| FEATURE RACE COMMENT |
YEAR: 2011
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| Anthony and mother Jenny Butt |
Vulcan continues to rise above the expectations of trainer Tim Butt. Only five, Vulcan should have the best years ahead of him, and that may still be the case.
His record, however, is already hugely impressive - 11 wins from 35 starts, and four of those are Group 1s. After Harness Jewels wins at three and four, the third came when he squeaked home in the NZ Trotting Free-For-All on Cup Day and the fourth came with a bonny finish to overhaul Dr Hook in the $200,000 Hellers Dominion Trot three days later.
This really is a massive achievement, and one that Butt has not seen coming - at least not this soon. He has often played down where Vulcan should be, suggesting he's a year away from really being competitive amongst the older horses. As can be seen, Vulcan is ahead of the plan. While his Cup Day was close, he made no bones about winning the Dominion, giving Anthony Butt his 9th success in the race and brother Tim his 8th as a trainer.
Anthony has also won with Lyell Creek (3), Take A Moment (3), Simon Katz and Mountbatten, like Vulcan, by Earl. Tim gave Vulcan a chance of winning, as long as it turned into a hard grind. "I was hoping the Cup Day run gave him the seasoning he needed," said Tim. "It helped when I Can Doosit, Sovereignty and Raydon lost ground, and Stylish Monarch wasn't there. But he's always been above average, and he has the attitude and he's tough. He isn't like Mountbatten, who had more raw speed, and isn't the champion the others were."
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 16Nov2011
YEAR: 2011
2011 NEW ZEALAND TROTTING FREE-FOR-ALL
Vulcan's win in the New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All might have been something of a farewell of sorts for driver Anthony Butt but most would view it as a reinforcement of a fine tradition. Vulcan, dual Harness Jewels champion, 4yo Trotter Of The Year in a voting clean sweep, is typical of the development of trotting talent which has been a speciality of the Butt brothers, Tim and Anthony for so many years. You hardly need to mention Take A Moment and the great Lyall Creek but there have been many more.
A touch of genius one might say in this case since Epona, the dam of Vulcan, is a sister to the trotter of that name which won 24 races and over $200,000 for Jennifer Butt and Don McKenzie who have bred from this family for several years, as Jenny's late husband Murray had previously. Abundant, the dam of Genius and Epona, was from First Prize, an enigmatic but highly talented trotter for Jennifer's father, Derek, a man whose Expertise with trotters himself went back to stars of the 1950's starting with Barrier Reef.
Tim Butt is not going into the Dominion Handicap with the same sort of confidence he has had in some years. "Ideally he is a year away. In fact I would probably not have run him today if horses like I Can Doo had paid up. But I suppose he is here and he is well and if he stays that way he can take his chance." The Dominion Handicap is almost in danger of being renamed the Butt Family Stakes. Anthony has won eight of them and seven have been trained by Tim. It is one hell of a tradition.
Tradition is something Anthony will break when he moves on a semi-permanent basis to Sydney on Staurday where stable stars such as Raglan are already in great form. He was the first to qualify for a start in the Miracle Mile beating Mr Feelgood in the Newcastle Mile. "I will basically be there full time until April perhaps coming back for some big races. You have to give it your best shot and we are hoping to build up a big team there over the next few months," Anthony said. "Quite a lot of New Zealand horses come in well under the handicapping system there. We have Trojan for example. He won nine here and is an M0 in Sydney. I think we will get plenty of support when people realise what is on offer there."
If Anthony, left parked with Vulcan for long enough to claim a well deserved win, was happy with another Group win on Cup Day (2003 is the only Cup Tuesday this century he has not driven a winner) Ricky May was not so happy with Stylish Monarch. "He just lost it after that false start," Ricky said. "The gate closed quite quickly and it seemed to spook him. He didn't recover. I didn't think I would get him up to the gate the second time and he just never got it together after that. He has never done anything like that with me before. Usually nothing bothers him."
Credit: David McCarthy writing in H R Weekly 10Nov11
YEAR: 2013
2013 GARY THOMPSON/FRED SHAW NZ TROTTING CHAMPIONSHIP
Vulcan's rich vein of form continued when he had little trouble dispatching a small but classy field in the $80,000 Gary Thompson/Fred Shaw NZ Trotting Championship at Addington last Saturday night.
After a run of consistent form at Menangle in February, Vulcan really hit his straps at Melton last month, and remarkably, the Trotting Championship was his fifth G1 success in 22 days. Whether a heat of the Great Southern Star should have been accorded G1 status is highly debateable, but that's what the record books will show and that many Group race wins in such a short space of time must have been some sort of record to boot. More to the point, Vulcan has earned $350,000 in those three weeks and also an invitation to the famed Elitlopp in Sweden.
The Trotting Championship was actually Vulcan's first win at Addington since his big NZ Trotting FFA- Dominion double during Cup Week 16 months ago, and his form had been patchy since. Butt had been battling a combination of issues, including a "crook back" which had him trotting roughly and a couple of viruses, but he knew he was getting on top of things around the time of the big mile at Menangle, where he finished third to Keystone Del. "He'd been treated for a virus and we'd changed his feed, so he's been racing lighter. He loves the smaller tracks so we knew we were in pretty good shape going into Melton."
Vulcan's ability to corner well has been evident since he upset Kahdon in the Jewels at Cambridge as a 3-year-old, and he has now won 10 G1s and 17 races in all for stakes worth $917,000. This puts him in a league with Butt's previous trotting greats Lyell Creek and Take A Moment, but Butt has never had Vulcan in that elite class. In career best form though, Vulcan was able to sit parked for the last 1400m on Saturday night and still proved too good for Stent and Springbank Sam, with a gap to Cyclone U Bolt and Phil's Gift. Vulcan trotted his last mile in 1:58.9, home in 57.5 and 28.9, to complete the 2600m journey in a solid 3:16.8.
By Game Pride from a top trotting mare in First Prize and a sister to another one in October Pride, Abundant only managed a few placings and had had a few foals when Jenny's late husband Murray, the father of Tim and Anthony, decided to run her through the Mixed Sale. "I rang Don and said we can't let this mare get away." McKenzie had had a few pacers with Murray up to this point with moderate success, but had always loved the trotters.
"I can recall going to Addington to watch the likes of Marius and Tony Bear in the early 70's," said Don. "There were a lot of great trotters around that time and they would all fan out across the track. We were told Abundant would cost around $4000 but I think I got her for $700. I was that keen to buy her I had the last three bids," he added. For a while McKenzie wondered if he had acquired the 'poorer sister', but whereas October Pride has been a disappointing broodmare, Abundant has never stopped producing.
The first horse she left for them was a nice one in Bizness (5 NZ wins), and not long after came a couple of top ones in Noam and Genius, the latter winning 24 races and $215,000. A Sundon sister in Epona was born the year between that pair and Butt and McKenzie are now breeding from other daughters of Abundant in Farisa (Chiola Hanover), Stimulus (Armbro Invasion) and Maysoon (Sundon). They now have six mares in total from the family, with each party taking care of three. Epona's first foal was a colt and a useful performer in Lotsa Speed (6 NZ wins, US1:56.6), while Vulcan is the second colt.
Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 4Apr13