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On paper, last week's Southern Trust Dominion Trotting Handicap hinted at being a battle of two stables. 'Team Williamson' had three runners in the Group 1 event - Jasmyn's Gift, Allegro Agitato and One Over Kenny - and Kevin Fairbairn lined up the grossly under-rated Whatsundermykilt and his ever consistent half-brother Glenbogle; between them the five trotters had won almost every major lead-up race prior to last Friday night's $150,000 thriller. And that form stacked up...in the end, Whatsundermykilt pounced from the trail and packed too much punch for One Over Kenny and the pacemaking Jasmyn's Gift after a drive by Shane Walkinshaw that Fairbairn described as "inch perfect".

"After we got such a good draw, the plan was to begin and hopefully lead then hand up to somethihg good," Walkinshaw said afterwards. Whatsundermykilt really is an amazing horse, and you've got to hand it to Kevin because both of them have got such great manners. I couldn't believe they were writing us off after his Show Day run (seventh); he just didn't handle the wet, and I was rapt in the way he ran home that day."

Ever since he first began his career, Whatsundermykilt looked as if he would go all the way to the top. Fairbairn has nursed the son of Sundon and nurtured that potential, and last week it was realised with a victory which was the biggest by far for everyone concerned - horse, owners, trainer and driver.

"Last year was going to be his year, but he nearly cut his leg off when he got it caught in a grill here one day at the trials," an emotional Fairbairn said. "I always knew he was something special this horse, because in the early days he used to give them a furlong start and still run in the money. Having Shane on him has made a huge difference, too. But no, this is very special... you know, you foal the old mare, then you have the horse on the property every day bar the ones when he's been out for a spell or in Aussie. That takes a lot of beating."

Talking of Australia, that's where Whatsundermykilt and Glenbogle are headed next and we'll fly out on December 3. Venturing across the Tasman with his two trotters is not new for Fairbairn because he has done it for a few years now, and he is adamant about the reasons why. "What, should we leave them at home and waste them?" he said. "There is a lot for them over there between now and February - the Bill Collins Mile, Grand Prix, Dullard Cup and Australian Trotters Championship, not to mention the Inter-Dominions in between. I chose not to start 'Scotty' (Whatsundermykilt) in the race that 'Glen' (Glebogle) won on Cup Day because he's not as heavy as the other horse. Besides, I actually thought that the stake - for the main trotting event on Cup Day - was pitiful; they couldn't both win it."

Whatsundermykilt and Glenbogle, sons of three-win Kiltie Boy mare Happy Highlander, have now won 11 races each and over $515,000 between them. The mare's due to foal to Sundon any day soon, her connections hoping for a filly, and she will be going back to the same stallion. Oddly enough, Happy Highlander's first foal was the Greg Patron pacer Jimmy Patron, who Fairbairn trained to run three placings from 19 starts. Six seasons passed before Happy Highlander foaled again - that being last Friday's Dominion winner, who's noe eight. Glenbogle's a 7-year-old by Armbro invasion, and following since have been Highland Rascal (6yo gelding by Simon Roydon, six unplaced starts to date), Glenloch (4yo gelding by Armbro Invasion, unraced to date), Lexie Highlander (3yo filly by Armbro Invasion) and Tossthecaber (2yo gelding by Armbro Invasion). "Glenloch's away with the fairies at this stage, but can trot nice; LexieHighlander has been turned out and is not bad, and Kerry O'Reilly liked Tossthecaber when he broke him in for us," Fairbairn said.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 29Nov06

Age has not dulled the racing spark of two old campaigners.

If anything, Whatsundermykilt and Some Direction have raced into action this season already near top form again, and in fact they're winning earlier than the did last season. Some Direction first won last season on October 13 - in the Canterbury Park Trotting Cup - but this season she's won a month earlier. And for Whatsundermykilt it's come a week earlier; last season it was in the Flying Mile at the expense of Allegro Agitato.

The pair, with more than 220 starts between them, are 9 and 10 respectively, which means they've done a lot of hard yards. And they've won a lot of money - something like $600,000 between them. No wonder they had to give starts to all but Pompallier in the Giannis Pita Bread Canterbury Park Trotting Cup at Addington last Friday night.

Between them, they made a great finish of it: Whatsundermykilt hauling in Some Direction after giving the mare at least six lengths start at the 600m, and covering much ground to get to her. Some Direction had been sent to the front at the 1600m by Justin Smith. It was an enterprising move and would have paid off had Whatsundermykilt not carried such a sustained run for as long as he did. The break she pinched 150m out looked the winning of the race, but Shane Wilkinshaw had other ideas as he set Whatsundermykilt after her.

"He had to be brilliant," he said. "The mare made it hard for us, and I thought we had too much to do. It hadn't been easy getting round. Lord Burghley, in front of us, was hanging, and we went from four-wide at the 600m to five-wide turning in. It was a big run," he said.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 17Oct07

Glenbogle leads with a round to go.

Glenbogle, off the winner's list in NZ since February last year and so far this season playing second-fiddle to his half-brother and stablemate Whatsundermykilt, had his moment in the spotlight at Addington on Tuesday when he led all the way to win the feature $25,000 J Ballantyne & Co Handicap Trot.

The Armbro Invasion 7-year-old furthered a great trot for trainer Kevin Fairbairn in such events lately, with Whatsundermykilt having won the $30,000 Ashburton Flying Mile in 1:57.6 before downing Glenbogle in the $35,000 trot at Kaikoura, and he will now take a two-pronged attack into tomorrow's Group 1 $75,000 NZ Trotting FFA.

Whatsundermykilt was a scratching on Tuesday, but there was nothing amiss with the 8-year-old Sundon gelding. "He is a more lightly framed horse and didn't need two runs in three days, but Glenbogle is a fat bugger just like me, and did need the race - it won't do him any harm anyway," said Fairbairn.

Glenbogle and Whatsundermykilt, the second and third foals from Happy Highlander, a winning trotting mare by Kiltie Boy whose next two dams were by Record Time and Colossal, have returned in rare form this season and Fairbairn says it is simply due to an injury-free and uninterrupted preparation. "Whatsundermykilt put his foot through a grate at the trials here at the start of last season and was lucky not to take his leg off, and that set us back for the rest of the year. Glenbogle had a few niggles along the way as well, but has been perfect so far this time."

Glenbogle began last season well when second at Ashburton to Allegro Agitato and third in the corresponding race last year, but placings continued to be his lot, outside of a win in the Bruce Skeggs Cup at Cranbourne in March. He was runner-up on six occasions during last season's lengthy Australian campaign, which included the Bill Collins Mile, Dullard Cup, Cochran Cup and John Slack Memorial Cup at Ballarat. The latter was won by Whatsundermykilt and the Kaikoura race was the fifth time the half-brothers have quinallaed a feature trot, with the score at present 3-3 to Whatsundermykilt, which all began when Glenbogle upset his stablemate at odds of 30-to-1 in an intermediate trot on Cup Day three years ago. "If they can keep going like this, Happy Highlander must be in the running for a broodmare award, which wouldn't be a bad effort for a mare with such an obscure pedigree."

Young Shane Walkinshaw also won with Whatsundermykilt at Ashburton and Kaikoura, and while he considered winning with Glenbogle and also Woodlea Life on Cup Day as a career highlight, he will be back on the former tomorrow. "There really isn't much between them, but whereas Glenbogle has been a real tradesman, Whatsundermykilt has the razzamatazz. We are only starting to see the best of him now - he has real quick speed when peeling off someone's back."

Walkinshaw, who turned 21 last week, has a cool head for such young shoulders and is a rare talent. Not really from a 'trotting' background, he nevertheless 'caught the bug' at a very early age just from being around the odd horse. He father Paul was a hobby trainer during the 90s, where his best horse was Battle Cruiser (3 wins). Ricky May drove a bit for Dad and he became my idol - I wanted to be a driver and just like him," said Walkinshaw.

"Winning a race on Cup Day was always a dream. I left school when I was sixteen, but the last year I was only there because I had to be," he added. Walkinshaw spent a year with Tommy Behrns and did further work experience in other stables before joining Bruce Negus three years ago.

Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 16Nov06

If there has been any criticism of Sundon's progeny at all, it has been their lack of success at Group 1 level as aged trotters, a fact that could perhaps be attributed to their preference for sprinting as opposed to staying.

It was ironic therefore that when the dust had settled on Cup Day, Belle Galleon had won the two-mile intermediate trot and another Sundon mare in Some Direction had out-stayed the open class trotters in the Christchurch Casino Handicap.

Sent off as the rank outsider at odds of 75-to-one, despite a strong win in lesser company at Ashburton two starts prior, Some Direction overcame sitting parked for the last 2000 metres and proved too strong for the pacemaking Whatsundermykilt and Sundon's Luck, who had sat on her back. With Sumthingaboutmaori and Castleton's Mission having traffic problems back in the field, and the last mile going by in 2:00.6 (58.9, 29.1), the race sat up perfectly for Some Direction.

It was a "career high-light" for reinsman Justin Smith, who co-owns and co-trains the 7-year-old with his mother Lynn near Rakaia. Some Direction has been a great money spinner for them. this was her 77th start since she began racing as a 3-year-old a little under four years ago, and her 13th win along with 21 seconds and thirds took her stakes to the verge of $100,000. "We are not doing anything different - she needs the right sort of run and she hasn't had a lot of luck in her racing," said Justin. "She was racing well at this time last year up until the Cup Meeting, and then went off, probably because of the breeding season. So we only gave her a brief break at the end of last season with a view to having her back racing early this season," he added

The Smith's will now go into next week's Dominion with a little more confidence than they would have otherwise. It is a race which is starting to look like the winner is going to be a stayer off the front anyway. "I think she can go 4:08, so we'll just have to see if anyone can go quicker."

Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 11Nov04