| FEATURE RACE COMMENT |
YEAR: 1937
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| Viscount Galway presents the Cup to Bill Lowe |
With Indianapolis back on 72 yards in a 16-horse field and given no chance the next year, particularly when his preparation was badly affected by a stone bruise, the Cup was a relatively tame affair as Lucky Jack won easily from fellow frontmarkers Gamble and Tempest.
Owned by his breeder Bill Lowe and driven by trainer Roy Berry, Lucky Jack was however a fine stayer in his own right and repeated two years later in a close and exciting finish over the stablemates Cantata and Blair Athol. He was unlucky not to match Indianapolis' feat, finishing a fine second in 1938 from 48 yards.
Roy Berry had ridden Sinapis to win the New Zealand Galloping Cup at Riccarton in 1913, equalling Free Holmes feat in that respect, and would win another Trotting Cup with Bronze Eagle in 1944, while the Lowe family had further success with Cairnbrae and Humphrey in the 60s.
Lucky Jack's second triumph was overshadowed though by the death of Eugene McDermott after leading with Colonel Grattan just two furlongs from home in the Cup. The popular horseman had shot clear in the backstraight, but fell from the sulky soon after and died on his way to hospital from the heart attack.
Credit: New Zealand HRWeekly 8Oct03
YEAR: 1938
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| Alf Lawrence owner of Morello & Maurice McTigue |
Australia's two best pacers, Logan Derby and Lawn Derby, were on hand in 1938, but the latter was hardly a chance in a controversial 20-horse field from 60 yards.
The event proved a triumph on debut for Methven's Maurice McTigue, who shot along the rails with the moderately performed Morello, which he trained and drove for Mr A J Lawrence, to beat Lucky Jack and Logan Derby.
But it was the majestic Lawn Derby who stole the show at the meeting when on the last day, he time trialled in 1:59 2/5 to become the first 2:00 horse outside America.
Credit: New Zealand HRWeekly 8Oct03
YEAR: 1939
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| Lucky Jack & Roy Berry |
The ever-ready excuse book was well in evidence after the New Zealand Cup last week and it would seem that at least four horses should have ended up in Lucky Jack's position as the 1939 winner. Nevertheless, that horse achieved the distinction of winning his second Cup, and he had to overcome difficulties and prove himself a real horse to take that honour on the day.
Lucky Jack gave a really fine performance, running up handy to the leaders with half a mile to go and fighting on gamely in the run home. This was easily his best effort to date, and one which stamped him as being close to the champion that owner Bill Lowe claims he is.
To "Truth" Lucky Jack has always appeared to fall just short of championship class. Not that he is lacking in speed or stamina - he has those in abundance - but because his off days have been sufficiently numerous to suggest that he has to be caught in the humour to display his talents in full.
This trait was illustrated when he came out to contest the Free-For-All on Friday, his only other start at the meeting. On this occasion he failed to go off, and he only beat two horses home. He does not give the consistently solid and generous displays of "Truth's" idea of a true champion, but when he does set himself out to do his work in his best style, he impresses as having few superiors.
There is, by the way, an interesting sidelight to Lucky Jack's victory. Shortly after he won his first Cup there was a great outcry against the handicapping system because he was placed on a tight mark. It was claimed that as a racing proposition he was ruined, although only a five-year-old and his stake winnings stood close to the £2000 mark. Since then he has gone on to increase that total to almost £3000 and there is every reason to suppose that he will add considerably to that amount. The figures are an effective reply to those who attacked the handicapping system from that angle.
There is no more popular sportsman than owner Lowe, and his horse's victory was well received. He did everything asked of him and could not have won if he had not fought on gamely for the honour. Cantata and Blair Athol filled the second and third placings respectively, and both were unlucky. The former did not get the best of the running in the final quarter, and Blair Athol was giving most of his field a start with half a mile to go. There were only necks between the first three horses at the post and luck in the running made all the difference.
How Colonel Grattan would have fared but for losing his driver a little over four furlongs from home is a matter of conjecture. Whether or not he would have won can provide material for an unsatisfactory argument, but the manner in which he ran on after his accident suggested that he would at least have been in the money.
Plutus was a fair fourth, after being in the fight throughout, but Parisienne, Gallant Knight and Fine Art, the next to finish, were well out of sight of the judge. There was then a big gap to Lawn Derby, which broke soon after the start, Marsceres, Rocks Ahead and King's Play.
In "Truth's" opinion the really unlucky horse was Fine Art. He was never off the bit at any stage of the running, and he was handy turning for home, but the tiring Gallant King so far forgot his manners as to carry McTigue's gelding back through the field in the final quarter. Boxed in on the fence behind Gallant Knight, Fine Art was simply carried out the back door, and at no stage of the run home did he get an opportunity to show his worth, being a helpless victim of the backwash.
On Thursday he gave a taste of his ability by winning the Ollivier Handicap without any trouble, and it is the "Truth's" opinion that he would have treated the New Zealand Cup field in a similar manner with circumstances more in his favour.
-o0o-
TRAGEDY MARS CUP
One of the sport's keenest supporters, and one of thne most prominent and popular men connected with light-harness racing, Eugene McDermott died, with tragic suddenness, during the running of the New Zealand Cup, in which he drove Colonel Grattan.
With a little over half a mile to go, and while leading the field, Mac was seen to collapse and fall from the sulky, and he expired before the ambulance could get him back to the birdcage.
Eugene made his entry into the sport over 25 years ago, quickly coming to the fore as an amateur rider and driver, and he later took out a professional licence as a trainer and driver.
During his connection with the game he handled many good horses, and made a name for himself as a clever reinsman and a sportsman of the highest calibre. His good qualities earned for him the respect and admiration of all, and the sport is considerably poorer for his passing.
He will be missed, but remembered for many years to come.
Credit: NZ TRUTH 13 Nov 1939
YEAR: 1960
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| W T Lowe, Lucky Jack & R B Berry |
One of the most successful breeders and owners of pacing and trotting horses in NZ, Mr William Thomas Lowe, of Hinds, died at Christchurch last week. He was 83 years of age.
With a lifetime association with the sport, Mr Lowe was a good judge and had a natural interest and love of horses. He had raced more than 70 horses for stakes amounting to more than £80,000 and bred about 200 horses. His most notable success was with Lucky Jack, an entire who started three times in the NZ Cup for two wins and a second.
When he was 17, Mr Lowe went to work for Mr Max Friedlander, of Ashburton, who bred thoroughbreds and trotters on his stud farm at Lyndhurst anf raced them with success. From this interest in the sport, Mr Lowe bought his first pacer, Yankee Lass, from Mr Carl Nordqvist, of Methven, for £40, winning two races before retiring her to the stud.
Although she never won a race, Jessie B, purchased for £50, was the foundation mare of a good stud at Hinds for Mr Lowe. She produced Sherwood, who finished first in the NZ Cup of 1921 but was placed second for interference. The 1912 foal of Jessie B, Tairene, a chestnut mare by Wildwood Jun, besides Lucky Jack, one of the finest stayers to race in the Dominion, left a string of winners, including Trenand, Dundas Boy, Dundee and Belle Lorrimer. Her daughters have bred on with outstanding success and there must now be over 100 winners credited to the family. The progeny of some of the mares from Tairene have been responsible for producing such winners as Globe Direct, Trusty Scott, Molly Direct, Gloxania, Flame, Melton, Merval and a host of others.
Mr Lowe also raced, trained and drove Trampfast, one of the greatest trotters to race in the Dominion. Trampfast was one of the very few Logan Pointer trotters to race and he was minus one eye which was lost in an accident earlier in his career. Trampfast was successful against the pacers on more than one occasion and after a lengthy spell from racing during the depression years, Trampfast made a successful return to racing under Mr Lowe and later won several races when trained by the late R B Berry, including the Dominion Handicap in 1934. Mr Lowe had a long and successful association with Berry.
Mr Lowe was born at Mount Hutt and was educated at the Tinwald school. He started work at farms at Chatmos, Isleworth and Lyndhurst. He took up farming on his own account at Bankside and eventually settled on 1000 acres at Hinds in 1912. Over the years Mr Lowe increased his holding and eventually settled his whole surviving family of 12 on farms in the Ashburton county. The homestead block still comprises 640 acres.
Mr Lowe saw service in the South African War and was a former president of the Third NZ Rough Riders, South African War Veterans, and chairman of the Ashburton South African Veteran's Association. He took an active interest in the affairs of the Hinds district and was chairman of the Hinds Domain Board for some years, a member of the Hinds Farewell Committee, sports club and Ashburton Agricultural & Pastoral Association and he helped form the Hinds Bowling Club. He was a past master of Erewhon Masonic Lodge.
Mr Lowe's hospitality and generosity were proverbial.
For more than 40 years Mr Lowe was a member of the Ashburton Trotting Club and when he retired from the committee in 1958 he was elected a life member. He was also a life member of the Marlborough and Nelson Trotting Clubs and a member of the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club.
He was married in 1903 to Miss Annie Drummond and is survived by his widow, seven sons, five daughters, 40 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar 13Apr60
YEAR: 1946
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The death of R B Berry removes NZ's most successful trainer of pacers and trotters of modern times. His list of classic and leading handicap winners is unrivalled in Dominion light-harness history. He 'made' most of his own champions, juvenile trotter or pacer, sprinter or stayer. The eminence he attained in his profession was in large measure due to his all-round knowledge of the horse from the foal stage, to his great patience, his almost uncanny sense of balance and perfection in the gaiting and educating of young horses, his instinctive love of all animals, his innate 'horsesense.'
The Thomas Murphy of Dominion trotting will be missed. The sands of time may reveal him as the same legendary figure in trotting as the late R J Mason has become in racing.
Berry was originally associated with the gallopers, and, like many other valuable recruits from the sister sport, he was forced out of the saddle by increasing weight. As a youth, he was apprenticed to Free Holmes, and later rode for M Hobbs and T Quinlivan. His most important riding success was on Sinapis in the NZ Cup of 1913. He also won the Thompson Handicap on Lagoda, McLean Stakes on Marsa, Manawatu Sires' Produce Stakes on Charmilla, and was on Stardancer when she dead-heated in the Stewards' Handicap of 1912.
It was on his return from the Great War that Berry turned his attention to trotting, and the first horse he trained and drove was Coldwater; but it was the 'Bingen mares' that played an important part in putting Berry on the road to success, just as truly as Berry proved that the 'Bingen mares,' properly handled, were equal as racehorses to those of any other breed. It must be explained here that, due to their fiery and uncertain temperament, mares by Nelson Bingen had let themselves in for wide prejudice, and many of the breed were not even raced because of this 'set' against them.
The first of the Nelson Bingen mares Berry sent to the top was Escapade, and she not only became the champion trotting mare of her time, but she also beat pacers bordering on Cup class. Sea Pearl and Jean McElwyn were two pacing daughters of Nelson Bingen who took high honours and were big money-winners for Berry's stable. Sea Pearl was the leading stake-winner one season and Jean McElwyn, who stood little over 14 hands, was the 'pocket battleship' of her time and a genuine public favourite. Machine Gun, an Australian pacer, was a big stake-winner for the stable and reached Cup class. So did Dundas Boy, a fine pacer who was placed in a NZ Cup. Bingen Starr, Koro Peter and White Satin were high-class trotters sheltered by the Berry stable upwards of 15 years ago. Koro Peter and White Satin were both juvenile champions.
Two of the greatest stayers and 'characters' Berry trained were the trotter Trampfast and the pacer Rollo. Trampfast was described by Berry as "intelligent, game and reliable." He was well into double figures when Berry took him in hand after this grand trotter had been absent from the racetracks for a period of 18 months, but he developed better form than ever, and won the Dominion Handicap and other races. He also competed successfully against high-class pacers. Rollo was the antithesis of Trampfast in temperament. He was completely devoid of brains. Berry himself declared the big Jingle pacer had a vacuum between his ears. But he became a high-class winner and was a natural stayer. A problem on the mark, he had no idea of how to fill his hopples once he mis-stepped at the start, but he never stopped trying when he did go away at all well.
Berry's first acquaintance with mares of the Rey de Oro breed was not an inspiring experience. It was his turn to become prejudiced. For years he would not have a mare of this speedy family on the place. One day Mr D R Revell plucked up sufficient courage to ask him to take a yearling filly by Rey de Oro from Yenot. Berry agreed to do so, but only under pressure. Thus arrived Parisienne, the greatest mare of her time, winner of the Sapling Stakes, NZ Derby, Great Northern Derby, and numerous other races, including the Grand Championship at the Inter-Dominion series held at Addington in 1938.
Berry achieved his life's ambition as a trainer and driver when he won the NZ Trotting Cup with Lucky Jack and so completed the NZ Cups double Sinapis(1913), Lucky Jack(1937). Lucky Jack still ranks as one of the finest stayers of all time, as he went on to finish second in the Cup of 1938 and won again in 1939. Lucky Jack was also an outstanding performer at Inter-Dominion Championships, and his other important successes included the National Handicap and Timaru Cup.
Great Jewel, who joined Berry's stable late in life, was the leading stake-winner of the Dominion one season when he was trained at Yaldhurst, and if he had been sound he would probably have been a champion. Pacing Power was a great horse for Berry from the time he won the Timaru Nursery Stakes. He went on to win the Sapling Stakes, Derby, Ashburton Cup, NZ Premier Sprint Championship, and finished third in two NZ Cups. Sprigfield Globe, who came from Australia to join the stables some three seasons back, became one of the most brilliant pacers of recent years, his successes including the Mason Handicap and the NZ Premier Sprint Champuionship
One of Berry's greatest triumphs, and his last, was to train Bronze Eagle to win the £5000 NZ Trotting Cup of 1944; a triumph because general opinion was that this grand pacer had passed his prime before going into Berry's stable. Bronze Eagle also won the National Handicap and All Aged Stakes for Berry.
As a trainer of Classic and leading handicap races. Berry had an unrivalled record. His successes included: NZ Trotting Cup(Lucky Jack, twice, & Bronze Eagle); NZ Derby(Parisienne & Pacing Power); NZ Sapling Stakes(Parisienne, Pacing Power & Acropolis); NZ Champion Stakes(Attorney & Horsepower); NZ Futurity Stakes(Horsepower & Pacing Power); Great Northern Stakes(Horsepower & Bohemian); Great Northern Derby(Valdor, Parisienne, Horsepower & Acropolis); Canterbury Handicap(Rollo & Southern Chief); Canterbury Park Juvenile Stakes(Sandiways); Canterbury Three-Year-Old Stakes(Globe Direct); Dunedin Cup(Great Jewel); National Cup(Lucky Jack & Bronze Eagle), Dominion Handicap(Trampfast & Pilot Peter); Timaru Nursery Stakes(Walter Moore & Pacing Power); NZ Sires' Produce Stakes(White Satin); NZ Trotting Stakes, Timaru(Paying Guest); NZ Trotting Stakes, Addington(Fantom); NZ Premier Sprint Championship(Springfield Globe & Pacing Power); All Aged Stakes, Ashburton(Horsepower & Bronze Eagle).
Credit: 'Ribbonwood' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 3Jan46
YEAR: 1938
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Continuing and frustrating postponements through rain which dogged the carnival, a furore over a change of gear on the horse destined to become New Zealand's greatest sire and a clear-cut Championship win on poins for a famous mare despite going under in the Grand Final were memorable features of the first Interdominion Series in New Zealand - at Addington in 1938.
In common with Perth and Brisbane, trotting in Christchurch had in very early times been held on a cricket ground - at Lancaster Park from 1886 - by cricket enthusiasts to raise funds for their foremost love. About five years earlier Robert Wilkin had laid the foundation for the sport by importing from America the Kentucky-bred stallions Berlin and Blackwood Abdallah, the yearling colt Vancleve and six broodmares. The venue soon changed to Addington, where the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club held the first meeting in November, 1899, with stakes totalling £2140 and investments £10,695. The first New Zealand Cup was run at Addington in 1904 (won by straightout trotter Monte Carlo) and by 1938 the Metropolitan Club was ready to stage New Zealand's first-ever four-day meeting for the Interdomions with total stakes of £9700 and a Grand Final purse of £2350.
Rain, badly affecting the six-furlong clay track, proved a nightmare for officials, forcing "the Met" to make four postponments during the carnival. Originally set down to start on Easter Saturday, April 16, the first set of heats were run on Wednesday, April, 20. The second round was to have followed the day after, but was postponed twice until the Saturday, while the third day was held on Tuesday, April 26. Then the Final had to be put of from the following Saturday until Wednesday, May 4. Scheduled to be run over eight days, from April 16 to 23, the meeting wound up extending over a fortnight.
But, despite these upsets, all the ingredients were there for some splendid racing, with a good selection of worthy visitors from Australia to measure strides with a vintage assortment of New Zealand's best. And the racing as it unfolded proved of the highest order. The 1936 and 1937 Grand Champions Evicus and Dan's Son were both on hand from Australia, not to mention Icevus (a well-performed brother of Evicus), J P Stratton's Kolect, Melbourne-trained Joy's John (third in the Adelaide Grand Final a year earlier) and the gallant West Australian mare Lady Childewood.
Such was the strength of the New Zealand force, however, that of these only Evicus (who after finishing last in the Adelaide Grand Final had been trained in New Zealand for some time) made the Final, in which she was never in contention. Points were allotted in the heats on the basis of 6 for first, 2 1/2 for second, 1 for third and 2 1/2 for fastest time of the first four home. The allotment in the Final was 7, 2 1/2, 1 and 3.
First blood in the 10-furlong round went to the bonny four-year-old mare Parisienne, who in the deft hands of trainer Roy Berry started from 12yds and came from the back in slow going to beat Evicus (12yds) by two lengths with favourite King's Play (12) next, then Roi l'Or, hero of a hundred battles, fourth from 36yds.
The second heat was affected by accidents, and 1937 NZ Cup winner Lucky Jack (who was to win the Cup again in 1939 after finishing second in 1938) was among those put out of contention. The winner was Ces Donald's candidate Plutus by two lengths over Joy's John (George Gath).
Supertax, a fine pacer of the era for George Mouritz, came off 36yds to beat Blair Athol (Fr) and Ladt Childewood (12yds) in the remaining heat. Here John McKenzie's American import U Scott, a ruling favourite, made a hopelessmess of the start before catching the field, running upo to third on the turn then wilting out.
Supertax and Parisienne moved well ahead on the points table with 17 apiece following clear wins at a mile and a half on a holding but drying track on the second day. Pot Luck, no danger on the opening day, was runner-up to Supertax in the hands of Maurice Holmes, while smart Auckland visitor Nervie's Last (F J Smith) with 12yds start from Parisienne, failed by half a length to hold her out, with Evicus a good third. Lucky Jack won the other heat for Roy Berry by a neck from Blair Athol.
The going was similar for the two-mile heats the third day, and again Parisienne and Lucky Jack prevailed, but, to the ire of many in the crowd, the third heat, the final event of the day, provided an all-the-way win for the Free Holmes-driven U Scott over Pot Luck and Supertax.
After U Scott had badly muffed his starts on the first two days, owner John McKenzie (later Sir John) has sought permission on the third day to race the horse in a closed bridle instead of an open one. Mr McKenzie ordered U Scott back to the stalls and threatened to scratch the horse when refused this request by chief stipendiary steward Fred Beer and the judicial committee. Under the rules of the day, a horse that started more than once at a meeting was required to wear exactly the same gear unless the express consent of the stewards was given for a change. The stewards reconsidered; U Scott made a late appearance on the track and won. He was greeted with a hostile reception, mainly from people who had altered their choice of bets under the impression that he would be scratched.
A protest by the Pot Luck camp against U Scott was dismissed after dividends were held up until the following day. It cost Mr McKenzie the winning stake of £525. He had stipulated he would pay this amount to the Returned Services Association if the stakes were awarded to him. U Scott got £100 of that back by taking the lap prize awarded to the first horse past the winning post the second time round with six furlongs to go in the Grand Final. But after leading to the straight he was under pressure and dropped out.
He was a good racehorse, however, and his 11 wins and six placings from 30 starts in New Zealand as a pacer after taking a matinee mark of 2.11 trotting at two years in America, earned him, in days of microscopic stakes, £2055. This was nothing to what he was to accomplish as a sire and broodmare sire, however, and today the son of Scotland and Lillian Hilta is famous throughout the trotting world for his accomplishments at stud.
Roy Berry had to choose between his stablemates Parisienne (top points scorer with 23) and Lucky Jack (second equal in the table with Supertax on 17) as his charge in the Final. He opted for Parisienne. Plutus and U Scott (8 1/2) were next on the points table ending the qualifying heats, at which stage Pot Luck - a wayward type and hard to manage, so that the early slow pace in the heats had told on him - had only 5 points.
A great crowd turned out despite the overcast weather, and on a good track the whole Grand Final field of twelve went off correctly. U Scott, on reaching the front fairly early, set a muddling pace before sprinting up for the lap prize. At this stage Parisienne, squeezed back early, began moving up from second-last. She had the crowd on its toes as she chased U Scott and Nervie's Last (Jimmy Bryce Jnr) into the straight. However, just when it appeared this grand mare was on her way to a clean sweep of the series, Pot Luck - shuffled around in the race but cleverly and patiently handled by Morrie Holmes - pulled out and with a brilliant final spurt outsprinted Parisienne to the line by two lengths. Stan Edwards with Blair Athol was third, only a head from Parisienne, with Jack Pringle and Supertax next, just ahead of Lucky Jack. The last-named, in the hands of Lester Frost had been badly checked near the three furlongs when travelling like a winner. Parisienne was a clear-cut Championship winner with 28 1/2 points over Supertax (18), Lucky Jack (17) and Pot Luck (12).
Bred in Auckland by George McMillan and raced by Mrs D R Revell, Parisienne was by the imported American horse Rey de Oro. Her sire had topped the New Zealand sire's list in the two previous seasons and was also to subsequently twice top the broodmares sires' list. Her dam, Yenot, by the imported Harold Dillon from a mare by the famous Rothschild, was a fair performer who won saddle races in Westport and Greymouth. Yenot was to found a fine family, with the line through Parisienne (dam of the brilliant La Mignon, in turn the dam of Garcon Roux and Roydon Roux) the strongest branch.
Educated by one of New Zealand's best-ever jockeys, Hector Gray, before being handed to Berry, the handsome chestnut Parisienne, 15.1 hands, won the Sapling Stakes at two and at three the New Zealand and Great Northern Derbies. Following her Championship win she in 1939 became world's champion pacing mare with a race record of 4:15.6 for two miles. When she embarked on her equally successful stud career her racing record stood at 16 wins, 10 seconds, four thirds and two fourths and £6766 in stakes. She was widely acclaimed the greatest of her sex to have raced in New Zealand as a four-year-old, and one of the top mares of all time.
Pot Luck, a sturdy five-year-old son of the imported Walter Direct horse Jack Potts (nine times New Zealand's leading sire and six times leading broodmare sire) and the Harold Dillon (imp) mare Hope Dillon, was trained and driven by the then 29-year-old Maurice Holmes for another capable horseman Bert Stafford, then publican at the Carlton Hotel in Christchurch. Stafford, long a trotting dabbler, had bought Pot Luck for £400 from New Brighton breeder J D Smith after the gelding had finished second in the Riccarton Stakes as a three-year-old. While still three Pot Luck carried on to win six races for Mr Stafford, including the inaugural All-Aged Stakes at Ashburton. He was later to win a Wellington Cup and had 18 wins and 33 placings worth £8092 on the scoreboard when retired as a nine-year-old. Ironically, Pot Luck was ninth on the score table with 12 points after winning the Grand Final.
The heats carried stakes of £750 (£525 to the winner) and the Final was worth £2250, of which Pot Luck collected £1500. Parisienne received £450 and also £250 for the highest aggregate of time points, which with her heat wins boosted her earnings to about £1800 -roughly the same as Pot Luck's full share of the spoils.
Australians Joy's John (Victoria) and Lady Childewood (Western Australia) had gained a few qualifying points, but did not stay around for the last day of the meeting, when Joy's John would have been able to contest the Final.
The great Indianapolis, off the winning list since he won his third successive New Zealand Cup in 1936, took a consolation race from 60yds, with the crowd cheering the old favourite home, in the hands of Doug Watts. Lou Thomas won the other consolation with Glenrossie.
Credit: Ron Bisman & Taylor Strong in Interdominions the Saga of Champions