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BOB NEGUS - Trainer-Driver

Bob Negus, one of a rare group of harness drivers to win both the New Zealand Cup and the New Zealand Free-For-All, with champion mare Armalight in 1981, died from cancer in Christchurch on Saturday. He was 89.

Trainer son Bruce, also associated with a champion pacer, training Courage Under Fire in the late 1990's, said his father had still been driving a tractor until the final two weeks of his life. "His mind was still pretty sharp," Bruce said. "He was good about it. He had all his affairs in order."

Bob Negus cleverly out-drove his rivals with Armalight to win the 1981 New Zealand Cup. After being left parked out, he didn't force the issue, knowing his mainrivals were back in the field. He ulitised Armalight's speed inside the final 800m, leaving their rivals flat-footed. Armailght was in a class of her own, winning by seven lengths and paying $27.

Three days later, Armalight, trained by Brent Smith, made international headlines with a world record win in the New Zealand Free-For-All. Bob Negus let her run freely in front over the mobile 2000m, winning as she liked by three lengths in an astonishing 2:23.5, at the time an unheardof mile rate of 1:55.4. He had driven Armalight in her first four wins and was back at the helm when helping Smith with the mare's preparation during her stellar five-year-old season. He also drove her to win the 1982 Kaikoura Cup and run second, off a 10m handicap toanother top mare of the era in Bonnie's Chance in the 1982 New Zealand Cup.

Good friend, former Nevele R Stud founder and Bromac Lodge proprietor Bob McArdle, was saddened by his passing. "He was one of the most talented New Zealand horsemen that has ever been," said McArdle. "The guy did amazing things without having the best bred horses. God knows what he would have done had he had the best ones."

A skilled trainer and driver with his own horses, Negus trained first at Springston and then at Broadfield. His biggest win as an owner-trainer was with Willie Win in the 1972 New Zealand Derby at Addington, in the hands of NZ's champion driver of the time, in "The Maestro", the late Maurice Holmes. After breaking and losing 30m early, his performance to recover and win in a then NZ-record time for a three-year-old was sensational. He won going away from Kotare Scott, with subsequent top pacer Young Quinn, who beaten him into second in the NZ Sapling Stakes at two, finishing fifth. Willie Win later ran second to Speedy Guest that season in the 1973 Great Northern Derby. By Good Chase, Willie Win also won the 1972 Methven 2YO Stakes in the hands of the trainer and retired winning eight of 33 starts.

Negus also owned and trained Willie Win's younger half-sister Glint to win the 1955 New Zealand Oaks and the 1956 Ashburton Cup, both driven by Holmes. She won 10 of 38 starts. Glint's first foal, Bruce (named after his son) won seven, while another of her foals in La Romolaonly won once, but left six winners including eight-race winners for other trainers in Bardolino and Winning Note, and Early Riser (four), the latter leaving a feature Victorian El Dorado winner of the 1980s, First Glimpse, for Invercargill trainer Wayne Adams.

Captain Jura, secured off Balclutha trainer Len Tilson, was another Ashburton Cup winner raced by Negus, and driven by the late Doodey Townley in 1975. It was a Negus-trained quinella, with the trainer driving Willie Win to finish second. Negus also trained the quinella in the 1972 NZ Welcome Stakes for two-year-olds at Addington with another smart youngster in Hardcraft, who beat close relative Willie Win.

Hardcraft, driven by the late Derek Jones in the Welcome Stakes, was also by Good Chase, but from Gleam, a one-win daughter of Willie Win's half-sister Glister(Whipster-Spangle), who won five. Negus bred, owned and trained Hardcraft, who won five of only 16 starts and at three won the 1973 Queens birthday Stakes at Ashburton, when driven by Maurice Holmes.

Negus also bred, owned, trained and drove Glint's son Patchy to win the 1962 NZ Golden Slipper Stakes, formerly a feature two-year-old event on the NZ Harness calendar. He had his share of success in country cups, being the owner and trainer of 1963 Waimate Cup winner Flynn, and 1967 Kurow Cup winner Bronze Lad, both in the hands of Maurice Holmes, and 1969 Geraldine Cup winner Kran, which Negus drove himself.

Legacy, who won four, was another useful pacer for him in the early 1970s, while he also won three with his namesake Robert Henry (Out To Win-Gilt), before the latter was exported to North America in 1982. He also did a good job after securing one-win pacer Piper McCardy, converting him to trotting and winning seven races as an aged trotter before retiring him as an 11-year-old in 2001.

Bob Negus also had a support role in the career of subsequent world champion driver and now successful trainer Mark Jones. He employed him when Jones was on his way to becoming NZ's top junior driver.

"In his last week he had a session playing with a jazz player as it was always something he wanted to do, which was nice," McArdle said.

Negus died 80 days after his daughter, Robyn Garrett, who also died from cancer. He is survived by sons, Bruce and Keith, and daughters Christine and Gail Dolamore

Credit: NZ Harness News appeard in The Press 5/9/2017

Maurice Holmes 1909-1998

MAURICE HOLMES (OBE) 1909-1998

It was appropriate that Maurice Holmes OBE made headlines when he died last week. He was pictured on the front page of "The Press" in Christchurch with a short story that said goodbye to one of harness racing's all-time greats. A true champion, a driver of supreme ability, honoured by the Queen, twice voted NZ's Racing Personality of the Year, the first harness horseman to drive 1000 winners...a famous Canterbury boy; the tribute was no less than he deserved.

He went, in fact, closer to 2000, with a total of 1666 - a staggering number considering the opportunities when Maurice started out were half what they are now - and his biggest score of 93 came in his very last season, when he was 65, still in peak form and a competitor to fear. He died aged 89, at his Christchurch suburban home where he lived with his wife Elsa, who predeceased him five days earlier, and Paul, his son and loyal companion.

His record in many aspects is beyond compare. He was champion driver on 19 occasions, winning the premiership for the first time when he was 20. Few classics went past his reach, and some of them he won many times. The New Zealand Derby was one of them. He won this blue ribbon feature 12 times, with Wrackler, Arethusa, Circo, Aldershot, Imperial Jade, Scottish Lady, Free Fight, Congo Song, Royal Minstrel, Tobacco Road, Student Prince and Willie Win.

Student Prince was trained by Reg Stockdale, who spent nine years with Holmes when he trained such wonderful horses as Vedette, Chamfer, Globe Direct, Te Maru, Attack, Tactics, Lauder Hall, Walnut Hall, Scottish Hall and First Victory. "He was terrific to work with," said Stockdale. "We never had a cross word, and I didn't take a day off in nine years, only because I didn't want to. He said he learnt everything from his father. Free told him to drive for third. The idea was you would come with the last run and you would end up winning."

Stockdale was still with Holmes when he moved stables, from Russley Road to Yaldhurst, and the great horses continued until the end of the 50s...Lookaway, Dancing Years, Finestra, Robert Dillon, Recruit, Ruth Again, Super Royal, Black Douglas, Loyal Cis and Papatawa. Recalling how meticulous Maurice was, he said: "One day after we had worked the horses, Maurice raked the yard and drive and had it spot on. Then a man came in, driving an old truck, on to Maurice's neat and manicured yard. He said he was selling apples. Well, he went out quicker than he came in, and never sold an apple."

Stockdale who used Holmes to drive his good horses such as Bramble Hall, Jilaire, Blue Prince and Stewart Hanover, said he always drove to save ground and won many races at Addington "sitting on the fence." He could sum up a horse quickly. You would be training one for six months, and he'd drive it once round the track and tell you more than what you would know yourself. "He was a real Professional...never smoked and didn't drink, and no visitors were allowed the night before raceday...that was always an early night."

Stackdale said he knew when to hit a horse and when not to, and was good at pushing out during a race. "I remember being in a race at Ashburton when Maurice looked across at the guy outside him and asked how he was going. The fellow said 'by the time I looked round to tell him I was three wide.'"

Maurice was a modest man, with a dry sense of humour and a quick wit. Stockdale relates this story: "A fellow engaged Maurice to drive a horse he had driven many times himself without running a place. When he brought the horse into the birdcage, he proceeded to tell Maurice how he thought the horse should be driven, and as he walked away, said 'You know Morrie, she has never been hit.' To which Maurice replied, 'Well, she hasn't got long to wait.'" On another occasion, when an owner thanked him for a winning drive, Maurice replied: "We fed our rooster on thanks and it died."

In later years, Maurice raced many horses in partnership with Bernie Wilks. When old age started to finish better, Paul was able to drive his father to work his horses, and take him to trials and race meetings. "I know this was of great comfort to him," said Stockdale.

The other eulogy at his funeral, attended by many harness racing notables including Peter Wolfenden, Roy Purdon and Jim Smith, was given by Derek Jones who with Soangetaha was one of the last overtaken when Maurice brought Vedette wheeling out of the pack, dangerously late, to win the 1951 Inter-Dominion Grand Final. Jones, who said he wouldn't have been surprised to read in the paper one day that Maurice had died and the funeral had been held, thanked the family for giving the racing fraternity the chance to pay their respects. 'You had to be out on the track to appreciate his uncanny ability. He was fearless, he had hands like a BBC pianist and an electric brain. He had a super sense of pace, anticipation beyond description and his stance in the sulky was balanced perfection. "If you gave him the reins he would ask you what the horse does wrong, and say he would find out the rest on the way."

Jones said Maurice was never one for ceremony, and when asked to say a few words after winning a big race would invariably reply: "I think I've done my part. Thanks." "The day he drove his 1000th winner was an exception. He gave a wonderful speech. He could rise to the occasion when it was demanded," said Jones. He also acknowledged his remarkable gift of being able to get horses away safely from a standing start. "This is illustrated by the number of Derbys he won. They were in the old days, over a mile and a half, where the start at Addington was on the bend going out of the front straight. He always managed to get round that corner better than most," he said.

Canterbury trainer Bob Negus was one of many who turned to Maurice when the big money was up. He used him to win the 1955 New Zealand Oaks with Glint. "He gave tremendous advice," said Negus. "I was hard up in those days and I told him I had the chance to sell her. Maurice asked how much. He said to take the money would be the wrong thing to do, best for you to hold on to her. I mean, he could have bought her himself. That advice was worth thousands to me, but then he did that many times," he said. Negus said Maurice approached every drive with the same level of commitment, whether it was a Cup horse or a maiden. "It was so important to him, to get the best out of it. He always made suggestions to improve the performance of a horse in a very kind way. You had to listen very carefully to what he was telling you, and what he said would always be right."

According to Freeman Holmes, Maurice told him many times Vedette was the best horse he handled. "And I would say that his drive to win the Grand Final with Vedette was the best I have seen. He was three or four back on the fence. Soangetaha had gone clear, but Maurice got through that last bit and won. He would say you can't go through gaps if they are not there, but this was a really superb drive. He won seven races with Noodlum in his last season when there looked to be a chance that he could drive 100 winners, and he rated Noodlum the best young horse he drove. The thing with Maurice is that he could be in midfield, or further back, and he would know where everyone was. You never really knew when he would attack," he said.

Morrie was very much 'the maestro' from the time he started. His first win was at Addington in August 1925, riding Bonny Logan to win the one-mile Lightning Handicap, for saddle horses, by three lengths. He was 16, and he was 17 when he won the 1926 Auckland Cup with Talaro. At 20, he was New Zealand's champion driver.

One of eight children - four boys and four girls - Maurice was born into a family of racing blood as pure as it gets. He father Free won the 1888 New Zealand Cup on Manton, turned to harness racing and won the 1919 New Zealand Cup with the American import Trix Pointer, and in 1936, at the age of 65, won the Inter-Dominion Grand Final in Perth with Evicus.

In his first season of driving, the 1925-26 season, Maurice drove five winners, and 30 the first season he topped the premiership. The first of his three New Zealand Cup winners was Wrackler and the same day Maurice won the New Zealand Derby with his stablemate and younger sister, Arethusa. Wrackler was the first foal fron Trix Pointer, and two seasons later won the Dominion Handicap off 60 yards when trained as a trotter by Jack Behrns.

In the 40s, Maurice turned to training, and in the 1949-50 season, topped the premiership. He won the NZ Cup again in 1950 with Chamfer, a horse who had to be covered for one, short, sharp sprint. No-one could do this as well as Maurice. In the same year, Vedette joined the stable. Formerly trained by Jack Litten, Vedette was especially prepared for the Addington Inter-Dominions, and earned favouritism with a handsome win in his third heat, over two miles. From all accounts, the Final was a cracker, and Maurice had to be the great architect he was during the race to find space with a horse in hand. His third NZ Cup came in 1957 with Lookaway, a 4-year-old bred and raced by his brother-in-law, Clarry Rhodes.

Besides the Cup and the Derby, Maurice won the Auckland Cup (Talaro and Robin Dundee), the Great Northern Derby (Wrackler, Chamfer, Tutta Tryax), Rowe Cup (Recruit -twice, Ordeal), New Zealand Oaks (Glint, Petro Star, Earl Marie), Dominion Handicap (Recruit, Wrackler, Fair Isle), NZ Free-For-All (Harold Logan, Vedette, Lookaway, Robin Dundee), NZ Trotting Stakes (Acclamation, Alight, Court Out, Winterlight, Spark Gap), NZ Golden Slipper Stakes (Adroit, Rossini, Fidelio), Miracle Mile (Wag), and Sapling Stakes (Arethusa, Slavonic, Tobacco Road).

His last day at the office was at Alexandra Park on July 20, 1974. From eight drives, he won four of them, including his final one with the trotter Transmitter Sound. The Club marked the occasion by taking Maurice on a lap of the track in an open tourer, and drivers gave him a whips-held-high guard of honour.

In retirement, at an age when many had flagged it away, Maurice still maintained an active interest in harness racing, training his last winner when he was 80, and he had Apollo at the races when he was 86.

He was associated with wonderful horses that many of us did not see. He may well have had his last headline in the paper, but in old photographs, on the list of past winners, in the gallery of fame, Maurice Holmes will be a name that will last forever.

We thank you Morrie. As a horseman, you were someone special.

-o0o-

NZ Trotguide 25Jul74

A man who has been at the top of his profession over a span of 44 years has had his last drive. He is Maurice Holmes whose accomplishments as a horseman have made him a household name in NZ.

Holmes is by far the most successful reinsman in the history of trotting in this country dating back to the 1860s. He has driven 1666 winners and amassed $2,054,555 in stake money over the last 49 years. His skill has earned him the title 'Maestro' - a word usually reserved for an eminent conductor, composer or teacher of music. Maurice Holmes is considered to be in a class of his own.

Holmes has topped the national drivers' premiership 17 times and he is currently leading the list with a record number of wins before he retires from race driving under the Rules of Trotting. He has driven 93 winners since August, 1973 bettering his record total of last season. Holmes set the previous single season records of 67(1954/5) and 52(1949/50). His 52 wins in the 1949/50 season eclipsed the record set 16 years previously by the late Fred Smith who drove 51 winners in the 1933/34 season. Holmes also drove 67 winners in the 1959/60 season.

Holmes has driven the winners of practically every major race in NZ and trained winners of two Inter-Dominion Grand Finals, the premier light harness event in Australia & NZ. He trained and drove Pot Luck to win the Inter-Dominion Final at Addington in 1938 and was also successful at the Christchurch course with Vedette in the 1951 final. Oldtimers still rave about Holmes extracting Vedette from a seemingly hopeless position a furlong (200 metres) short of the winning post. It was described by one trotting fan: "Vedette, by some freak of fortune, virtually threaded his way through the eye of a needle and them sprouted wings."

Holmes has driven the winner of NZ's top handicap harness race, the NZ Cup on three occasions. The first was with Wrackler in 1930 at the age of 21. He also trained his two other winners, Chamfer(1950) and Lookaway(1957). Holmes has established a record without parallel in a single race in NZ by driving 12 winners of the NZ Derby - Wrackler(1928), Arethusa(1930), Ciro(1931), Aldershot(1938), Imperial Jade(1939), Scottish Lady(1942), Free Fight(1946), Congo Song(1947), Royal Minstrel(1954), Tobacco Road(1957), Student Prince(1960) and Willie Win(1972). He also trained Aldershot, Imperial Jade, Scottish Lady, Free Fight and Tobacco Road.

Holmes has also been in the top bracket as a trainer, heading the national premiership in the 1949/50 season with 30 wins. Other important wins for him as a trainer included the NZ Free-For-All with Vedette and Lookaway, NZ Sapling Stakes with Arethusa and Tobacco Road and NZ Golden Slipper Stakes with Adroit, Rossini and Fidelio. He bred and raced the last two in partnership. Holmes has also had success in Australia as a trainer-driver with Tobacco Road as a 3-year-old.

The announcement that Holmes will drive a horse immediately invites special attention from trotting fans and in many cases sends them rushing to bet on that particular horse. Holmes's ability as a reinsman was summed up by the noted trotting writer Karl Scott (now retired) in the November, 1960 edition of the NZ Trotting Calendar: "Maurice Holmes is an 'out and out' natural" and his knack of anticipating the moves of other drivers and horses in races borders on the uncanny. Horses race kindly for him, even notoriously hard pullers. Holmes is not keen on the use of hand grips on reins and this is sufficient testimony to his ability to handle the hardest puller with confidence. It is noticeable that if horses are inclined to want to make their own rules by tear-away tactics, Maurice is ofter seen allowing them to have their own way for a short while but they generally finish nicely tucked in behind something else and racing the way they should."
He is also a master at educating and gaiting young horses and invariably has a 2-year-old to the fore in the early part of the season.

The name Holmes has been associated with Trotting on a highly successful basis since the early days of the sport in NZ. Maurice is son of Free, affectionately known as the "Grand Old Man" of trotting. Free rode gallopers on the flat, over hurdles and steeples and was a trainer and owner of thoroughbreds. Free rode his first winner at Ashburton at the age of 12 about 1883 as a five-stone lad. His wins as a jockey included the 1888 NZ Cup on Manton; 1894 Grand National Hurdles on Liberator and a Great Northern Steeple on the same horse. His training successes including an Auckland Cup and he had Vascoe, leading stake earner in the 1903/4 season. Free had great success in the sister sport. He trained and drove Evicus, the grand champion at the inaugral Inter-Dominion at Perth in 1936, drove the 1919 NZ Cup winner, Trix Pointer and won the 1935 Auckland Cup with Graham Direct.

Maurice is the second son of Free, who also had four daughters, one of whom is married to Mr C L Rhodes, who has major holdings in the standardbred industry. Maurice's brothers, Freeman (eldest), and Allan also made their marks as horsemen while another, Walter was the right-hand man for his father. Freeman figured as the owner-trainer-driver of the 1953 NZ Cup winner, Adorian and trained Graham Direct for his 1935 Auckland Cup win. He trained and drove two NZ Derby winners - Bonny Bridge(1943) and Daphne de Oro(1927) and four NZ Sapling Stake winners - Richore(1926), Sonoma Child(1928), Captain Morant(1942) and Forward(1951).

Allan Holmes is best remembered for Gold Bar, who put up great exhibitions of speed and ran his rivals off their feet in the 1945 NZ Cup. He also drove Harold Logan in his second NZ Cup win from 60 yards in 1932. Today a third generation of Holmes's is continuing the family tradition for top horsemanship with Freeman L, Graham, Kevin and Colin, nephews of Maurice. Graham has driven the classic winner, Buccaneer(1953 NZ Sapling Stakes) and developed the Cup class pacer Co Pilot. Kevin, who also drove a NZ Derby winner Leroy(1968), is a prominent trainer at Cambridge and Colin has also had success. Freeman L figures as the trainer and part-owner of this year's star 2-year-old Noodlum and the fine 4-year-old trotter Edis Nova.

Maurice Holmes attended Riccarton Primary School. He began driving work at the age of 11 and was full time in the stable at high school age. Maurice was soon licenced as a reinsman but for a short time had his licence revoked on the grounds that he was too young. He had his first engagement in a race at Ashburton on Boxing Day, 1923. The horse Energetic, fell so it could be said that he started his career at ground level. Holmes maintained his association with Energetic's trainer G H Murfitt of Rangiora. Murfitt, the oldest licenced trainer in NZ was on hand when a presentation was made to Holmes by the Ashburton Club last month to mark his retirement. Holmes drove Life Bouy for Mr Murfitt that day but was unplaced.

Holmes had his first placing behind Wonder Why who finished third from 60 yards in the Governor's Handicap at Addington on November 14, 1924. He had his first win on Bonny Logan in a saddle event at Addington on August 17, 1925 at the age of 16. A description of the race in a Christchurch newspaper the following day read: "The winner was well and patiently handled by the young horseman, Maurice Holmes, whose first win it was. With the good judgement and coolness he showed, he will be heard of later." Maurice was considered a top rider whe saddle races were in vogue. His first win in a sulky event was behind Talaro at Auckland on December 23, 1926. Five days later he gained his first 'big' win with Talaro in the Auckland Cup. A free-lance driver in the early days of his career, Holmes first topped the drivers' premiership in the 1930/31 season with 35 wins and repeated the feat the following season.

He took up training in the depression years of the early 30s. It was a case of making a living with driving fees dropping from £3 to £1 and the chance of only five drives a week. Holmes retired from public training in 1959 though he still prepares a few horses for himself. He trained Strauss, a winner at Addington earlier this season and has about 450 wins on his record as a trainer.

Holmes achieved the $1 million mark in stake earnings when he reined Damian to success in the Le Lievre Handicap at the NZ Metropolitan meeting on November 21, 1959. He achieved $2 million when Waipounamu ran second in the Spreydon Handicap at Addington on March 30, 1974. Holmes hoisted his 1000th winning drive behind Rustic Lad, in the Final Handicap, last race of the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club's Cup Day programme on November 8, 1960. His reply at the presentation to the thousands of fans who had been on tenderhooks: "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. It would have suited me much better five races ago." He was referring to the NZ Cup in which he was beaten into third place with Lookaway. Holmes gained win number 1500 at Oamaru on October 23, 1972, when Macamba won the Cecil Hore Memorial Handicap.

Holmes cut down on travelling much further afield than Canterbury in the late 1960s after topping the drivers premiership for five consecutive seasons between 1961/2 and 1965/66 with totals of 54-50-60-45-48. Consequently his tallies dropped away though he still remained high on the national list each season. Last season(1972/73), urged on by his wife, Elsa, and 17-year-old son, Paul, Maurice revisited some of his old haunts in quest of the record. His brilliance as a reinsman did the rest. He drove a winner on 54 of the 62 days or nights he had an engagement and piloted at least one winner on 24 consecutive days or nights between December 23, 1972 and March 24, 1973.

To emphasise his skill he landed five winners - Wag, Robin's Sister, Armbro Jodie, Strauss and Great Time at the NZ Metropolitan meeting on March 7, 1973. Holmes had twice previously driven five winners on one programme at Forbury Park. He was successful with Jenny Dillon, Walnut Jimmy, Te Maru (twice) and Lady Inchape on October 13, 1951 when he also gained seconds with First Victor and Scottish Nurse. The other occasion was on February 5, 1955, when he piloted Recruit, Trueco, Belle Renarde, Sure Phoebe and Secure.

At the presentation to Holmes when he drove his 68th winner for 1972/3 - Grizzly Bear at Addington on April 7, 1973 - thus eclipsing his old record of 67, NZ Trotting Conference President, Dick Rolfe, said: "The Holmes family have shaped the destinies of NZ trotting and 1973 will go down as Maurice Holmes' finest year."

Another feat for Holmes was to train and drive the winners of both divisions of a race. The event was the Waiwera Handicap won by County Clare and Valola at the Banks Peninsula Racing Club's meeting on March 2, 1946. Holmes won the only other light harness event on that programme with County Clare.

Maurice has a remarkably clean record as race driver. He had his first suspension for 18 years when given a one day penalty for causing interference at the Morrinsville meeting an April 2, 1974. The previous time he was outed for a month when found guilty of causing interference as the driver of Super Royal which finished second to Loyal Cis in the Author Dillon Handicap at Addington on November 8, 1956.

Among his big wins in 1972/3 were the $16,500 Stars Travel Miracle Mile with Wag (who set a national record of 1:57 2-5); NZ Derby (Willie Win); Champagne Mile Final (Tonton Macoute); Bridgens Memorial and Stewards Free-For-All (Jason McCord).

It is fitting that Maurice should be associated this season with Noodlum (trained by his nephew, Freeman) as the colt rewrote the record book for a 2-year-old by winning 12 races and $23,162.50. Freeman drove Noodlum to win five of his first eight starts then offered the drive to Maurice to help in his quest to top the drivers' premiership in his last season. Maurice obliged by piloting Noodlum to seven straight wins including the triple crown of 2-year-old racing - the NZ Sapling Stakes, Juvenile Championship and Welcome Stakes.

Maurice has had his share of spills; enough to rule him out when he volunteered for the Second World War. At 65 years of age, Holmes is driving with the acumen of men many years his junior. His nerve has never wavered. Another remarkable feat he has achieved in his final season, is driving a winner at 18 of the 20 tracks where he has attended his last meeting. This he proved at Alexandra Park last Saturday in his final day of driving when he drove four winners, two seconds and a third. It was a remarkable achievement and showed him to be the 'Maestro' to the end.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 15Jul98

Owners Bonnie McGarry (with cup) and Karen Grice with Richard Brosnan

1982 NZ TROTTING CUP

Bonnie's Chance, who so often had to be content with the runner-up spot in the big ones last season, savoured the sweet taste of victory when she romped away with the NZ Cup at Addington last Tuesday.

While she had proved no match for Armalight last year, this time it was Bonnie's Chance who made it a one horse race to the line. Ironically, in the 1981 contest Bonnie's Chance was favoured but Armalight surprised everyone. Last Tuesday, Armalight was all the rage and a shadow had hung over Bonnie's Chance.

There is little doubt about the class of either mare, but this year the Cup belonged to "Katy". It didn't look that way on paper though. Armalight and Hands Down, the only horses handicapped after previous wins in the event, were disputing favouritism the minute the tote opened. However, it was not their day. Armalight didn't produce the fantastic final 800 metre sprint that thrilled the 1981 crowd and Hands Down was knocked silly by Ben, who broke for no reason with only 1100 metres of the race completed. Peter Jones was noticeably disappointed afterwards.

Armalight made a brilliant beginning at the start and was soon in touch with the leaders, while Hands Down, after bobbling for a few strides, tacked on to the end of the bunch before too long. Bonnie's Chance was the early leader, but down the straight the first time Cyllarus wasn't to be denied and took up the running. As expected, Hilarious Guest was also in search of the lead though and she took over 400 metres later. It was about this stage that Hands Down disappeared out the back, losing any chance. Ben was later disqualified from fourth place for causing the incident, but his driver, Graham Reaks, was found not guilty of any offence as he made every endeavour to avoid the incident.

The running was the same for the remainder of the race. Hilarious Guest from Armalight in the open, Cyllarus and Quiet Win trailing, Glen Moria the rails and Bonnie's Chance the outer, and El Regale and Ben completing the bunch. Champion trotter Scotch Tar got in touch with the field during the middle stages but dropped away again when the pressure went on after missing away at the start.

As the field headed down the back straight, everyone half expected Armalight and Bob Negus to wave goodbye again, but it wasn't to be. In fact, before the home turn, it was obvious Bonnie's Chance was going to have the last say, although the way she asserted her superiority caught many by surprise. Up four wide around Quiet Win on the turn, Bonnie's Chance just careered away. Her winning margin was seven lengths.

"We went a bit sooner than I wanted to go, but it was a case of now or never," Brosnan admitted afterwards. Bonnie's Chance had been flushed out by Ben, but it hardly mattered. Armalight was game in defeat, holding on to beat Quiet Win by a length and a half, while Ben was two lengths away, shading Cyllarus and El Regale.

Bonnie's Chance recorded a respectable 4:09 for thw 3200 metre journey, but the event was never the gruelling two-miler it was expected to be.

Richard Brosnan took over the training of Bonnie's Chance almost exactly two years ago when she was on the verge of cup class. For him, she's lined up 31 times for 15 wins and 11 placings. The $60,000 stake and $1100 cup elevated her earnings to almost $250,000 for owners Bonnie McGarry and Karen Grice.

Credit: Frank Marrion writing in the NZ Trotting Calendar

1981 BENSON & HEDGES NZ FREE-FOR-ALL

"I reckon someone must have pinched the motor out of my car and put it into that horse... and I've got a big car." With those few words John Noble probably summed up the feelings of the other drivers who, like him, had finished away down the track in Armalight's world-shattering Free-For-All last Friday.

There was something slightly unreal about the NZ Cup winner's performance in the $25,000 Benson and Hedges event. In winning in 2:23.5 she smashed the mighty Robalan's world record time for the mobile 2000 metres by 3.1 seconds. And yet all the way she just looked as though she was cruising.

Everyone remembers that day back in November 1974 when Robalan crushed a top field in the Free-For-All to set the new standard - and the effort Lord Module had to put up to get within a tick of that time a couple of years ago. But visualise those three running their times in an imaginary simultaneous race...and then think again about Brent Smith's champion mare out in front at the line, 16 lengths to the good of Robalan on his day. That's some feat of imagination. But that's how it would have been.

In actual fact on Friday, she had a 'mere' three lengths on Bonnie's Chance and Superior Chance. But the victory was as complete as her seven length win in the NZ Cup only three days before. "Yes, we were under a bit more pressure out there today. We only won by three lengths," driver Bob Negus commented as he came off the track.

But the pressure, in reality, was on the other thirteen starters right from the time the mobile gate took off. Negus hunted Armalight into the lead after a hundred metres and set about demoralising the others with a 1:54.2 first mile. She bowled along in front of Superior Chance on the rails, northerner John Tudor on his outer and Richard Brosnan and Bonnie's Chance in the perfect possie one out and one back. Trio, El Regale, Cyllarus and Gammalite, three wide, were next, their drivers probably wondering when Negus was going to relent a little and let off the pressure. In fact, he gave the mare a bit of a spell into the backstraight the last time...only a little breather, mind, but it was sufficient to enable them to sprint the last bit home in around 57 seconds with Negus using only the reins to tell her she was in a race.

Bonnie's Chance had to go around John Tudor soon after turning for home but, in spite of a big run, could get no closer than three lengths, with a half head to Superior Chance, who stuck to his hopeless task well. Daylight was next. Gammalite, all the way from Melbourne to meet a horse who must be unbeatable in her current form, battled away resolutely for fourth just ahead of Hands Down, winner of the event last year.

The first four all finished inside Robalan's record by at least a second, providing a spectacle not one of the 20,000 plus crowd at Addington will forget for a long time. The official mile rate for the event was a withering 1:55.6, sufficiently fast to just about win any of the major American races on the big mile tracks, and not much slower than Lord Module's 1:54.9 mile time trial. Staggering!

According to Negus, the track was perfect for the race. "It was lightning fast." And besides, "the race was only once round. I couldn't really make any mistakes, could I?" he joked, savouring the euphoria of the moment.

Richard Brosnan had no excuse for coming only second, in spite of driving a near perfect race. "How could you take anything away from the winner? You couldn't," he said. He never at any stage thought he could have caught Armalight with his mare. "We were flat all the way." Bill Denton was quietly chuffed with the way Superior Chance had gone. "His was a good honest race. He's always good from the gate, but it was a bit of a change to get a good run." Gammalite's driver Bruce Clark could only shake his head at the performance of the winner but confirmed the tough visitor had battled on well. Peter Jones, in the spotlight with Hands Down after their Cup - Free-For-All double last season, was pleased enough with the run of his horse. He'd stayed back until just after the 800 metres and "was still making ground at the end. But you haven't got a show when they go that quick up front," was his slightly understated assessment.

Lord Module was the other horse in the race to have taken out the feature double...two years ago when he himself was unbeatable. But on Friday, yet again, he gave his backers no hope of getting any sort of return by refusing absolutely to move off with the others. The stipendary stewards later advised a worried Cecil Devine his horse would have to trial twice before being allowed to start next in a mobile event. Those trials took place satisfactorily yesterday and he will probably line up in the Allan Matson on Saturday night when he will have Armalight to contend with again. If she does line up, she'll be after win number 15 from just 21 starts.



Credit: Graham Ingram writing in the NZ Trotting Calendar

A jubilant Brent Smith and his wife Carol with Met President Murray Taylor and his wife Rana

1981 NZ TROTTING CUP

A few weeks ago, Brent Smith confessed he had one ambition: to win the New Zealand Cup with Armalight to prove he owned the best horse in the country. No, he wasn't worried that she might be up against the likes of Delightful Lady or Bonnie's Chance or, at that stage, Hands Down. His mare would match any of them. And so, last Tuesday, it proved. Delightful Lady wasn't there but the others were.... and they weren't just beaten. They were thrashed.

Armalight won the $100,000 New Zealand Cup by an ever widening seven lengths after siting in the open outside the pacemaker for all the journey. Apart, that is, from the last 800 metres when Bob Negus sprinted her into the lead and sailed home to greet the judge in a 57 second last section, a phenomenal effort.

"That just proves it," the young Christchurch owner-trainer said as he waited for his mare to come back to scale. "She's a real champion." You couldn't really argue with that. To win the country's most presitious two mile test on only a three-race build-up, and to be a mare in season at the same time, takes a talent a little out of the ordinary.

Nineteen starts now she's had, counting the Cup, and she's won thirteen and been placed in five for stakes of close to $140,000. She was a champion three-year-old...and now at five, it looks as though she'll further cement her claim to the "champion" tag.

Armalight, by Timely Knight out of a Sapling Stakes and Oaks winner in Ar Miss, was off the racing scene from May 1980 until only a few weeks ago. She was badly frightened after training one day, took off and was lucky to escape injuries serious enough to permanently end her career on the track. It's been a long road back. But the patience and perseverence have paid off. She's been in work again since March for Smith - she's the only horse he trains - and she's been to the trials probably half a dozen times this season. Not a racing build-up, one would have thought, to fit a horse to become the first mare since Loyal Nurse away back in 1949. But Smith, an amateur trainer when he is not working in the load-out dock at the City Abattoir, obviously knew what he was doing.

He said after the event he knew she "would go a big race. But you can't be too confident in the New Zealand Cup, especially after seeing what Hands Down did to us from 25 metres behind at Kaikoura," he confessed.

A few minutes later he held the shimmering gold trophy aloft to the cheers of the 19,000 Addington crowd and told them his pride and joy had come into season only the day before. "I could have sent her to the stud tomorrow," he said. That probably depended on whether she'd won or lost. Instead, though, he'd line her up on the later days of the meeting.

With Smith on the victory platform was his wife Carol who a few minutes earlier had, in spite of the tension and joy of her moment of victory, told reporters "she's a great mare. She always tries." That Armalight tries all the time was substantiated by Bob Negus, probably as happy a man as there was on course. Now fifty, Negus has been driving horses for 27 years and never before has he taken part in the Cup. "I've been waiting for a drive in the Cup, but it's been a case of having to wait," he said. And then the wry confession: "I couldn't have driven the horse worse, parked out like that. Being in front wouldn't have been much better but I couldn't get there. Alec Milne wouldn't let me. Still, she's a top mare and she takes her racing and training very seriously...like a good pupil at school. You've got to hand it to Brent. He's made a great job of her. He's done everything he can to make sure everything's right."

It was Negus who drove Armalight to her first win two seasons ago at Westport, and he's driven her in most of her races since. He, too, came in for his share of the public praise from Smith for all his help in making Armalight the champion she is. "I'm just an amateur in all ways," he said. "I've got to thank Bob for all he's done to help me."

It's raceday history now that Armalight won the Cup with a superb 4:08.7 run, a mile rate of just a tick over 2:05. And it's history, too, that Bonnie's Chance and odds-on favourite Hands Down were her closest rivals, a neck apart, at the line. Their drivers, Richard Brosnan and Peter Jones, had no excuses. Bonnie's Chance was in the trail behind Watbro only to be pushed back to last when that horse packed it in at the 400 metres. With the other nine in front of him, and Armalight lengths clear, Brosnan had to take his mare way out to the middle of the track to get a run, but it was all too late. "Another round and we might have caught her," he said. "Still, second is better than third ... and a lot better than sixth. Maybe next year ..." Brosnan said Bonnie's Chance had begun well to settle in the trail. He thought Watbro might have stuck on a little longer but instead he just plodded on while the others improved round him.

Hands Down, on the other hand, was, as usual, content to sit at the back on the outer of the bunch until the 1200 metres. Jones took him forward from there with a big run to be three wide outside Glen Moria with 400 metres to go. They headed the chase after Armalight in the straight but "just wasn't good enough on the day" to make it two Cups in a row. "Kaikoura proved he was fit enough, but today Armalight was too good," Jones said.

Idolmite, three back on the outer most of the way, stuck on for fourth ahead of the Aussie, Gammalite. The winner of 40 of his 71 starts before crossing the Tasmen for the Cup meeting, Gammalite didn't get much of a chance to show his true worth. He and northern hope John Tudor broke at the start, "and I just can't explain that at all," driver Bruce Clarke said later. "He's always reliable from a stand." And then, when he went to improve from the back with 1100 metres to go, the gap wasn't there between El Regale and John Tudor and he momentarily locked wheels with John Noble's drive. Once clear he too was up wide for the rest of the trip and battled away to collect the $3,000 fifth stake. "It was a good run. I'm not complaining," Clarke said. The other five were well beaten. There could have been no excuses.

On the day, it was Armalight all the way. It was her day.

Credit: Graham Ingram writing in NZ Trotting Calendar

Elect To Live the winner of the 2002 NZ Oaks

2002 WAYNE FRANCIS MEMORIAL NZ OAKS

Running a New Zealand fillies' record to win the Wayne Francis Memorial New Zealand Oaks was just another day at the office for Elect To Live.

Once she reached the front, just 600m after the start of the race, few got even close enough to pick up the scent. She was always a clear leader, out by four lengths, sometimes five. At the finish, Goodnight Aveross had narrowed it down to a length and a quarter, and at the end Elect To Live had set a new mark of 3:13 for a 2600m mobile for 3-year-old fillies. The time is one that is achieved by only remarkable athletes, horses like Kate's First who had the record before Elect To Live. Trainer/driver Neil Brady said: "There wasn't much left, but she could have kept on going."

Mark Jones, the driver of Goodnight Aveross, said he wasn't surprised Brady would drive with supreme aggression. "He told me at Motukarara the week before,'you will have to be good to keep up.'"His lead was a wee bit exaggerated by me staying back, but I also knew my filly would stay," said Jones, who led the chasing bunch.

This was Elect To Live's 19th win from 27 starts in New Zealand, and her stake earnings have passed $500,000. To pass it off as a remarkable achievment is a gross understatement. Brady has been a genius and Elect To Live is proof of it.

Here is a sample of some respected opinions...

Bob Negus, who won the Oaks with Glint in 1955: "I wouldn't have thought he'd get away with it, going out and driving like that. He gets them to start. I haven't seen a filly as good as that, especially with the speed she has. She's a fantastic filly, to do all the travelling she's done, and Brady's a magic fellow to manage it. I was proud of what Glint did. She got me out of poverty lane. She set a record on the grass at New Brighton, and was beaten a nose by False Step in the Derby. There have been some very good fillies, especially that Grice breed, horses like Glamour and Riviera who a beautiful looking mare, and I think Elect To Live is from the same family."

John Butcher, trainer of 1991 Oaks winner, Smooth Performer: "She's the best horse I've seen win the Oaks. Hilarious Guest won the Oaks and beat the colts in the Derby, but this horse is incredible and I don't see much else in her class. You've got to hand it to Brady, he's done a wonderful job with her."

Maurice McKendry, who drove Iman to win the Oaks in 1995: "What she's done is unbelievable, and Brady has taken training to a new level. I don't think Iman could have stood it, done what she's done. Was I surprised that Brady would take her out like that? No, not really. That's where he likes to be, and his horses are trained for it. He knows they have to close on him, and it's hard for them when you've got the best stayer. The 2600 metres finds them out. It will be interesting over the shorter distance this week, because one of two have said they were unlucky. We'll see..."

Paul Davies, Canterbury Standardbred agent: "She's number one, without a doubt. The best filly ever, in my mind. Under Cover Lover was very good, so was Tupelo Rose, and Hilarious Guest beat the colts, and Jack Smolenski and the Purdons have had many good ones, but I haven't seen one as good as this. She's left the one-one, and cleared out. We were told Oaxaca Lass was special. She was off her game, but even at her best she wouldn't have beaten this filly. She's travelled to Sydney and Tasmania, and won in both places. At this time of year, other trainers are bringing their horses to their peak, but she's gone up another notch."

Lindsay Turner, trainer of Tigerish who won the Oaks 11 years ago: She's a true racehorse. To win it so easily after a hard campaign - and she's got eight starts or so still to come - shows how tough she is. And she did it all on her own. She deserves to win the Triple Crown and I hope she does. Some of the others appeared to be a bit disappointing, but you take it away from what she has done."

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in NZHR Weekly

Bob Negus, one of a rare group of harness drivers to win both the New Zealand Cup and the New Zealand Free-For-All, with champion mare Armalight in 1981, died from cancer on Saturday. He was 89.

Trainer son Bruce, also associated with a champion pacer, training Courage Under Fire in the late 1990s, said his father had still been driving a tractor until the final two weeks of his life.

‘’His mind was still pretty sharp,’’ Bruce said.

‘’He was good about it. He had all his affairs in order.’’

Bob Negus cleverly out-drove his rivals with Armalight to win the 1981 New Zealand Cup.

After being left parked out, he didn’t force the issue, knowing his main rivals were back in the field.

He utilised Armalight's speed inside the final 800m, leaving their rivals flat-footed. Armalight was in a class of her own, winning by seven lengths and paying $27.

Three days later, Armalight, trained by Brent Smith, made international headlines with a world record win in the New Zealand Free-For-All.

Bob Negus let her run freely in front over the mobile 2000m, winning as she liked by three lengths in an astonishing 2:23.5, at the time an unheard of mile rate of 1:55.4.

He had driven Armalight in her first four wins and was back at the helm when helping Smith with the mare's preparation during her stellar five-year-old season.

Even though he had often booked top drivers himself for his own horses in big races, Bob Negus showed his talents as a horseman driving Armalight.

He also drove her to win the 1982 Kaikoura Cup and run second, off a 10m handicap, to another top mare of the era in Bonnie's Chance in the 1982 New Zealand Cup.

Good friend, former Nevele R Stud founder and Bromac Lodge proprietor Bob McArdle, was saddened by his passing.

‘’He was one of the most talented New Zealand horsemen that has ever been,’’ said McArdle.

‘’The guy did amazing things without having the best bred horses. God knows what he would have done had he had the best ones.’’

A skilled trainer and driver with his own horses, Negus trained first at Springston and then at Broadfield.

His biggest win as an owner-trainer was with Willie Win in the 1972 New Zealand Derby at Addington, in the hands of NZ's champion driver of the time, in ‘’The Maestro’’, the late Maurice Holmes.

After breaking and losing 30m early, his performance to recover and win in a then NZ-record time for a three-year-old was sensational.

He won going away from Kotare Scott, with subsequent top pacer Young Quinn, who had beaten him into second in the NZ Sapling Stakes at two, finishing fifth.

Willie Win later ran second to Speedy Guest that season in the 1973 Great Northern Derby.

By Good Chase, Willie Win also won the 1972 Methven 2YO Stakes in the hands of the trainer and retired winning eight of 33 starts.


Negus also owned and trained Willie Win's younger half-sister Glint to win the 1955 New Zealand Oaks and the 1956 Ashburton Cup, both driven by Holmes. She won 10 of 38 starts.

Glint's first foal, Bruce (named after his son), won seven, while another of her foals in La Romola only won once, but left six winners including eight-race winners for other trainers in Bardolino and Winning Note, and Early Riser (four), the latter leaving a feature Victorian El Dorado winner of the 1980s, First Glimpse, for Invercargill trainer Wayne Adams.

Captain Jura, secured off Balclutha trainer Len Tilson, was another Ashburton Cup winner raced by Negus, and driven by the late Doody Townley in 1975. It was a Negus-trained quinella, with the trainer driving Willie Win to finish second.

Negus also trained the quinella in the 1972 NZ Welcome Stakes for two-year-olds at Addington with another smart youngster in Hardcraft, who beat close relative Willie Win.

Hardcraft, driven by the late Derek Jones in the Welcome Stakes, was also by Good Chase, but from Gleam, a one-win daughter of Willie Win's half-sister Glister (Whipster-Spangle), who won five.

Negus bred, owned and trained Hardcraft, who won five of only 16 starts and at three won the 1973 Queens Birthday Stakes at Ashburton, when driven by Maurice Holmes.

Negus also bred, owned, trained and drove Glint's son Patchy to win the 1962 NZ Golden Slipper Stakes, formerly a feature two-year-old event on the NZ harness calendar.

He had his share of success in country cups, being the owner and trainer of 1963 Waimate Cup winner Flynn, and 1967 Kurow Cup winner Bronze Lad, both in the hands of Maurice Holmes, and 1969 Geraldine Cup winner Kran, which Negus drove himself.

Legacy, who won four, was another useful pacer for him in the early 1970s, while he also won three with his namesake Robert Henry (Out To Win-Gilt), before the latter was exported to North America in 1982.

He also did a good job after securing one-win pacer Piper McCardy, converting him to trotting and winning seven races as an aged trotter before retiring him as an 11-year-old in 2001.

Bob Negus also had a support role in the career of subsequent world champion driver and now successful trainer Mark Jones. He employed him when Jones was on his way to becoming NZ's top junior driver.

‘’In his last week he had a session playing with a jazz player as it was always something he wanted to do, which was nice,’’ McArdle said.

Negus died 80 days after his daughter, Robyn Garrett, who also died from cancer.

He is survived by sons, Bruce and Keith, and daughters, Christine and Gail Dolamore.

Credit : NZ Harness News, September 2017

Bob Negus sadly passed away on Saturday after a battle with cancer. Bob a top horseman was well known for his deeds behind New Cup Winning mare Armalight who won the New Zealand Cup in 1981 and the New Zealand Free For All a few days later in an exceptional time of 2-23.5.



Armalight was trained by Brent Smith and Bob was her driver in seven of her eighteen wins.

Bob was a top trainer in his own right, training more than one hundred winners in a career spanning more than five decades. He trained some top horses during that time with the best of them being Willie Win who won the 1972 New Zealand Derby beating crack pacer Young Quinn in the process.

Willie Win who won eight races for Negus was bred by Bob's daughter Robyn who died from cancer earlier this year aged 62.

Robyn Garrett (then Negus) was 15 when she took over Spangle for $40, with Willie Win in embryo. Robyn had to give special attention to rearing the elderly mare and foal.

Bob also trained several other good performers like Hardcraft, who won five races including the 1972 NZ Welcome stakes beating stablemate Willie Win.

Other good performers for Bob were 8 race winner Piper McCardy, Robert Henry and a host of others.

He is survived by sons, Bruce and Keith, and daughters, Christine and Gail Dolamore.

Credit : Harnesslink Media, September 2017

ERIC RYAN

Eric Ryan thought he would be driving next season. He told Jeff Rohloff on his last trip to Hutt Park that he had another year to go and he'd be back with a team of horses.

The way Eric knew it, he had been born in 1927, and didn't retire until the end of thw 1991-92 season. When the official word through that Eric was in fact a year older than he thought - that he was 65, not 64 - he bought a birth certificate to see just how old he was. "It flattened me when it hit me," he said in his raspy way. He was dead keen to do a few more laps on the track at Hutt Park, for one last trip down memory lane, because it was the scene of his first driving success. Francis John was between the shafts for his first win on November 5, 1969, his birthday, and he followed that up three races later winning with John Peel.

Eric could talk for hours on the grim and entertaining incidents that have made him such a huge personality in harness racing. The stories he tells are as big as himself, and note that Eric is 18 stone and 6'4". Like his size, the stories are tall, but real. He has been in the wars with officialdom, notably the long, costly and bitter battle with the Harness Racing Conference on a corrupt practice charge following the selection of a maiden field at an Akaroa meeting, and once he made banner headlines in a sports paper when he was buying up cheap horse and selling them for pet meat. He said at the time: "I reckon I'm doing the industry a good turn. There are so many horses around that can't get starts."

Nothing annoys him more in harness racing than inconsistent penalties from the stipendiary stewards, and he doesn't mind saying so: Eric has always been a straight talker. One episode he puts ahead of the rest was at Greymouth where he was racing Big Idea, not an easy horse to handle, off the unruly mark and 10 behind. "He flew off the mark and I got him into the one-one. It was the best run I have ever had in a race. The thing I'm following was hanging something bad, so I gave it plenty of room when I come out and we run a beautiful second. "And we lost it...got put out...because they reckoned the horse in the open galloped and I'd interfered with it. Through that, I lost the horse; he won his next start and was sold to America. That really hurt me."

He was also disappointed in the months of hard work he put into the c2 pacer Pelorus Jack, and failed to get a start. Ellen, Eric's wife, then played a tape, showing the son of Byebye Bill in handsome form beating Charming George in a trial at Addington three years ago. "He won five trials," recalled Eric, "but didn't get a start for seven months, the whole time I had him." He was sold, and went to Australia. The next tape Ellen played showed Pelorus Jack in Sydney, where he took a record of "1:58.7. "I don't know what else I had to do with him here," he said.

Eric has always been a 'battler's' man. He has bred, trained and won with horses with no good commercial connections. He started as a shearer and later bought the butcher shop at Little River, where he was born. When the shop closed for the day, he would start working the horses, usually about 6pm. They would gallop four miles up the hill at the back of the shop and walk home. "We had no young ones. They were old horses and cast-offs."

Eric soon had a remarkable reputation of buying horses for the price of a ride in the float, and for standing at stud horses who otherwise would have been lucky to find a home. Few of his horses ever had much in the way of social standing. "I bought Eone Navarre at the 'Swamp' (hotel) one night for a shilling, and he won two for us at Greymouth."

Eric has a library of tales about horses he bought cheaply, horses he bred from obscure or unfashionable pedigrees to win races, and horses with little bent manners he straightened out. One of the first he bred and gaited, and perhaps his best horse, was Atlee. Driven mainly by Steve Edge, Atlee won seven races in seven months, including two in one day at Nelson and the Cheviot Cup when Jack Smolenski handled him. Eric said he was a great front runner. He was bred by Spring Jinks, who Eric stood at stud, from Synthetic, by Protector he bought from Bob Negus for £5. Spring Jinks sired only three foals - Atlee, Two Bob and Polly Jinks - and they all won. Synthetic served Eric well, leaving six winners. While Atlee was the best he raced, Eric always maintained he had a better one that didn't race. This was Yonder Chief, which he owned with Jim Dalgety and sold the day he qualified. He went to the US and took a record of 1:52.

He rarely brought a favourite home. Polly Creed once paid $111.80 and Limbala - "she loved to sit in the death" - returned $55.60 when second in a division race at Motukarara.

His best season was in 1980-81 when he drove 13 winners and trained 18. Expeditions away from home were part of the Ryan campaigns. "We'd go away for weeks at a time. On one trip up north we were away eight weeks and won 11 races," he said. "I really appreciated going to Auckland for the first time, and winning two races on the opening night with Avon Spark and Viva Remero. They won 11 races between them and Viva Remero beat Jenner in the Rosso Antico." Among his other winners have been Advanced Fibre, Always Smile, the tough mares Waitara and Sidi Rezegh, Haughty Choice, Big Idea (Taranaki Cup), Royal Delivery (Marlborough Cup), Commanche, Ungava, Leanne's Pride, Wish Me Luck, Up To You, and the most recent, Jerlin's Choice in the last Reefton Cup.

"I love driving, I train them, I know them. I took me 10 years to get a licence. I had a gutsful by the time I got it, but it came eventually, and I have had some good horses. A man of my size is not so good to a horse if a track is wet, but it's all right if a track is reasonable. I know Jerlin's Choice pulls me no trouble at all and he is only a little horse."

Off the track, Eric did what he could for harness racing. He was a foundation member of the Motukarara Trotting Association, served on the committee of the Standardbred Breeders Association, the NZ Owners, Trainers and Breeders Association, the Akaroa Trotting Club, and the Banks Peninsula Trotting Club. He has a paddock full of young horses, by rather unpopular sires such as Kiwi Kid, Worthy Del and Byebye Bill, to be tried, but it is a job he is just not up to at present. An operation last April to replace a hip joint has left him on a crutch and Ellen is doing most of the stable work. For Eric the driving days are over, even if he would like to think it's a year too soon.


Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 17Jul91

Armalight (Bob Negus) parading after winning the 1981 NZ Cup

ARMALIGHT

Take a young filly, gifted from one brother to another, and a young man whose ambition is to own a bit of land where one day he can keep that filly and her foals, and the end result is Armalight and her owner, Brent Smith.

Armalight's rapid rise from 'just another maiden at Westport on Boxing Day' to he position as the best 3-year-old in the country is unusual in that her owner-trainer admits to "just learning about training as I go along." But the learning started a long time ago for 27-year-old Brent, back in the days when he helped his father, the late Howie Smith, with the training of Armalight's dam, Ar Miss.

Ar Miss, a daughter of Armbro Del and the Grattan Loyal mare Trixie Milne, proved an outstanding filly under Howie Smith's care, winning the NZ Sapling Stakes at only her second start when still a maiden, then going on to take the NZ Oaks later that same year. The Sapling-Oaks double was nothing new to Howie Smith at that time, for, nearly a quarter of a century before, he had trained Mr Andy Todd's outstanding filly Perpetua to win both classics.

Ar Miss was raced by Brent's older brother Vic, who was given her by his uncle, the late Ossie Smith. "Ossie gave her to Vic, and I guess he was sort of grateful at getting his start that way, so when Ar Miss started breeding, he promised me the first filly," Brent said when explaining how he came by Amalight. "The first foal by Nevele Romeo died, so we had this free return to Nevele R Stud. At that time Dad had a lot of time for Timely Knight. He really liked him, so Ar Miss was sent back there. I was just lucky that the resultant foal was a filly, her." he said.

That early experience gained with his father influenced young Brent to try his hand at training Armalight himself, a big gamble for a young man with a very valuable filly. "I sent her to Ron Carter to break in, thinking I had better do everything right, rather than risk mucking her up myself. Then after a couple of runs at the trials as a 2-year-old, there was the temptation to go for the Sapling Stakes. Eventually I decided no. Take it easy and do it right."

The experience he gained with his father has proved invaluable to Brent, even though he is the first to admit he still has a great deal to learn. "I always enjoyed the practical side of it with Dad, and I can only go by what I learned working with him. The rest I have just had to find out from others. Bob Negus (the man who drove Armalight in her early racing) and Jack Carmichael have been a great help. I suppose they must get sick of me asking all these questions, but all I can do is learn from them until they have had enough," Brent said.

Bob Negus came into the Armalight story at the same time she opened her racing career. "I had her entered for the Champion Stakes at Ashburton on Boxing Day and a maiden race at Westport the same day. I gave a bit of thought and decided the Champion Stakes might be a bit tough, so I had to find a driver for her at Westport. I knew Bob a little, I was best man for one of his sons, and he was going to Westport with Scholar. He agreed to drive her," Brent said.

That Armalight won her first event is now history, but her record since belies her modest start. Two seconds , both at Nelson - beaten narrowly by the talented Regal Guy and Treasurer respectively - at only her second and third outings, caught the eye of the trotting public and Armalight and her young owner were on their way. Immediately after her Nelson second came the offer for Armalight that Brent now has no regrets he could not accept. "At the time, it would have meant $50,000 in my hand," he recalled. That bit of land was in the back of Brent's mind as Armalight underwent the veterinary examination to confirm the sale. But her off-front hoof, which had been slightly deformed since birth, failed to stand up to the searching veterinary examination for such a big deal, and the sale fell through. You couldn't blame the vet for turning her down on it," said Brent. "The wall of the hoof grows forward instead of down and at that stage she had raced only three times and it was impossible to tell if it would worry her later. Now I'm not sorry she did not pass the examination. I have no regrets at all."

That's not surprising in view of Armalight's record since, six wins, including three heats of the DB Flying Fillies Series and the NZ Metropolitan Championship, and a nose defeat by Armbro Wings in the Great Northern Derby. Though she was beaten only a nose in the Great Northern Derby, Brent surprisingly describes the race as a non-event as far as he was concerned. "I was sitting in the trainers' stand, with Alec Milne actually, and at the 600 metres I knew she had no show from where she was. I thought she had finished fifth, then Alec (who had produced Armbro Wings to win) was shaking my hand saying 'I've done it, I've won'. I started to walk down to the birdcage and somebody came up and said I was fourth. Ten yards further on somebody said I was third, then in the birdcage somebody came up and said I was second, beaten a nose. I thought 'this is good, another ten yards and I'll have won it', but it wasn't really such a nervous time as I would have thought."

Nerves are something Brent has found out about in the past few months, and he admitted not sleeping very well sometimes. The pressure which goes with training such an outstanding filly is something he didn't really think about until he walked Armalight into the birdcage at Timaru for a DB Fillies' heat. "It wasn't until I heard an announcement over the course speaker that she was paying $1.60 to win and 60 cents for a place that it really hit me. I thought 'hello' and it was only then that I realised that there were more people than just myself involved." Until that time, Brent only had the worry of wondering whether he was doing everything possible for the filly, and doing it the right way. He still has that worry, plus the added burden of knowing that Armalight, and to a lesser extent himself, are public property.

Initially, Brent worried mainly about his own abilities. "All I could do, and really still can, is get her as fit as I can, then it's up to her and her driver." But the pressure builds up as each big race approaches, and it can't be an easy thing for a young man with his first horse to handle. The interview was conducted nine days prior to Armalight contesting last Friday's NZ Oaks, and since her win in the NZ Metropolitan 3-year-old Championship at Easter, Armalight had caused her young trainer more than average concern. "I didn't really think she could win that one. I honestly thought she wasn't in the race. I thought I hadn't made one of the payments, but when I got back from Auckland, there she was in the field. I had given her four days off after Auckland so I thought she would be a bit short of work for it." Short of work or not, Armalight proved her complete class by beating a strong field of colts and geldings in record time of 3:23.1 for the 2600 metres, and she did it without being pressured.

Then the trouble started. After she cooled out following that win, Brent discovered Armalight was lame in her near foreleg. "She was as lame as anything when I went to put her on the float and take her home. The next morning, thankfully, it proved to be a stone bruise coming out, nothing as serious as I first thought. I was going to give her four days off anyway, so it did not affect her preparation too much." But before the stone bruise came out, Brent's real worry was that the injury to her near foreleg was caused by her exerting too much pressure on it because of her problem off foreleg.

So far, thankfully, the off front hoof has not caused her any worries, other than making he walk with a peculiar 'roll'. Once travelling at speed, she shows no sign of it. Brent gives all the credit for overcoming her hoof problem to farrier Ron Gibbons. "He spent a lot of time with her and we tried a lot of ways of shoeing her before we got it right. She has a pad under the shoe to build her hoof up to the correct height on that side, and it's thanks to Ron she's had no problems." Ron Gibbons' patience with Armalight has, or will have it's reward though, in the form of a new pair of boots. "I promised Ron that if she won the Metropolitan Stakes I would buy him a new pair of boots. He is always complaining about his footwear, so I made the promise and now I'll have to go out and buy them."

Tom Ryder, who boards Armalight at his Wigram Road property, also comes in for a lot of thanks from Brent. "It's good of Tom to let me keep her there, and he has done a lot to help too," he said. Latest in the list of Brent's 'advisers' is Templeton horseman Jack Carmichael, who drove Armalight for the first time in the Metropolitan Stakes. Brent has been taking Armalight to Carmichael's for fast work in recent weeks. It was because of his association with Ar Miss that Carmichael was offered the drive on Armalight in the Oaks, Bob Negus having to turn down the drive because of having his own filly, Elfin, engaged. "Jack drove Ar miss to win the Oaks for Dad, so he seemed a suitable choice to drive her when Bob advised me to get somebody else," Brent said. Brent gives Bob the credit for Armalight's rapid improvement from the time she started racing. "Bob was really good, teaching her about racing at every start and not knocking her about. She was just another maiden at Westport, but thanks to him she has kept on improving at every start since."

To Brent and his wife Carol, Armalight is more than just a champion filly, of for that matter a ticket to a new house. Brent's affection for the filly has been there since he took possession of her "as a fluffy little thing only that high". Carol's liking for the filly is something that has grown. "Carol was scared of her even when she was only a little thing. Now, she's as proud of her as I am. She treats her like a pet. Carol's had a fair bit to put up with, living in a flat the five years we've been married. We could have been in our own home a while back, but that really took second place to Armalight." Now, thanks to Armalight, Brent and Carol are that much closer to having their home, plus the land Brent wants to keep Armalight and her foals on when he starts breeding from her. And how far away is that day? "I'll race her as a 4-year-old, provided she comes up well, then she'll go to stud. She is too valuable to risk over-racing her," Brent said.

Brent is not worried at the prospect of Armalight ending the season with an open company assessment if she happened to win her three remining engagements this season. "No, I'm not worried about that if it happens. I can't really see her winning all three races, but even if she did, she would only be aimed at 4-year-old events like the Messenger next season." At the time of this interview, Armalight's own personal 'triple crown' was the NZ Oaks, the Great Northern Oaks, and the final of the DB Flying Fillies' Stakes. "I would like her to win the Oaks. Her dam did, but the DB Flying Fillies' would also be a nice one to win. She's won three of the heats and to win the final would really be good."

Armalight proved unbeatable in each of the three DB heats she contested, winning the first at Addington comfortably in 2:03.4, the second at Timaru in 2:02, then becoming the first filly to pace the mile in under 2:00 when she won her Auckland heat by eight lengths in a brilliant 1:59.1 without being pushed. But even these brilliant efforts don't rate with Brent as her best. He names the Celebrity Stakes at Addington between her first two DB heats as her best effort. That night, Armalight outclassed a strong field of colts and geldings over a mile in 2:00.5.

Because of her ability on the racetrack, even Brent has to forgive her little foilbles at home. Her favourite trick, until they fashioned a special frame to stop her was to turn on the tap over the water trough. "Tom Ryder kept blaming me for leaving the tap on, until we found out it was her," Brent said. "Even after we put the frame round the tap, it only took her a month to figure out how to get round that, so we had to put a bar across the top. That stopped her, but now I can hardly get my hand in to turn the tap on." Armalight also has a habit of rubbing her mane against the fence rails, and not even sacks round the rails stops her. "This makes her mane ragged and annoys Carol, who likes to have her looking her best," Brent said.

But believe it or not, It's one of Armalight's little tricks that helps Brent know when she's fit. "If I tickle her under the tummy and she tries to kick the daylights out of me, then she's fit. If she doesn't kick, then it's time to start worrying."


Credit: Tony Williams writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 29Apr80

INTRODUCTION OF CLAIMING RACES

The Waikato club championed the cause of claiming races, which made their NZ debut at the Claudelands track on November 12 after the usual hoo-haa which greets anything new in trotting. Toronui who ran second last behind Regal Classic, was bought by Kevin Holmes for $7500 and has since won races in North America. Manurewa was claimed for $6000 at the Waikato club's next claimer in December and went on to win at Alexandra Park in May. The December claimer was won by Soanai Chief, a massive gelding, who won the Waikato's third claimer in March. There was also a claimer at the Northland meeting in February but again no horses changed hands.

Addington's sole claimer was a fizzer, with no horses being sold, but there was plenty of publicity after the race, won by ofter controversial gelding Scholar on November 18, a mobile 2000m event worth $2500, penalty free (except for maidens) with no restrictions, attracted 14 starters with punters investing only $44,105 in win and place bets.

The favourite Flaxton, valued at $10,000 by his connections, ran ninth. Scholar (Bob Negus), valued at $10,000 but out of the money in four lead-up events, won effortlessly, paying $6.05, earning the wrath of the crowd which gave the gelding one of the worst receptions accorded any winner at Addington. Negus was most upset by the demonstration. He maintained Scholar, a c3 pacer looked a good thing on paper before the race as most of his opposition were maidens or c1 pacers. Whatever the reasons, Scholar's claimer was the last at head-quarters.

Credit: DB Trotting Annual 1981