| FEATURE RACE COMMENT |
YEAR: 1986
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| Master Mood, Frank & Stephen Wong & the Williams family. |
A chance meeting in a Dunedin fruit shop 12 years ago came to an unbelievable conclusion when Master Mood romped away with the $275,000 Toyota NZ Cup. For it was there the Wong family first met the Williams family and sparked an association which led to their partnership in the pocket battleship from Pebbleton.
After seizing the initiative with a courageous front-running drive and streeting his Cup rivals, part-owner and trainer Kevin Williams told the NZHRW about the random rendezvous back in 1974.
"Dad (former trainer Laurie Williams) was campaigning a mare called Lily Chase down in Dunedin, and went into a fruit shop to buy some carrots for her. He got talking to the guy behind the counter, who was keen on harness racing and wanted to find out what horse he had. He said he'd always wanted to race a horse of his own and it went from there." The man behind the counter was Frank Wong, and the merger between the two families was born.
From humble beginnings - Kevin Williams and Frank Wong won a race with a smart pacer called Avenge later that year before unsoundness claimed his promising career - the partnership blossomed into a deep friendship which has been crowned with their success with Master Mood.
They bought his dam, the Lordship mare Moods, for a paltry $3000 in the late 1970's, and a mating with the then unheralded colonial sire Noodlum produced Master Mood in 1981. And with Kevin's wife Bonnie and Frank's son Stephen in on the action with quarter shares, they've had some great times: the first juvenile to break 2:00 in a race in Australasia, the winner of nine straight races and the Horse of the Year title last season and now his prestigious NZ Cup success. "It's every owners dream to win a New Zealand Cup, but I honestly thought he'd be a race short," an overcome Stephen Wong said. Frank Wong spontaneously expressed his delight by hugging Kevin Williams upon his return to the birdcage.
The race was a personal triumph for Williams, who defended his horse after several ordinary performances in Cup preludes, and maintained throughout he had the horsepower to win the gruelling two-miler. "Although his preparation lacked racing, it was a good preparation, and I thought he was as good or better than anything in the race. He's a great little stayer, he just grinds and grinds, and he's a horse that races really well in front." So when Williams found himself challenging for the lead two laps from home, he didn't hesitate. "He's that sort of horse - he's a mug drivers' horse in that can't drive him pretty. He loves doing it tough in front, rather than trailing in behind."
The future months for the compact little stallion look exciting, and lucrative races here and in Australia will give him the opportunity to exceed $500,000 in stakes. Master Mood's four length Cup win hoisted his lifetime earnings to more than $350,000, and he'll have the chance to add to that later in the Addington spring carnival before possibly winging to Sydney for a crack at the $A140,000 Miracle Mile on December 5. "A guy rang me from Sydney three weeks ago and made a tentative approach, and there's a reasonable possibility he may go," Williams said.
Master Mood already has a dazzling mile time on Australian soil to his credit - a 1:56 Inter-Dominion heat win in Brisbane earlier this year.
In winning the Cup Master Mood went within a tick of matching Steel Jaws 3200m race and national record. Aggressively driven he thundered over the extreme distance in 4:05.56 - little outside Steel Jaw's mark of 4:05.3.
Williams didn't premeditate any tactics for the Cup, but once he had Master Mood pacing kindly in front with 2400m to travel, he was determined no horse would get past. So when fearless Southland stayer Malaz and his trainer-driver ranged up in search of the lead at the bell, they were out of luck. "Hamish tried to talk me into giving the front away, but I was having none of that," Williams said. "Master Mood races really well in front and I didn't want to get stuck on the fence. He's a horse that has to be in front rolling along and he loves doing it tough in front rather than trailing in behind. It's a funny thing, but the Cup is nearly always won by a horse that is cherry-ripe on the day, the horse that's peaking."
Few punters who saw Master Mood's impressive Cup trial last Thursday - he sat back before moving off the fence a lap from home to face the breeze and drew clear in the stretch - took heed and the 1986 Harness Horse of the Year went to the post a 16-1 chance.
Williams had no qualms about forcing such a strong clip in front, despite the calibre of some of his rivals. "I felt, whether he'd won it or not, it was a race run true and everybody had a shot." But most of Master Mood's opposition fired blanks when the speed cracked on at the 800m peg, after an opening mile in 2:04.4 and 2400m in 3:08.2.
Freightman, a determined stayer with a reputation for never flinching, couldn't keep up in the trail. Neither could favoured northerner Placid Victor, who enjoyed a perfect trip three back on the outer but couldn't sprint when the speed came. And any horse futher back than midfield faced an insurmountable deficit as Master Mood tore into a 57.4 last 800m.
"There was no way I could have beaten Master Mood when he ran a half like that," Skipper Dale's trainer-driver Patrick O'Reilly Jnr said. The Cup favourite, who led out then took a trail three back on the fence, slipped off the rails when Placid Victor began to pace roughly around the final turn. And Skipper Dale stretched out gamely in the straight, running home strongly for third, just a long head from runner-up Luxury Liner.
"At the 400m I thought he might win it, but the other horse was just too good," Luxury Liner's handler Brent Mangos said. "He went a great race and tried hard all the way down the straight." Luxury Liner followed Malaz one out in fourth spot from the 2400m pole, made all the right moves but couldn't cover Master Mood's explosive acceleration in the stretch.
Apart from the winner, the eye-catching performance came from Malaz, a typically gutsy effort which Hunter described simply and succinctly: "he's got awesome courage and stands up like a soldier." Malaz sat on the leader's wheel two laps from home, attempted tp forge past Master Mood at the winning post with a round left, and was still fighting proudly down the stretch. At the post Malaz was less than a half-length from second, and his raw courage was a talking point with the huge crowd afterwards.
Freightman battled hard for fifth, but didn't seem to enjoy the race, and Spry Joker defied his odds of 70-1 with a solid sixth after making up several lengths in the straight.
Leading reinsman Maurice McKendry didn't recognise the Placid Victor he sat behind during the $275,000 Cup. "He didn't feel himself today, and he had to pick today to do it. When they quickened up front he was battling to come home." The handsome son of Vance Hanover landed the worst marble in tomorrow's $75,000 Benson & Hedges Free-For-All (2000m mobile), and regardless of how he performs he'll fly back to Auckland on the weekend for the $50,000 BASF Franklin Cup (3200m) on Saturday week.
Master Mood drew the outside of the front line in the Free-For-All, but Williams expects the rugged little entire to emulate his Cup form. If he should complete a double for the meeting, Master Mood will join such top pacers as Robalan, Lord Module, Hands Down, Armalight and Bonnie's Chance, all of which bagged the two classics in the same year.
Credit: Matt Conway writing in HR Weekly
YEAR: 1987
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No trainer in the history of horse training in NZ can match Roy Purdon's 14 premierships, and only Gore galloping trainer Rex Cochrane (1265) wins can boast a better tally than Purdon's 1146 wins to date.
Only one other standardbred trainer (the late Cecil Donald) has topped the 1000 mark. In a career spanning 51 years, Donald topped the national trainer's list nine times, hit the 1000 mark in 1972 and geared up a total of 1025 NZ winners, plus a good few in Australia. Cochrane became the first galloping trainer to reach four figures - in 1980. The late Bill Sanders of Te Awamutu, the late Eric Temperton of Awapuni and Matamata's Dave O'Sullivan were the only other galloping trainers to have topped the thousand mark. Gore's Eric Winsloe is another galloping trainer knocking on the door of the "1000 club".
Roy Purdon, now 60, began training in 1953, and between 1959 and 1963 gave it away while developing a farm property. To have done what he has in the space of 34 years with a four season lay-off is remarkable, even comsidering the fact that there are many more races to be won now than in the old days. No other trainer harness racing or galloping has tallied 100 wins in a season, whereas Roy and Barry notched 102 victories in the season just ended. What is more remarkable is Roy's streak of 13 premiership wins in the last 13 years. He first topped the list in 1970-71, then four seasons later shared the title with Charlie Hunter, each with a record 67 wins. Since then, Roy has been unchallenged at the top, the last 10 years in partnership with his son Barry.
Roy's 1000th winner came on September 21, 1985, in the form of the Max Harvey-owned filly Kiwi River. It has been claimed that he reached the milestone 10 wins earlier, but that was in the misunderstanding that he had trained 10 winners in 1960/61, when in fact that was his winning-drive tally for that term. Roy would have been the last one to worry about breaking records or to have any bad feelings about not winning the Racing Writers' 1986/87 Personality of the Year award, which went to Matamata thoroughbred trainer, Jim Gibbs.
The irony of it is that he is one person who so richly deserves this honour, but it has eluded him in the past, and now again this year. And this despite capping his accomplishments with a national record 102 winners - 27 more than the previous record of 75, held by himself and Barry since 1982/83. For Roy is indeed a personality; and nobody could be more co-operative with the media - or anyone else for that matter. "One of nature's gentlemen" is a description bandied around somewhat, but, in the case of Roy Purdon, it couldn't be more accurate.
In the long years I have known him I have never caught him not wearing that friendly smile of his, and have never heard a mean word pass his lips. He is popular with everyone who has anything to do with him and, despite his long and continuing success, he is completely down to earth; just one of the boys, be it race-night, a black-tie dinner, or round his busy stables.
One of a famous NZ trotting family, Roy started out in the game as a 17-year-old just after World War II, when his father, the late Hugh Purdon, was given a few horses to train by the famous horseman of his day, the late F J ("Wizard") Smith. Hugh Purdon leased a property at New Lynn, and, with Roy as his right-hand man, their venture into the harness racing sport began. It was a hard struggle. As well as aiding his dad, Roy had a night-shift job, so was kept constantly busy. Father and son battled along, and gradually their team of horses increased, leading them to lease boxes at Mt Roskill from trotting enthusiast Alf Taylor.
With the Purdon team on the increase, a bigger set up was necessary, so Hugh then rented the Mangere property of Brian and Ash Ogilvie. Purdon-trained winners were by this time becoming more frequent, and, after two more years, the Purdons purchased a property at Pukekohe. Roy stayed with his father about four and a half more years before branching out on his own.
His first break came when Doug McAlpine offered Roy a property at Te Awamutu with a five-furlong track. Roy accepted and with a team of six horses began making his imprint upon the list of NZ's trotting trainers. Success came within three months, and he was on his way. Roy rates Te Koi and Ruth Again as his best early winners. Te Koi, a big gelding by Ubakim from the good mare Te Huarau, won six races for the young trainer before it joined the Templeton team of Wes Butt, for whom he went on to gain Cup-class status. Ruth Again, by Dillon Hall from Girl Black, was another who kept the Purdon flag flying high; and she became a good broodmare.
When he had been training a year, Roy married Margaret Hughes, sister of Pukekohe horseman Jack Hughes, and a nationally prominent golfer. With Margaret at his side, Roy continued to go from strength to strength in the profession that has been the livelihood of so many Purdon family members throughout NZ - including his brothers Sandy and Les, who have both enjoyed their share of success as northern professional trainers.
The inception of night trotting in Auckland (on New Year's Eve 1958) prompted Roy to move closer to the hub of the sport, and in 1959 he purchased 10 acres alongside the Pukekohe training track. With Arnie Gadsby as his foreman, Roy soon had a team of between 20 and 25 in work at Pukekohe, with the first star of his stable Governor Frost, winner of 14 races for Waiuku owner Charlie Hadley. "The Governor's" wins included a heat of the 1968 Inter-Dominion Championship series in Auckland, in the Grand Final of which, he finished fifth after pulling a flat tyre for the last mile and a quarter.
Roy first won the Great Northern Derby in 1958 with Charlie Blackwell's Call Boy, the won it again with Governor Frost in 1966 - driven by Peter Wolfenden, who became first driver for Roy's stable. The Purdon/Wolfenden combination dominated northern harness racing through the 1970s, but in more recent years, Roy's sons Barry, Owen and Mark and son-in-law Tony Herlihy have done the bulk of the Purdon stable driving, with Brent Mangos chipping in with some fine reinsmanship behind Luxury Liner among others. Wolfenden, his own sons Glen and Ross maturing into the game, has set up as a trainer in his own right and in recent years has been faring very well on a scale a bit smaller than that of Roy's.
Roy recalls his first winning drive was behind a horse called Whistler, trained by his father, and with whom he scored at Awapuni in April, 1949. His last driving win at a tote meeting was with Jack Sprat at Alexandra Park on November 14, 1970. A hip injury shortly after this forced an early retirement from race driving; but he soon became to recognise this as a bonus. It was allowing him to pay more attention to the training side and the detail of harnessing-up and other vital perparation on race-nights. Lonesome Valley, Charlie's Task, Swartze Pete and the good mare Scottish Charm were just some of the topliners trained by Roy at Pukekohe.
In 1972, he purchased his present-day establishment at Clevedon, with it's 900-metre track originally laid by Monty and Sonny Baker. Ably assisted by sons Owen (who started work with his dad when the family moved to Clevedon) and Barry (who joined the stable in 1973 after two years with Charlie Hunter at Cambridge), Roy continued in the limelight. Purdon stars in the 1970s - generally with Wolfenden at the helm - included 1977 NZ Cup and 1978 Auckland Cup winner Sole Command, and 1977 Rowe Cup winner Framalda. Melton Monarch won the 1981 Great Northern Derby and the NZ Messenger the following season with Barry the driver, while Wolfenden quided the Max Harvey-owned Billbob to his $100,000 2-year-old Sires' Stakes Final win in 1984, Tony Herlihy piloted the Harvey-owned Comedy Lad to his 1986 Auckland Cup win, and Brent Mangos did the honours at top level last season with Luxury Liner.
With Owen now branched out on his own (occupying the Pukekohe property that Roy trained from in the 1960s), the current set-up at Clevedon includes Roy, Barry and Mark Purdon and Tony Herlihy, with six other assistants. At the moment, 38 horses are being worked and major improvements and upgrading are being carried out on the 20-hectare property. Roy, who was assisted by Mark in training for a few years at Ruby Lodge, Ardmore, intends making the Clevedon property a similarly impressive showplace.
Having done most everything there is to do in the sport, Roy's main ambition is to train an Inter-Dominion Grand Champion. Sole Command, whom he part-owned, represented him in two Grand Finals, but had bad luck both times. Roy came closest to an Inter-Dominion title in 1975 in Auckland when he produced Hi Foyle and Irish Kiwi, second and fourth respectively behind Young Quinn.
Credit: Ron Bisman writing in HRWeekly 9Sep87
YEAR: 1996
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| Il Vicolo decorated after his victory |
Il Vicolo, take a king-size bow. Take one, too, John Seaton and Mark Purdon. They returned graciously on Tuesday to the scene of their 1995 DB Draught NZ Cup win with Il Vicolo and did it again. Seaton even claimed that he brought the same notes with the same words on to use for his victory speech. Whether he did or not, Seaton accepted the Cup in his usual humble style, and if he wasn't a speechmaker a year ago he's certainly made some ground up since then. "I didn't have a bet on the horse," said Seaton. "But I looked at the tote...the public seem to know," he said.
Il Vicolo won the $350,000 classic in much the same manner as he did a year ago, with the grunt of a big V8. For much of the latter part of the race, Purdon had his foot down. The plan was to wait for no-one. "The early part wasn't that quick. That's why I came out. I knew I had to get him into it some time, and I didn't want to run the risk of being down on the fence."
Il Vicolo was the first to gain a good place of those off the 10 metre mark, soon sitting comfortably in midfield five back on the outer. He made his move forward at the 1800m, and as he did Surprise Package, two spot ahead of him, also moved out, ran to the lead which he held briefly, and then snuggled in behind Il Vicolo. "He was always going to be hard to beat from there," reported Purdon.
But we have gone ahead a little quickly here: the early order was Anvil's Star who made an excellent beginning, stablemate Anvil Vance and Surprise Package; Grinaldi broke and lost five lengths, and Hoppy's Jet did the same in midfield after 300 metres.
Il Vicolo's arrival at the summit, triggered off a wave of new blood coming forward, notably Victor Supreme, Master Musician, Hoppy's Jet, Burlington Bertie and Grinaldi, who actually levelled with Il Vicolo at the 800 metres. "He missed away," said driver Brent Mangos, "but he has gone a super race until battling on the turn. I am sure if he had have stepped we could have been in the first three." Trainer Geoff Small wasn't surprised at the mistake. "I could tell he knew it was a big occasion taking him into the birdcage," said Small.
Heading into the last 600 metres, Il Vicolo was pumping hard. Purdon knew he had Surprise Package on his back, though that wasn't his main worry. He was more concerned with something arriving as though it had just joined in, a horse that had missed the hurly-burly, much the same as Just Royce did when running him to a neck in '95. This time it was Anvil's Star, the rank outsider - Just Royce was the 13th favourite - who emerged with a wet sail from the ruck, jinking his way past tired runners in the straight. Even as close as 50 metres out, Anvil's Star was determined to beat Il Vicolo for the Cup, but then the run ended, leaving Il Vicolo safe, secure, $210,000 ahead, by three-quarters of a length. Anvil's Star was that margin better than Surprise Package, and the same ahead of Anvil Vance, who trailed, lost his place and was back on the inner beginning the last lap, and Desperate Comment, who was level last at the 600 metres, met a check at the 400m where it became tight and messy, and did remarkably well to make up the ground he did.
Purdon said this was a tougher race for Il Vicolo than it was a year ago. "I could tell he wasn't liking the last part," he said, "but he really is a champion. It is a great thrill to win it again. It is the race of the year, and he was ready for it." If Purdon had a slight concern it was whether his preparation was quite tight enough. "Last year, he was ready a lot earlier because we came down for the Super Stars in September. I was just a bit hard on him last year. He'd had two trials before we came down here, but there were only three in them," he said.
There were some tales of disappointment from those beaten, noteable being Master Musician, Prince Rashad, Desperate Comment and Burlington Bertie. They got caught up in the backwash, which was always going to be a risk in a field that while even also had its vulnerable ones.
Robert Dunn, the driver of Master Musician, said the race didn't go his way over the last lap. "The first time I decide not to make my own luck, this happens," he said, referring to being badly held up and knocked out of it when Burlington Bertie went off stride near the 500 metres. "'Bertie' was cruising, but what surprised me was Glen Wolfenden handing up on Victor Supreme at the 1200 metres after she went round." Wolfenden said: "I had a nice cart round but I wanted cover to get round round that bend. She had her chance and I've got no excuse," he said.
The collect for Seaton and Purdon was $210,000, which in round figures takes Il Vicolo just past $1,500,000. He has won a phenomenal 29 of his 44 starts. This is the horse Seaton bought as a yearling at Karaka for $21,000, had it broken in by Gary Hillier, and then gave Purdon a half share in the horse after Hillier phoned him five months later and said he was getting out of the game. Seaton has been a great campaigner at the yearling sales for many years, and while Il Vicolo was dear he is not his dearest. "That was Malakula who cost $26,000 and won three," he said. Il Vicolo is something Malakula could never be. He is something very special: eventually a stallion of immense value.
John Seaton is talking about racing him in America's Meadowlands Pace. Purdon says John is thinking of a holiday for himself and his wife, Anne. The reality may not be America, but sadly it may not be New Zealand either. Il Vicolo will soon be off to Sydney for the Miracle Mile, a race he finished second in last June.
Some great horses have won the Cup. Not since False Step in the 60's has a horse won the race in successive years. Not since Lordship, in 1962 and 1966, has a horse won two New Zealand Cups.
Il Vicolo take another bow.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HR Weekly
YEAR: 2005
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| Molly Darling upsets Mainland Banner |
Molly Darling simply out-toughed the favourite Mainland Banner, and did it on her merits too, being left three wide and parked outside her over the last 800 metres before crossing the finish line half a length clear in a brilliant 1:57.8 mile rate. Absolutely Brilliant speared between runners late in the piece to grab third, albeit six lengths away, and for good measure Christian Cullen's only other representative in the Group 1 event (Kamwood Cully) ran fifth.
Molly Darling's part-owner, trainer and driver Brent Mangos was actually quite humble afterwards, having inflicted the first defeat on Mainland Banner in her eight-start career. "Horses just can't keep winning all the time," he said. "So someone's got to beat them; I'm just lucky that on this occasion it was me. But when Molly Darling's right, she's very, very good. In fact I don't think there is anything between her, Mainland Banner and Foreal," he said.
For Mangos it has been a long, hard road to get Molly Darling back to where she is now, but even if the fickle harness racing public seemed to lose faith, he didn't. The hiccups started after Molly Darling's trip to Sydney in February for the NSW Oaks Prelude and Final, which were the filly's first racetrack appearances since she won the Breeders' Crown Final in Bendigo last August. "Going to Sydney gutted her," he said. "She was probably only eighty percent ready when she went, and afer two big trips and the heat over there she had lost a lot of weight by the time she got home. "So I just backed off, and didn't rush her. That is why I missed the Great Northern Oaks and Sires' Stakes heats - so that we could specifically target these two events in Christchurch. I think she turned the corner the night she won in Auckland prior to coming down for the Oaks, because although she didn't beat much that night she felt like she was starting to come right. And I didn't do a lot with her in the week leading up to the Nevele R Final, but she'd felt good all week at Catherine and David Butt's and never left an oat. I wish the Oaks was next week now, because she just feels that good again."
Molly Darling is raced by Mangos in partnership with Scott Plant, Warren Oliver and Brian Hewes. You couldn't meet a more enthusiastic bunch of horse owners, but over the next few months there are some serious decisions to be made with regards to Molly Darling's future. After a fillies' and mares' event in Auckland on June 10, Molly Darling will either stay here for a heat of the Breeders' Crown on July 15 or cross the Tasman for the Australian Oaks. "Those two races are on the same night," Mangos said. "After that we may well send her to America, and lease her to someone over there for eighteen months or so. It's just that there is not a lot for her here as a 4-year-old mare. She might measure up to the good ones as a five or 6-year-old, but in the meantime she could win a lot of money in the States - and come home with a quick mile time. "It's all about keeping her happy, because if horses are happy they go good - especially mares."
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 25May05
YEAR: 2012
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Doug Mangos, who drove major winners in the 1960s and 70s, died in Christchurch on Friday (6 Jan)at the age of 76.
Constantine Ronald Douglas Mangos (licenced as D R Mangos) was employed at Roydon Lodge, Yaldhurst for some 35 years. The establishment was operated by Sir John and later Sir Roy McKenzie with George Noble the trainer during the time Mangos was there.
Mangos was licenced to drive at trials in 1954 and he was granted a probationary drivers licence two years later. He was an open horseman from the 1957-58 season when he drove Highland Air to win the Winter Handicap at Forbury Park. He drove La Mignon to win the main race, the C F Mark Memorial Handicap and the Farewell Handicap on the second night of the Auckland winter meeting in 1958.
La Mignon became the dam of Roydon Roux, whom Mangos drove in her seven wins, including the NZ Golden Slipper Stakes at Waimate, Princess Stakes in Auckland and the NZ Futurity Stakes at Rotorua, at two. She won the 1971 Great Northern Derby and the Wraith Memorial in Sydney the following season. She had to be destroyed after she shattered a pastern in Melbourne in March of her 3-year-old season.
Mangos drove Scottish Laddie to win the 1963 Great Northern Derby. Scottish Laddie was trained at Trentham by Jack Hunter for Roy McKenzie. Mangos drove General Frost to win the inaugural NZ Juvenile Championship in Auckland in 1968. The Noble-trained General Frost also won the Golden Slipper Stakes and the NZ Futurity Stakes at Rotorua with Mangos in the sulky. Mangos drove Vista Abbey to win a heat of the Inter-Dominion in Auckland in 1968.
Mangos was granted a professional training licence in 1969 to prepare the Roydon Lodge horses in the absence of Noble. He drove Jay Ar in three wins in top company, the season after the gelding had dead-heated for first with Robin Dundee in the Inter-Dominion Final at Forbury Park in 1965 with Noble in the sulky.
Brent Mangos, a son of Doug, is the Pukekohe trainer of Bettor Cover Lover, who made a notable retun to racing to win the Group 1 Queen Of Hearts at Alexandra Park on December 16 after a life-threatening injury to a foot eight months earlier.
Doug Mangos had his last driving win with Initial Thought at Addington in July, 2004. He trained Talaspring to win at a Franklin meeting in March, 2010.
Credit: HRWeekly 11Jan2012
YEAR: 2012
2012 GARRARD'S SIRES' STAKES 2YO FINAL
A good night became a great one for the Barry Purdon stable when Five Card Draw completed a Group One race double in the $180,000 Garrard's Sires' Stakes 2yo Final at Addington last Friday night.
With Bettor Sweet starting the ball rolling by earlier upsetting Mark Purdon with Didjamakem Bolt, who was racing out of his class in 2-3 win company due to the one-win mobile having to be dropped, Five Card Draw also completed a Bettor's Delight treble with Oaks winner Cheer The Lady for Barry with five starters in three races for the evening.
Purdon won the inaugural Sires Stakes in 1984 with Billbob and others in Auckland with Chokin and Montana Vance, along with Matai Mackenzie at Addington at Addington 12 years ago, but Addington has become the stomping ground of younger brother Mark since he moved to Canterbury in the mid 90s. His dominance of age group features at Addington has been such that the All Stars Stable has won the Sires Stakes no less than six times with Il Vicolo, The Court Owl, Light And Sound, Likmesiah, Fiery Falcon and Major Mark. But Purdon's juvenile firepower has been well down this season, partly because he has been buying yearlings in Australia, and only Sir Tosti Mach was eligible and qualified for this final.
The latter was a sound fourth and one of seven starters by Mach Three which filled the second to sixth placings, which would have been some sort of record had Five Card Draw not held such a big hand for Brent Mangos. Cran Dalgety also held a good hand for the race with three starters even without last week's Sales race winner Bit Of A Legend, and for about the first 1700m, it seemed as though Dexter Dunn was going to provide for an action replay. Just as he had done with Bit Of A Legend, Dunn used the electric speed of Abraxas to cross Five Card Draw at the start and then happily hand up and wait for the passing lane. Barry Purdon and Dalgety were both getting feelings of déjá vu when Abraxas poked up inside Five Card Draw at the furlong, but Mangos was just kidding and the least concerned of all.
With favourite Alta Christiano out of play early, Five Card Draw had got some easy sectionals before heading down the back and into the stiff southerly, and he had plenty in reserve on the occasion, coming away again near the finish. This was Five Card Draw's fourth win from six starts and having also won the Young Guns, th gelding has already earned $224,000, with another $75,000 awaiting them at the Jewels. Five Card Draw is Breeders Crown eligible, but Purdon will then turn him out and be back for the Sires' Stakes in the spring, "otherwise they don't get a break".
Bought from breeders Wayne and Jay Abernethy for $57,500 from Karaka last year, Five Card Draw was one of just two purchases that Purdon secured and he races the son of Blistering Belle with Auckland's Tyronne Cooke, Charmain Nausbaum and Alan Dormer. Purdon also bought a Grinfromeartoear-Erineyes colt in Los Amante shortly after in Auckland and while he qualified in February an "is going to win a race or two", Purdon is thankful he didn't acquire more at the time. "We couldn't find owners and wound up with shers in both of them as it was," said Purdon. Five Card Draw has "always looked like a nice horse from day one" though and Purdon expects him to improve further as he grows and strengthens into a 3-year-old.
The Paul Kerr camp was bitterly disappointed after Alta Christiano galloped early after being restrained by son Mitchell. "He's over reached and struck himself and what happened was just greenness," said Paul "He's never galloped before and panicked. They do pick the worst times to do these things," he added. If this seemed bad enough, things got worse for junior driver Mitchell. He was going to win the following event with Chianti, but the well-bred filly broke down so badly inside the 200m that she had to be put down.
Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 23May2012