YEAR: 2008 Ian Dobson and the Met people may as well drop the NZ Derby trophy off to Mark Purdon now. It's near enough to as good as won by Auckland Reactor, and the believers are now well and truly in the majority. But first, there are formalities to attend to, and that means Auckland Reactor must perform as he did in winning the First Sovereign Trust Flying Stakes at Addington in devastating style last Friday night. His cruel disposal of seven other good 3-year-olds made it crystal-clear that none of then are in his class, or even close to it. He beat Justa Tiger by seven lengths and his stablemate Fiery Falcon by a fraction more. It was a beating of big proportions, and the $200,000 Christian Cullen-sponsored Classic has the look of an open and shut case. Phillip Kennard, one of the co-owners of Fiery Falcon, put on a brave front by saying how he was looking forward to a better draw and trying to stick within four or five lengths of Auckland Reactor and see what difference that would make. He took comfort in seeing Fiery Falcon finish within eight lengths of Auckland Reactor after perhaps, at best, being 10 lengths from him at one stage. Hope for better might be one thing, but getting it quite another. While Auckland Reactor looked as fresh at the end as he did at the start, he didn't win the contest without some push and shove. Purdon ran him hard out of the gate, and then Gavin Smith pressed up with Cullen's Legacy to see if the lead was available. He was hard to settle from there and, committed to attack, ran keenly alongside Auckland Reactor for 800 metres, until dropping off and finishing 15 lengths behind. "I had an idea where he might finish up," said Purdon. "After going hard early, and then attacked, I was a bit surprised my horse had as much left as he did," he said. This was Auckland Reactor's ninth successive win, which puts him in easy reach of equalling and bettering the record of Purdon's previous 3-year-old star Il Vicolo, who won 11 in succession at that age. Auckland Reactor can make it 13, if he wins the Derby, Southern Supremacy Final, the Harness Jewels and a lead-up race to that. Purdon says he's "potentially the best" horse he's had. "When he came down from the north he was just a horse, and well behind the other yearlings at the same stage. I gave him six weeks work, but he was nothing remarkable at the time. There was no pressure on him because he wasn't paid up for anything. I liked him, without there being anything special about him." When he was back in again at two, Purdon said there was still nothing to mark him out. "We had Fiery Falcon, Ohoka Arizona and Steve McQueen, all nice horse, but they'd also done a lot more. It was not until I'd taken him to a couple of workouts, where he ran second and third, that he started to impress me. Both times I thought he could have gone past the others if I'd asked him to. Off the place, it seemed as if he would step up." And when he qualified "stylishly", he became a "nice" horse, and Purdon then had the Sires' Stakes in the "back of my mind. That was a great performance, winning that, but he is a better horse now." If Purdon and co-trainer Grant Payne had worries from time to time about his condition, they don't have them now. "He's the biggest eater on the place," Purdon said. "I recently saw a picture of Mach Three (his sire) after he won a race at the same age, and from the neck back you'd say they were identical." Between the Group 2 win of last week and the Group 1 he goes for this week, Auckland Reactor had a solo run on Monday and worked with company on Wednesday. It seems Purdon is cautious with what he does with him. "I could work him hard and he can be a good trackworker." After Auckland Reactor and Fiery Falcon, the Mach Threes at All Star Stables almost run out. He doesn't have a 2-year-old, and his only yearling is the colt from Russley Friction bought at the Australasian Classic by Neil Pilcher and Bill Grice. Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 2Apr08 YEAR: 2009 FIERY FALCON DIES YEAR: 2010
Keith and Bevan Grice have been breeding from the family of Captain Peacock for 51 years. Captain Peacock (Live Or Die-Enchanting) won the NZ Derby in April and is engaged in the 3-Year-Old Emerald at Cambridge on Saturday. The Grices also bred Ima Gold Digger (Sundon-Janetta's Pride), a leading contender for the 4-Year-Old trotters section. Phil Kennard, a Christchurch part-owner of Captain Peacock, is also in the ownership of Major Mark, a contender for the 2-Year-Old Emerald. Kennard is in the GAPMAD Syndicat who race Captain Peacock in partnership with the brothers Grant Ball, of Christchurch and Darren Ball, of Sydney, and Warren Wyllie and Richard Boon, of Christchurch, from the Ladbrooks stable of Dean Taylor. Mark Jones is the driver of Captain Peacock. Others in the GAPMAD Syndicate are Michael and Gerard Dawson, of Oamaru, Alister Strachan, of Oamaru, Angela Mowbray of Methven and Des Aitcheson, of Oamaru. Captain Peacock is the first foal of Enchanting who won her first start when trained by Taylor and driven by Jones. That was a race for 3-Year-Olds at Motukarara in December 2003. Grant Ball was in the ownership of Enchanting (Sands A Flyin-Go Anna), who was put to stud after being unplaced in a further five starts. "She was badly conformed," recalled Taylor. He had become involved with the family when he trained her dam, Go Anna, to win four races in the mid-1990s. Go Anna died in 2003 after leaving four foals. She left another filly, Lancashire Witch (by Tinted Cloud), the winner of three races. Go Anna was by Dancing Master from Kerry Khan, by Noodlum from Lady Barbara, by Lordship from Barbara Del, by Armbro Del from Coo Doo, by Morano from Lady Dimp, a Nelson Derby mare the Grice brothers began breeding from in 1959. They bought her from their cousin, Len Grice. Their uncle, Jack Grice, owned and trained the 1952 NZ Derby winner, Rupee. Another uncle, Ben, owned and trained Haughty, winner of the NZ Cup in 1942 and 43. Lordship won the NZ Derby in 1961 and Noodlum won the race in 1974. Coo Doo won the 1971 Welcome Stakes, and other big winners from this equine family include Palestine and Derby, who won nine races in succession in the early 1980s. "Winning the Derby is our finest hour," Keith (84) said. Bevan is 79. "We have always felt that with good stallions and good trainers this family would reach the top. We cannot speak too highly of Dean Taylor," he said. "Breeding horses is our hobby, and we have been at it ince we left school." Credit: Taylor Strong writing in HRWeekly 2June2010 YEAR: 2010 Sixteen years ago, Dean Taylor blew his first chance to win the New Zealand Derby. He confessed to a training mistake after Rare Chance, a brilliant winner over Payson's Moneymaker on the first night of the John Brandon series, was beaten a head by Gingerman after Taylor scratched him from the middle night sprint. "I made a blue. I was too light on him in between. I wasn't going to do that again. So I took this horse to Motukarara for a solid workout the weekend after the Flying Stakes. I made sure he went into the Derby ready to race." Given the perfect trip behind the pacemaker Sir Lincoln, Captain Peacock shot up the passing lane with such a slick pick-up that the result of the $250,000 Christian Cullen New zealand Derby was all over apart from the margins and minor placings. He won by a length and three-quarters from the outsider Franco Jamar who tracked him throughout, and the favourite Russley Rascal had a chequered trip on his way to a luckless third. Winning driver Mark Jones was quick to tell taylor the margin could have been a lot more had the pair been interested in making something of it. It was not a fast Derby - 3:14.1 is unremarkable. Not all were as fortunate with the voyage as Captain Peacock was. After sitting second early and midfield a lap out, Russley Rascal had more ahead of him than behind at the 800m, the horse buried by the three-wide line. From this difficult situation, he was blocked in the straight, and then finding room wide out, flew past the chasing bunch. Smiling Shard, another well-backed runner, was bottled up in the line behind Kotare Mach and Courage To Rule and pretty much was still caught up in that situation at the finish. The pacemaker Sir Lincoln offered little resistance in the run home. "Had he been right, he should have been in the finish," said driver Maurice McKendry. Captain Peacock is by Live Or Die, the sire of Taylor's other Group 1 winner Waipawa Lad, and one of Taylor's pet sires. "There's no key to training them really. A lot of my owners don't have the money to buy or breed Christian Cullens, and they can fit in here. And I have always had a close connection with Nevele R. Four wealings have just arrived, and there are more to come." He has also had a happy association with prominent mid-Canterbury breeders Keith and Bevan Grice, who bred Captain Peacock from Enchanting, a Sands A Flyin mare who had one start for a win against the 3-year-old colts and geldings on the grass at Motukarara. "She was going to go sore, so that's all the racing she did. She was out of Go Anna (who won four), and I tried another Sands A Flyin from her but he was no good." Captain Peacock arrived as a yearling, and the ownership gradually took shape, with Grant Bull, a Merivale coffee shop proprietor who was a partner in Enchanted, being pivotal in putting the group together. The six-member GAPMAD Syndicate is predominantly from Oamaru, managed by Alistair Strachan, and includes Phil Kennard, a partner in the Welcome Stakes winner, Major Mark. Taylor was in no hurry with the horse, although there was a time in the Spring when he had no say in the matter. He qualified at two, then cracked a pastern when he returned. "It was not bad, only needed one screw - so three weeks in a box, three weeks in a yard and he was set to go again." As he often does, Taylor takes a working holiday with two or three young horses at the Blenheim meeting in January, and that's where Captain Peacock made his debut. From barrier 10 both days, he returned home an unlucky maiden. "It backfired on us," he said. "But I remember Mark telling me after the first time he drove him - 'when I pulled the ear plugs, I don't know who got the biggest shock, me or the horse'." Captain the won his next four starts, and Kennard asked Taylor if the Derby was an option. His times said it was, and a flashing late run for fifth in the Flying Stakes convinced them. Taylor enjoys the limelight, as long as it's low key and he can stand at the back. Driving was never his forte, though he was in the cart early enough, starting as a 10-year-old behind a "big Robert Dillon" for his uncle and nextdoor neighbour, Alec Purdon. These were the days of Double Cross, Highland Fortress and Lucrative, and later Master Dean, Game Way, Thurber Command and Master Leon, and the driving was done by Doug Watts and then Michael De Filippi. Taylor played club rugby for Prebbleton and Premiership league as a high-class prop for Hornby, and his clients today are rich in football heritage. To make ends meet when he started at the breaking-in level, he ran a paper round, and recalled winning his first race with Lumber Scott - also his first starter - in a two mile maiden race at Westport. He has seldom been without a good horse since, with mutual loyalty between himself and Mark Jones being a key factor in the success of them both. More recently, with the sporting interests of his children Hamish and Victoria playing a bigger part in their weeks, Taylor has been through the stable, selling and retiring those in need of it. "It was my choice. It was a quiet time. We didn't have to go anywhere and a lot more younger ones were in the stable." For Captain Peacock, his campaign will probably continue in Southland where Taylor is thinking of giving him a Supremacy heat, and the Jewels is further ahead. For Taylor, the respect for his horses continues with his owners. "Some, like Alan and Colin Greaves, have had a horse of two with me from the day I started." They are not alone in appreciating the quiet achievements of a modest man. Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 14Arr10 YEAR: 2012 Smolda was magnificent in defeat when second in the Group 1 $150,000 Ricoh New Zealand Derby at Addington last Friday night. But all was not lost for the multi-armoured All Stars Stable and its tight three, Neil Picher and Phillip and Glenys Kennard. As well as being part-owners of Smolda, they are also partners with Gavin Douglas and Phil and Margaret Creighton in Fly Like An Eagle who won the classic after everthing went right. It was not as if everything went wrong for Smolda, but he did have a predictably hard slog; up from the back before the last lap, up second outside Scandalman at the 1000m, appearing to struggle at the 400m, up again to head him at the 250m, only to be caught by his stablemate who had just enough gas after a soft run behind Scandalman. It was a run of great fortitude. Mark Purdon gave him credit for it. "The other horse could not have done what Smolda did," he said. Fly Like An Eagle had a perfect run in the trail behind Scandalman. "When Smolda comes round, I won't be letting him go," said Jimmy Douglass, Scandalman's tiny Australian driver, before the race. Purdon didn't press the point when he came up, although Smolda was keen to get on with it. Closer to home, Scandalman was soon in a bit of bother. "He wasn't as good tonight," said Douglass. He hadn't raced for three weeks and he needs a race at least a week out. We couldn't find one at home and couldn't get over here for the first night. I think he was a run short." Fly Like An Eagle had been on the ladder of steady improvement, following his Northern Derby fourth with a game lead-up second in th Flying Stakes, only to be collared late by Smolda. This has all come from a late start to the season, forced on him by the operation to remove two bone chips from a knee when he was in Ballarat as a late 2-year-old. "I wasn't really unhappy at the time," said Purdon. "He was needing a break and the three months he had out after that was really to his benefit," he said. Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 4 Apr 2012 YEAR: 2012 There's seldom a premiere meeting go by when Rolleston harness racing trainers Mark Purdon and Grant Payne aren't picking up Group 1, 2, or 3 spoils. And that trend continued tonight (Friday March 23) at Addington Raceway when Purdon steered Smolda and Escapee to easy Group 2 and 3 victories respectively. Smolda trailed his stablemate Fly Like An Eagle (Tony Herlihy) most of the way to win the Group Two $40,000 Vero Flying Stakes for 3yo pacers. Smolda, a Courage Under Fire gelding, went into the race the winner of seven of his last eight starts including the Group Two Elsu Classic at Alexandra Park on December 16. In the lane he out-muscled his stablemate (Fly Like An Eagle) to win by three quarters of a length in 2:23.2 (1950m mobile). The winning mile rate was 1:58.1, with final 800m and 400m sprints of 54.6 and 27.3 seconds. He is now sure to start one of the favourites in next Friday's Group One $150,000 New Zealand Derby. Smolda is owned by Mrs Glenys and Phil Kennard, Neil Pilcher, M. A. R. Kirkwood - and was bred by P.B. Blackshaw. Credit: Duane Ranger writing in HarnessLink 23 Mar 2012 YEAR: 2012 The Trevor Casey owned and bred Escapee notched up her sixth win from 10 starts - and fifth in a row - when dealing to her eight filly opponents. Purdon had her situated in the one-one and then parked down the back straight before running away from them in the straight to win ridiculously easy. The daughter of Sundon trotted the 1950m mobile in 2:25.3 (mile rate: 1:59.8) - with final 800m and 400m sprints of 58.8 and 29.7. It was Escapee's second Group Three victory in two months. On February 11 she had a two-length victory in the $25,000 Hambletonian Classic, at Ashburton. Escapee almost looks a home run in next week's Group One $80,000 New Zealand Trotting Derby. For the record Purdon and Payne trained five winners at Addington tonight. The others were Arden Tetrick (race one), Springsteen (race 3) and Three Pints (race 12). The Kennards also have a share in Arden Tetrick, while Pilcher also has shares in Springsteen and Three Pints. Casey is also a co-owner of Three Pints. Credit: Duane Ranger writing in HarnessLink 28 Mar 2012 YEAR: 2013 2013 MUSCARA STANDARDBREDS PROUD SPONSOR NZ DERBY YEAR: 2013 2013 PGG WRIGHTSON NZ YEARLING SALES SERIES 2YO OPEN YEAR: 2014 2014 MUSCARA STANDARDBREDS NEW ZEALAND DERBY
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