad, Cran and Chrissie, the staff at Kentuckiana Lodge, and not to mention all the trainers and owners that put me on their horses during the season," the 19-year-old said, adding that there were just too many people to thank. "And it was great to get the two hundred on Shard, because he is my favourite horse."
-o0o-
STATISTICS
1263 starts, 204 wins, 139 seconds, 120 thirds.
$1,951,274 in stakes.
Dexter set new New Zealand records for both the highest number of starts and the greatest number of wins. The previous harness racing record: 161 wins, Maurice McKendry, 1988/89 season. Thoroughbred racing record: 197 wins, Lisa Cropp, 2004/5 season.
Dunn's most successful track was Addington, with over a quarter of his wins coming there. 371 drives, 56 wins, 45 seconds, 32 thirds. Oamaru's grass track provided him with his best UDR of 0.4861, with three wins from one meeting. For more than one meeting at a track, Cambridge was his best with a UDR of 0.3987.
The most winning drives Dunn had for a trainer were for his employer, Cran Dalgety: 281 starts together, 62 wins, 45 seconds, 32 thirds and UDR 0.3476. With 20 or more starts for a trainer, Dunn's best record was for his father, Robert. 29 starts, 5 wins, 4 seconds, 6 thirds, UDR 0.3947.
Following the Dalgety and Dunn success, it comes as no surprise that Dunn's most successful horse partnerships were with Dalgety runners. Six wins - Smiling Shard, Band On The Run, Diomedes.
Six times this season Dunn won four or more races at one meeting. His best day, however, came in Dunedin in mid-July as the coundown to 200 was on: Forbury Park, July 14, 2009: 8 starts, 6 wins, 1 second. Five of those wins came in consecutive races.
Dunn won two Group One races during the season, both with Smiling Shard. The stakes from those two races, the Garrard's Sires Stakes 2yo Final and the 2yo Emerald Jewels Final, helped push Dunn's overall stakes for the season to $1,951,274l.
There is only one record that eluded Dexter by only 24 hours this season - the fastest to 100 wins, set by McKendry on February 14, 1989. Dunn reached 100 wins this season on 15 February.
Credit: John Robinson writing in NZHR Weekly 29July 2009
YEAR: 2008
 |
Club syndicates acquiring yearlings at the Sales by trainers selecting them from the middle market is a concept that has proved an outstanding success, and another chapter was written in that story when Roydon Flash took out the featured Ballantynes Trot on New Zealand Cup Day at Addington. A good and consistent sort who is "always a chance," Roydon Flash recorded his ninth win on Tuesday, and along with 13 seconds from his 49 starts to date the 6-year-old son of S J's Photo has now won around $120,000.
Anthony Butt gave the gelding a lovely trip on the outer and he outgunned Braig and the brave pacemaking mare Marie Wishes close to home. Roydon Flash will now back up in Friday's $100,000 NZ Trotting FFA and the $300,000 Dominion Handicap on Friday week. "He might as well race on Friday - that will save me having to work him," said co-trainer Tim Butt. "The trotters don't actually look overly strong at the moment so this could be a very good meeting for him," he added.
Tuesday was already good enough for most of the many people involved in the Met Three Syndicate, which purchased three horses out of the 2004 Premier Sale. The three leading trainers from Addington the previous season have got to do the honours at each sale in recent years, and that year Ken Barron sorted out Willie Five 0, who managed a win at Addington a couple of years ago. Cran Dalgety had selected Analyst, a smart youngster who won a Sires' Stakes 2YO Silver at Addington and started in the Sires' Stakes 3YO Final won by Pay Me Christian. The Presidential Ball colt won four races and $54,000 before he was sold to America.
The syndicates had started out with Met One, which had three winners including a good sort in Pocket Game (4 NZ wins, $64,000) for Barron. Met Two went even better however with New Zealand Derby winner and unlucky Cup runner Likmesiah (13 NZ wins, $424,000) along with Danger Sign (7 NZ wins, $59,000). Met Four races rising star Texas Hold Em, who was second later on Tuesday, along with Jack Jack Attack who has managed half a dozen placings to date. Met Five has three 2-year-olds by Christian Cullen and McArdle and a brother to Sovereignty, while Met Co-Syndicate Manager Blair Cartwright says they are likely to "go again" next year with the amount of interest about. "We normally have a syndicate every second year, but the next one is half full already and we haven't even put it to the existing syndicate members yet," said Cartwright. "It is the horse which make it so successful and easy - I call Roydon Flash out little Eftpos machine," he added.
It was Tim Butt who instigated buying a trotter when the syndicates had previously sought pacers. "Most pacers win a race or two and they have reached their mark, but if you can get a decent trotter, they can go on racing and winning for years," said Butt. "Roydon Flash might not be able to beat the good trotters, but he is still pretty good. He has speed and he can stay so he is always a chance," he added.
Butt recalls that he looked at four colts by S J's Photo in the 2004 Sale and wound up with the last of them for his budgeted $25,000. "He was actually the smallest one of them, but he was out of a Simon Roydon half-sister to Sundon and he had no faults. I don't think the others did any good." The others were Lightscameraction, who won a two-horse Breeders' Crown event as a 2-year-old, and who is still trying to win another race in Australia, along with Kyvalley Mirage (8 Aus wins, $34,775) and Locophoto, who raced without winning.
Once through the Cup Meeting, Roydon Flash will either go to Auckland for Christmas racing or to Victoria, but either way he is heading for the Inter-Dominions.
Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 13Nov08
YEAR: 2006
Last year's yearling sales top lot Mombassa came $30,000 closer to recouping his $155,000 price tag on Friday night at Addington. The Cran Dalgety representative won the $50,000 PGG Wrightson Yearling Sales Southern Graduate in the hands of regular driver Colin De Filippi, and took out the event with arrogant ease.
Untouched in the run home Mombassa paced his final 400m in 28.2 comfortably, Jackson Street was second two lengths from the winner and Christian Cullen colt Carlos was third a further two lengths behind second. The younger brother of Elsu, Mombassa has won twice in four attempts and has placed once also. His total earnings now already sit at $35,000, still a long way from his expensive initial price tag though.
Dalgety indicated that an assault on the Breeders Crown series in August could be on the cards for the son of In The Pocket.
Credit: Harness Racing NZ
YEAR: 2005
 |
Canterbury's close-knit harness racing industry farewelled one of its favourite sons on Saturday. Murray Butt's public funeral was held at the Templeton Community Centre, near Christchurch, at 12noon. Butt, aged 59, died suddenly and unexpectedly at his Templeton property, Oriole Lodge, on Tuesday 6 December.
The Canterbury harness racing community was rocked by the sad and unscheduled circumstances of his passing. Many are struggling to come to grips with his untimely death. Acclaimed as a modest and unassuming personality, he invariably created the impression he wanted to get along well with as many people as possible. He was very good at it.
A warm humoured and agreeable individual, he shunned conflict and criticism and invariably demonstrated acceptable gentlemanly ways that endeared him to all he knew. He was once described by a respected contemporary as "unflappable and always the same.''
His marriage to Jennifer Jones, a daughter of industry legend Derek Jones MNZM, in April 1965 was to forge an alliance of two of Canterbury's famous sporting and harness racing families that has exerted profound influences on the growth and recognition of the industry in New Zealand.
All three of their sons, Tim, Anthony and Roddy have enjoyed huge success and their only daughter Chrissie is married to prominent trainer Cran Dalgety. It would be superfluous to list the prolific feats with horses of their three sons who are industry household names.
But a special spot, of course, will always be reserved for the likes of champion trotters Lyell Creek and Take A Moment and pacers Mister D G, Happy Asset and Blossom Lady (trained by Derek Jones) and Justaboyden and Judicial who were major Perth winners for Roddy. Anthony was regular driver of Blossom Lady (two A G Hunter Cups and a NZ Cup).Anthony and Roddy were the first drivers to win dual Australasian Junior Driving Championships.
Murray Butt was a son of the late Wes Butt, New Zealand's leading trainer on seven occasions between 1945 and 1962. Wes also topped the national drivers' premiership in 1945-46 and 1952-53. Murray's father-in-law Derek Jones twice won the trainers' premiership in 1965 and 1969 in partnership with Jack Grant (late) and is one of only three New Zealand trainers to top 1000 wins (1011), the others being Cecil Donald (late) and Roy Purdon. Murray's brother Robin of Preston Farm, West Melton, was also a household name in harness racing as the trainer and/or driver of Locarno (Miracle Mile), Camelot (NZ Cup) and classic winner City Rogue. Murray's nephew David Butt (son of Robin) topped the 2003-2004 trainers' premiership in partnership with his wife Catherine.
Murray first met his wife Jennifer at Templeton Primary School before Murray spent the 1960-62 period as a boarder at St Andrews College in Christchurch. "And, when I came out of St Andrews, there was Jenny waiting for me," Murray recently quipped to the writer. The young couple got away to a flying start in life with the winnings of champion filly Golden Oriole who was raced by Murray and trained by his father. After she won her first race, Murray exercised a right of purchase (450 pounds) on the filly he leased from Jim Dalgety. Golden Oriole won about £9000 at a time when a pound was a pound and was later sold to clients of USA horseman Eddie Cobb for the equivalent of about $40,000 as a 5-Year-Old. Golden Oriole won 10 races in New Zealand and was champion 2-Year-Old of her year when she won the NZ Sapling Stakes, one of four straight wins in that campaign.The daughter of Local Light won the Great Northern Derby at three. Murray's father Wes was not only the trainer but also the "Responsible Person'' in terms of ownership legalities as Murray was technically too young to assume any ownership role. Golden Oriole was no slug in open ranks before her sale overseas. She beat the mighty Lordship in a feature Addington sprint.
Funds from Golden Oriole's sale to USA assisted Murray and his wife to set up the Oriole Stud that they operated during the years 1968-1983. Sires they stood at the property included Good Time Eden, Tartan Hanover, Gentry, Scrappy Wave, Crockett, Pacific Hanover, Leading Light and Valerian. Dual gaited Crockett, sire of standouts Bronze Trail and Sprockett, was probably the pick of the sires they stood.
Murray gained his first success as a trainer with Countaway on January 10, 1973. He actually prepared a small team of six horses while mixing stud duties with that pursuit. Game Nian (eight wins) was a capable trotter for him. As a driver, he posted two notable wins with talented pacer Golden Moose in the Kaikoura Cup and the 1985 NZ Firestone FFA, the second leg of the TAB double on Cup Day. His brother in law Peter Jones won the first leg, the NZ Cup, with outsider Borana.
Murray was a former president of the NZ Harness Racing Trainers and Drivers' Association that he represented for three years at HRNZ Executive level before standing down three years ago. He was also the president of the Canterbury branch for five years (1990-1995). Murray Butt enjoyed helping his son Tim at his showplace training establishment where he also took a close interest in horses part owned by his wife Jennifer in trotters Genius and Lotsa Speed this season and another grand trotter in Noam in 2001 and 2002. Noam later raced with distinction when sold overseas. Viewfinder, Keep Up, Night Hawk, Peeping Tom, Success, Marmoose and Roimata Lad were only some winners Murray trained earlier in his career. The Sniper, Red Tip Governor, Cracker Nova, All Talk, Bizness, Bolaz and Bestoranum were a handful of useful outside drives he was associated with. Murray Butt and his wife enjoyed several overseas trips to follow the success of their sons.
The couple eventually subdivided half of their original 100 acre block of land and they bought the late Wes Butt's 16-acre Mankind Lodge complex at Templeton where the couple built a 20-bay all weather golf driving range in 1995. They operated the venture themselves for a year before leasing it out.
Murray and Jenny Butt were seemingly inseparable companions at Canterbury harness racing fixtures and also at Auckland and overseas raceways. They derived much genuine pride in the success of their children in harness racing and invariably accepted it modestly and graciously. The couple's numerous grandchildren were also a source of much warmth and enjoyment. Murray and Jenny Butt's combined act will be difficult to follow.
Credit: Don Wright
YEAR: 2004
 |
| Cran Dalgety, Scorching & Mark Jones |
His margin was decisive - by a length and a half from Young Rufus, who is on the verge of becoming a major player at the top level again. The drive was a corker by Mark Jones, who slipped him clear before the corner. "From the draw, we thought we could dominate the top end," said trainer Cran Dalgety, "and he was pretty forward. I said to Mark that I would rather them be chasing us rather than us chasing them."
During the week, Dalgety used the training track of his father Jim to work Scorching and London Legend, and said London Legend was a bit strong for his stablemate. "They trained as good as each other. London Legend has a bit more speed than Scorching, so it was a good yardstick," he said.
Dalgety has no doubts that Scorching will be a match for "the big boys, but he might not quite win the deposit on the next yacht. But he is a horse who can always go five lengths better than what I think he will go," he said. That being the case, Scorching won't be out of place in the Hannon Memorial, where he goes next, or in the Flying Stakes at Ashburton after that.
Dalgety said the bonus from winning the New Brighton Cup was the automatic invitation to start in the Canterbury Draught New Zealand in November, and he has now set himself on the Cup trail. "I would love to be there, with him in his Sunday-best. He ran 4:06 or 4:07 when he won at Blenheim as a 3-year-old, so I think he would get the trip alright," he said.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 22Sep04
YEAR: 2002
 |
It appears Jim and Susan Wakefield have another good 'London' horse. 'Legend' is the lastest, a worthy addition by the look of it to their earlier forebearers, London Pride and London Express, who under the guidance of Cran Dalgety won eight and seven races respectively.
Although London Legend has only won the one race, he has claims to be in their company, for his opening account came in the Group 2 International Cargo Express Rising Stars Championship.
On the face of it, London Legend was on a cheeky assignment. But Dalgety didn't see it quite that way. "If you had looked at the horse's stats, he had a case. He ran a half in 55.8 at Forbury when he finished second, then ran a two minute rate at his next start there which was quicker than what Russian Road went on the same night. As far as speed goes, he would be in the top bracket with some of the others I have had," he said.
It wasn't always like that, and it was fortunate that he found a mate in Dalgety. "He had no idea how to pace," he said. "But he had such a kind attitude, and he always wanted to help. For a start, he would just pace in spurts, fifty to a hundred metres, but he could pace it very quick. London Pride was very similar. It was also a period where you didn't want to encourage the owners out because his legs were chaffed and blown up. "We tried him over three campaigns, and the day he qualified at Ashburton he ran a quarter in 26.5. What we knew then was that he had speed, but we had no idea on what he was like for stamina," he said.
London Legend was one of the Studholme Park draft at the Yearling Sales, and was bought by the Wakefields for $22,000. Dalgety pushed hard to get him. "I had to twist Jim's arm on this one. He had the same grandam as Classy Filly" - a big winner for Dalgety - "and I have always liked his maternal family," he said.
In their pre-race plans, Dalgety and driver Mark Jones thought they would get a passing lane shot if Franco Eruption led as they thought he would from gate one. That didn't happen, and they were forced to come from the back brought into the finish on the back of Russian Road, who finished second.
"We will make the late payment now for the Sires' Stakes Series and run in the heat at Addington this week," he said.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 09Oct02
YEAR: 2001
 |
"From the gutter to the throne."
The racetrack Joan of Arc in Sparks A Flyin, now the heroine of nine wins from 12 starts including the $100,000 Nevele R Fillies Final, and once the despair of trainer Cran Dalgety whose words these are. Once again, the filly of peasant stock showed that pedigree is little more than a paper passport with a command performance against the best fillies of her age.
Although beaten the week before in the Oaks by Shania Patron, there was more confidence in the camp with just a week between the races that she would turn the tables. "She was a bit sharper for this one," said driver Mark Jones. "There is not many that come from behind her and beat her. In a fight, she is too good," he said. Jones went out with the intention Sparks A Flyin would put these qualities on the line. She was never headed after a gentle first 600m before taking over at the 1400m and then running the race he planned. Kamwood Gal held second after a nice trail behind the winner, while A Little More Magic made strong headway to close on the pair quite noticeably.
Looking back, Dalgety can honestly say Sparks A Flyin was a trainer's nightmare. Anyone less professional would have said goodbye and good something to her long ago. Under duress, and with many a mild curse, Dalgety endured her irascibility and put aside personal embarrassment and indignity. He recalls taking her to a trial at Rangiora when she not only decided not to race but refused to leave the track. The only way she left was after Dalgety removed the cart and harness. Next time away from home, she didn't want to join the others on the mobile gate, so Dalgety ran 50 metres, holding her head, just to help her out. She ran and qualified, but Dalgety said he didn't get excited because he had some recovery of his own to do.
What made him so loyal to such a rascal?
"When Jim and Susan (Wakefield) bought her, it was mainly because we liked her. She was something of an underdog, and she only cost $11,000. But she was a handful to break-in, and in the end she just had to leave the property. She would try to run out of the gate, and if there was something to do wrong, she would do it. At this stage, we decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and Steve Hale took her away for a couple of months. He gave her one on one, and worked her round the roads in a big gig. This was a big turning point for her. It was an experiment rather than a yes or a no. Although she was anti everyone, she came back ninety-five percent better. What I liked about her was that even if you disiplined her hard, she would never sulk. She'd come back to you. Defeat wasn't part of her," he said.
The next learning curve in the life of hard knocks came when he sent Sparks A Flyin to a North Canterbury farm for a spell as a late 2-year-old. "She was with cows, and being treated like one. She got a lot of benefit from that, too," he said. There has been no stopping the progress Sparks A Flyin has made this season, moreso over the past six months.
"It was not until she had won her third race that I thought she was something better than average. That's when I stood to attention. I could see she was a horse that kept coming back for more. But there is nothing extra for her. Everything has to be simple. We now know what she wants," he said. In terms of training achievements go, Dalgety rates this at the top. "The odds were against us. From where we were, to where we are, is definitely remarkable," he said.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 16May01
YEAR: 2001
 |
| Shania Patron winning the Oaks from Sands A Flyin |
Cran Dalgety stood patiently, waiting for the call. He had just watched the Wayne Francis Memorial NZ Oaks from in front of the public stand and like everyone his eyes were glued to the finish line as Sparks A Flyin and Shania Patron crossed it locked together.
You could tell Dalgety's instinct was worrying him; he knew what the judge's findings were going to be even before they barked across the loud speaker. "Favourites don't have a great record in this event," he muttered, shaking his head as he turned and walked away. He was right. But he wasn't feeling hard done by. Sparks A Flyin had gone to the front starting the last mile, pinged along at a super clip, and in the end done everything but win. Bombed late by a flying Shania Patron, a nose was the difference between Dalgety staying to give a victory speech, or heading back to the stables to un-gear a runner-up.
The man who did step up to the microphone was Shania Patron's driver Ricky May, and quite rightly so too because he and his parents Terry and Pat had looked after the Holmes Hanover filly since her fourth in the Southland Oaks on April 8. Shania Patron's first-up effort from her temporary base a week earlier was much better than the '0' in her formline reflected, and last Friday night her telling late strides were even bigger still and she thoroughly deserved her victory. "You just can't have them right all the time," Terry said shrugging off the suggestion that Shania Patron hadn't been at her best in recent weeks. She's a horrible track worker, we even ran her with Pure Adrenalin last week just to spark her up a bit."
Shania Patron is raced by Jim and Irene Holland, of Mokoreta Valley near Wyndham, together with the filly's trainer Brendon McLellan and his wife Megan. None of the quartet were on-course for the victory. "I asked Brendon if he was going to come up for the race, but he just said 'no, you'll do the job'," May continued. Jim and Irene are lovely old people, and we've trained horses for them for years; there has been so many of them I've lost count. One of their first winners with us was Adios Adieu, and the others include Young Beau, Elderberry and Some Legacy, who won the DB Fillies Final in 1990."
The McLellans dedicated Shania Patron's victory to Brendon's late mother Marlene, who died a month ago today (Wednesday) after a brief battle with cancer. "She got a lot of enjoyment out of following Shania Patron, so yes, this win is definitely for her," Brendon said. "I know her formline has not been the best lately, but she's been letting herself down. She's had a few niggly problems like over-racing and hanging during her events, and that has been enough to make the difference. Just in the last month I reckon she's come back to her old self again."
McLellan says he can't remember when there was ever a better crop of 3-year-old fillies, and that the results in races like the Oaks and this week's Nevele R Fillies Final come down to luck in the running. "Shania Patron was always going to have a broodmare career, winning a race like this is the icing on the cake." he said.
Credit: John Robinson writing in NZHR Weekly
YEAR: 1992
 |
| Laud holds out Supreme Power & Mark Roy |
Laud and Supreme Power easily turned back the challenge of seven North Islanders and one New Zealand bred Australian to quinella the $175,000 ANZ Bank Sires' Stakes Final. The race did not produce the excitement or close competition one might have expected from top of the range students.
Once Laud was able to creep over the first panel in 30.8, the others put the shutters up and allowed the favourite to control every step from there. Except for a brief surge near the 1300m when Swift Edition ran forward to sit in the breeze, Laud had it all his own way.
Trainer Cran Dalgety and driver Peter Jones thought there would be more interest in the lead out of the gate, and they were surprised when there wasn't. "I did not anticipate being in front, but it gave me a bit of confidence when we got there. I thought I would take advantage of it," said Jones. Both Dalgety and Jones thought they would be beaten for that by Supreme Power, which still began well and received a sweet trip in the trail.
A son of Andrel and the winning Mark Lobell mare Karara Lass, Laud has raced only five times and won four of them. He is raced by Allan Helleur, of North Harbour, and his brother Larry, of Christchurch. They bought Karara Lass as a yearling from Motukarara breeder Mike Fenton, although they made the initial contact to buy a colt of the same age.
Allan raced General Armbro with success some years ago, and Larry honed his interest in harness racing working for Alec Purdon in 1954, the year Alec won the Easter Cup with Onward and during the time he trained Poranui.
Neither are greatly keen on campaigning the horse in Australia. Both say the "welfare of the horse comes first."
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 12Nov92
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