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PEOPLE

 

YEAR: 1965

D A WITHERS

D A (Drum) Withers, who died in Christchurch recently, was one of the leading trainers and drivers of the Dominion in the 1920s. Throughout his long and distinguished career in the light-harness code, Drum had been a credit indeed, to the game.

From boyhood Drum's main idea was eventually to train light-harness horses, and as soon as he left school he went to work for the late B Edwards at Avonhead Road. One of his first charges was Monte Carlo, whom he looked after when that horse won the NZ Cup in 1904. It is interesting to recall that Monte Carlo beat the famous foundation mare in Norice that day and ran the two-mile journey in 4:44 3/5. The owner of Monte Carlo gave young Withers 10 shillings and he considered he was well treated. Times were hard then. Drum was also in charge of another horse called George L II who, about the same time, won two races.

After a period with Edwards, Withers took employment with the late R McMillan and then the late T Davidson. He won his first race while working for Davidson on a horse called T E C at the Canterbury Park meeting, which was held where Wigram aerodrome is now. The late Andy Pringle finished second to Drum and after the race he gave Drum a dressing down for what he considered undue use of the whip on T E C. Drum stated that in those days there were no riding or driving fees, only promises.

Withers then left the horses and drove a bakers cart for a Mr Vass. Mr E Woodham was the baker and owned a horse called Blackchild Boy in the days when three-mile races were quite common. Those races were optional, the horses could either be ridden or driven. Withers rode Blackchild Boy in one of those three-mile races at New Brighton, but he failed to gain a place. Later in th day he went out to do his preliminary for a mile and a half race and was going so well that he asked Mr Woodham, who was standing by the rails, to put £2 on for him. Time was running short, however, and Mr Woodham did not reach the totalisator in time. Blackchild Boy duly won and paid a dividend in the vicinity of £56. The next horse Withers trained was Disappear, whom he started only three times. Disappear won the mile saddle at Addington the day that Adelaide Direct won the NZ Cup, and ran third on the second day.

After a period of ill health Withers gradually drifted back into the light-harness game and some of his first clients were the late J Nixon, who owned Temple Peter, the late W B Clarkson (War Bond), the late J B Pearson (Coil), Mr E Thompson (Florence La Badie), the late Mr F Neale (Bill Brown) and Mr G Rutherford (Prince Athol). Drum said they were all fine men to train for.

In his earlier days Drum was a regular visitor to the West Coast meetings, where he had a great run in saddle races, a horse called Voter being a good winner under weight for him. He said that what seemed years later he was at the first Forbury Park Trotting Club's meeting and D Bennett advised him to ride Voter in a saddle race. Drum thought that the horse must have been old enough to vote, but when he had a look at him he still looked like a young horse, so he decided to ride him. Voter won, and his next engagement was in the Reefton Cup. His connections were not very keen in starting him in the Cup, as he was not thought very much of in harness. Voter surprised everyone by winning the Cup and his owner was so pleased that he took the horse home to his stable and gave him a good drink and a feed and returned to scratch Voter from a saddle race later in the day. The fields were not very large, and the stewards persuaded Mr Lochore, the owner of Voter, not to scratch his horse. Voter was brought back to the course, and despite being full of feed and water, he ran a great race to finish second. Drum said tha Voter was a great favourite of the Reefton people.

Withers had a lot of time for a horse called Little Pointer, owned by a Mr Grant of Nelson, who bought him from Mr B Grice. He won the Nelson Cup with Little Pointer and then sent him and Prince Athol up to Hawera. For the Hawera Cup Little Pointer was considered a certainty. Unfortunately, a car ran into him on the way to the races, breaking one of his legs. Prince Athol made some recompense for the ill-luck by winning his race. Withers later bought a full-brother to Little Pointer off Mr Grice for Mr Grant named Little Logan, a straight-out trotter. Little Logan was entered in the trotters' races at Palmerston North and, talking things over with Mr Grant before the first trot, Drum decided that the most difficult horse to beat would be Herbilwyn, trained by the late Skipper Price. While waiting to be called in to the barrier, Drum and Skipper decided to save a pound's worth of the dividend between them. The race duly started and Herbilwyn went away smartly and was soon bowling along extra well. At the straight entrance Drum noticed Skipper take a look around and thought to himself, "Skipper thinks no one is going to chase him." Drum shook Little Logan up and was two lengths past Herbilwyn before his rider was aware of any danger. Little Logan had the race in safe keeping before Skipper could get busy on his horse. Skipper was called before the stewards and given a holiday for 12 months for 'going to sleep.'

Another incident is worth relating, but for obvious reasons, no names will be mentioned. Drum was driving a horse in a big race and unbeknown to Drum the trainer had tightened up the horse's hopples, as he had his eyes on a bigger stake the next day and was far from keen to win this particular race. His only instructions to Drum were "do the best you can." Drum did and the horse won to the tune of a dividend of £48. The laugh was on the trainer, as Drum had £2 on his drive.

Wither's considered Logan Lou and Regal Voyage two of the best mares he ever had. Logan Lou won the August Handicap on the first day of the National meeting in 1925, finished second in the King George Handicap on the second day and won the National Cup on the third day. Logan Lou also won the National Cup the next year. Logan Lou was considered by Withers to be unlucky not to win a NZ Cup. Prior to the 1924 race Logan Lou was very well, but a short time before the meeting she met with an accident and could not take her place in the field.

Regal Voyage held a very high place in the opinion of Withers. She was the first mare to go better than 4:20 for two miles and was in the top flight amongst the Dominion's pacers. Regal Voyage began racing as a 4-year-old in the 1928-9 season, when she had four starts. She opened her winning account when she won the Teviotdale Handicap at Amberley. She was trained for that success by L Davidson and driven by D Withers. As a 5-year-old the next season Regal Voyage won four races. After her first success that term she was transferred to D Withers's stable. During the remainder of the season she won the Autumn Handicap at Ashburton, the Renown Handicap and the Southland Handicap at Forbury Park. The next season saw Regal Voyage win four races, her most-important success being in the Mid-summer Handicap at Addington.

Regal Voyage opened the 1931-2 season with a win in the August Handicap at Addington and then after several minor placings she won the Dunedin Cup. At the same meeting she won the Au Revoir Handicap, and this was to be her last winning effort on the race track. Following two unsuccessful seasons she was retired to the stud, and amongst her progeny was the grand race mare in Haughty, dual NZ Cup winner and dam of the 2-year-old mile record holder Brahman (2:02 1/5) and other winners

Withers recalled the time he won the Wellington Cup with Silk Thread. The day the acceptances closed Silk Thread was lame, so he was put out in a paddock and it was intended to withdraw him later. In those days acceptances did not close till eight o'clock at night, and when Withers returned later in the afternoon, E Schofield, who was looking after the horse said that he had been galloping about all afternoon, so it was decided to take him to Hutt Park. He duly won the Gold Cup, beating Logan Park, driven by the late W J Tomkinson.

Another good winner for Withers was a pacer called Little Nelson, owned by Mr B Grice. He was entered for the Cheviot Cup, a race Mr Grice was very keen to win as a handsome trophy went with the stake. Grice thought before the race that they could not be lucky enough to win, but Drum said that Little Nelson would have to fall over to get beaten. That is just what happened. He was knocked down.

Drum had no hesitation in saying that Great Bingen was the best horse he ever trained. He was a "perfect gentleman" and always did his best in a race. He was the first horse to go two miles in 4:20 in the Dominion and won some of the most important races in the country, but there appeared to be a hoodoo on him as far as the Cup races were concerned. Great Bingen won over all distances, very often from seemingly impossible marks. In the opinion of Withers, his greatest sffort was when he won the York Handicap at Addington from 108 yards behind. Great Bingen finished second to Ahuriri in the 1925 NZ Cup and in 1927 he had to be content with fourth place behing Kahara, Cardinal Logan and Man O'War. In that contest Great Bingen met with interfrence when Imprint broke in front of him, but he came home with a whirlwind finish for his placing. The following year Great Bingen was narrowly beaten by his full-brother, Peter Bingen.

The Auckland Cup also eluded Great Bingen, in the 1926 race he was considered very unlucky by his trainer-driver. Great Bingen was in a good position in that race, trailling Acron, who was following the trotter, Peterwah. Peterwah broke and interfered with Acron, who can back on to Great Bingen, stopping him almost dead. Great Bingen recovered sufficiently to finish fourth. He ran fourth again the next year when conceding starts of up to 78 yards.

While on the subject of Great Bingen it is interesting to compare the stakes won by him at the Australian Championships at Perth in the 1925-6 season. He won the first heat, for which he received £100, and got a similar sum for winning the third heat. He also won the first final and the third final, which were worth £300 each. In all he amassed a total of £800 for winning four races. In the 1925-6 season Great Bingen was only twice out of a place in 13 starts.

Withers had a good deal of success with Kingcraft, a big gelding by Quincey from Colene Pointer. Kingcraft belonged to Mr B Grice and was inclined to waywardness, but he won many races when in the care of Withers. Kingcraft commenced racing as a 3-year-old and won at his only two starts that season. His successes were gained in the Juvenile Handicap at Addington and the Palmer Handicap at Wellington. Kincraft was a hardy type and raced with outstanding success for several seasons, counting amongst his wins for Mr Grice the Islington, Canterbury, Flying, President's and Farewell Handicaps at Addington. Kingcraft also won the first heat of the NZ Cup in 1929. Kingcraft failed to win a race in the 1933-4 and 1934-5 seasons, although he was placed several times. He was then presented to Withers by Mr Grice and went on to win three more races in the ownership of Withers. His wins were gained in the Electric Handicap at Oamaru, when driven by S A Edwards, the Advance Handicap at Addington, and the Bollard Memorial Handicap at Wellington. In the latter two races Kingcraft was driven by Withers.

Loganwood was another pacer who won races for Drum, and he was also trained successfully by G S (Swanny) Smith. Drum also had several driving successes behind that grand little pacer Roi L'Or. He finished second behind him in the Dunedin Cup and then won the big race on the second day. Drum said 'lady luck' was with him that day as Roi L'Or was on his toes at the start and was racing in a short sulky. When the barrier went Roi L'Or swung round and kicked quite a few spokes out of one wheel. The broken spokes made a terrible clatter and going down the back the last time the wheel started to buckle and was rubbing against the forks. Roi L'Or just got up to win by a neck and on his return to the birdcage the wheel collapsed altogether.

Withers was private trainer for the late Sir John McKenzie for nearly four years. During that time he trained a large number of winners, and included amongst the horses he had in his care were a select string including Great Bingen, Acron, Silk Thread, Peter Swift, Great Actress, Real The Great, Frisco Beau and Dolores.

Numbered amongst Drum's driving successes were the Reefton Cup with Lord Lytten and Voter, the Greymouth Cup with Anon; the Methven Cup with Colene Pointer; the Bollard Memorial Handicap with Kingcraft and Steel All; the Oamaru Handicap with Coil; the Dunedin Cup with Regal Voyage; the National Cup twice with Logan Lou; the Adams Memorial Cup with Silk Thread and the Wellington Gold Cup with Silk Thread.

His best season was in 1925-6, when he was the Dominion's leading trainer with 22 successes. He was leading driver in the 1925-6 and 1926-7 seasons with 29 and 31 winning drives respectively.

Prior to, and during World War II, Drum raced a galloper in Sandwich Man with a good deal of success. Trained for him by the late F Christmas, Sandwich Man won for Withers the County Hurdle Handicap at Ashburton, the Suburban Handicap at Riccarton, the Tinwald Handicap at Ashburton and the Presdent's Handicap at Oamaru. Amongst Sandwich Man's placed performances was a second to Defaulter in the Wellington Cup. Culverden, another galloper raced by Withers, won for him the Hack and Hunter's Steeplechase at Oamaru, when trained by his son, G H Withers.


Credit: 'Irvington'writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 15Sep65



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