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FEATURE RACE COMMENT

 

YEAR: 2004

Mister D G justified his favouritism in the $25,000 Nobilo, winning from Light And Sound and Scorching.

Coming on top of his Hannon Memorial win, and with more room for improvement still likely, Mister D G is emerging as the horse to beat in the Canterbury Draught New Zealand Cup.

Lady Toddy was a game and close fourth, less than two lengths from the winner, and the Australian Mont Denver Gold finished strongly, about a length further back.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 20Oct04

 

YEAR: 2003

2003 NOBILO 3YO FLYING STAKES

Kevin Judson has done some lifting in his day. He has won the world power-lifting championship in his grade, competed in the 1982 Commonwealth Games at Brisbane and won the ultimate title, Mr New Zealand.

He did some lifting a few months ago, of the spiritual kind, when he promised Gareth Dixon a horse whenever he chose to set up his own training stable. In February, Dixon was in business, and Judson was as good as his word. He sent him Allstar Blue Jean. Not only a star in name, but Allstar Blue Jean was a star in the making. He had been trained by Glen Harwood, until Harwood decided to seek his fortune in Canada. The 3-year-old had been an up-and-comer, but there was much ahead of him. It was now over to Dixon.

In short order, Allstar Blue Jean has raced three times for three wins. The latest was the $50,000 Nobilo 3-year-old Flying Stakes at Addington when he weaved his way from midfield to catch Raptorial, trained by Dixon's old boss, Tony Herlihy. On the way through, he hiked past the favourite Light And Sound and another esteemed employer, Mark Purdon.

Judson didn't see much of this, and had to settle on a television replay to see just how it happened. "I saw him on the corner, but not again until they went past the post and I saw him in front," he said. Judson has been in the car business and the gym business, and now he is a keen player in the amatuer drivers' ranks in the north. Dixon said Harwood deserved the credit for getting Allstar Blue Jean to the biggest level. "I had always thought he was as good as Elsu and the rest of the 3-year-olds, with the exception of Light And Sound. He was a victim of circumstances in the Sales Series, but the great thing with this horse is that he looks after himself. His heart rate is brilliant and he has a tremendous recovery rate, and he is actually getting better," he said.

Dixon has made a flying start to his training career, which only started in February. He has taken four to the races - Russley Fire, Allstar Blue Jean, Patch Adams and Rock'n Rhonda - and all have won. He is breaking in a number of yearlings, including sixv he will keep to train, by Holmes Hanover (two), Badlands Hanover (two), Dream Away and Il Vicolo. One of them is Judson's.

Considering Dixon has been around the world, caring for such greats as Pride Of Petite and Il Vicolo, his steady approach and early success is not at all surprising.




Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 2Apr03

 

YEAR: 2003

Elsu wins the Derby from Light And Sound
2003 GEORGE CALVERT CLEANING NZ DERBY

Welcome back, Falcon Seelster. And what better way to acknowledge his return than the success of Elsu in the $100,000 George Calvert Cleaning New Zealand Derby.

The winner of the Sales Series Pace for 3-year-olds last November was back on the same platform after he called the shots over the last lap to beat Light And Sound. At one stage, brief though it may have been, Light And Sound appeared as if he would rally and take the challenge further. And had the race been a month and another race or so later, this may well have been the case. But this is little more than speculation because Elsu was superior on the night, and David Butcher was tactician supreme. He controlled the pace and wasn't worried he had Light And Sound on his back. "The draw was a big thing, but the race pretty much fell together. Considering the racing he's done, Light And Sound has done a huge job," said Butcher. He put trainer Geoff Small in the same category. "Geoff has done a super job. When Elsu came back in after his break, he only trialled fair, but Geoff has got him back to this level,"he said.

Butcher himself was lucky to be his partner. He got "both barrels" from a youngster earlier in the week, and feared he had broken his left leg. He was relieved of such anxieties by his doctor, and has since laboured on in some discomfort and pain.

Small had his own concerns as he tightened Elsu up for the Derby. "He became muscle-sore after he came back in after racing at Auckland. I could see how it happened. He did the damage skidding up to the fences before I brought him back in, and he was sore over the back. Clare McGowan has done a wonderful job using the machines on him, and Dave McGowan has carried on with the massage since we've been down in Christchurch." he said.

It is possible Elsu will campaign next in Australia, with the preludes for the New South Wales Derby on May 9 in mind for him.

Many of the owners of Elsu were on-course to enjoy the occasion, none more so than Joyce Walters, Geoff's aunty, who originally bought him as a yearling for $32,000 and now owns half of him. The rest is owned by the Double Up Syndicate, of eight sharholders, the estate of Dave Hudson and Pat Small, Geoff's mother. "I was a bit hesitant for a start, knowing there'd be eight or nine other people involved who I didn't know. But it's been brilliant. We've all had so much fun,I'd do it again," she said

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in NZHR Weekly

 

YEAR: 2002

2002 PGG YEARLING SALES 2YO SERIES FINAL

Light And Sound's rivals had their best chance to put an end to the brilliant colt's winning streak at Addington last Friday night, but they probably didn't even know it.

Light And Sound was justifiably a red hot favourite for the biggest race of his career, the $194,000 PGG Yearling Sales Series Final, and he duly obliged by breaking his own national record. But afterwards, trainer/driver Mark Purdon revealed that he wasn't as happy as he could have been leading into the event. "Because it was such a big race, I decided to get him blood-tested at the start of the week," Purdon said.

"The results came back showing he was lacking in iron, and that his white cell count was at the top end of normal. Then on the Wednesday he didn't work that good. A southerly came up while he was out on the track, which we thought might have been part of the reason, but he didn't feel like his old self. And later in the day he developed a slight cough. "Purdon kept close tabs on his champion 2-year-old over the next couple of days, and history now shows that they didn't have much to worry about.

As always with the consummate professional though, the welfare of his horse came first and he says he would not have hesitated to scratch Light And Sound if he had thought it necessary. Having compiled a record of eight starts for a first-up second and seven straight victories, Light And Sound has netted his owners $222,885. He should add the biggest slice of this Friday night's $150,000 Sires' Stakes Final to that, and then it is the spelling paddock for the In The Pocket colt. Purdon is still deliberating over the decision to geld Light And Sounds between seasons. "I am still in two minds about it. He has matured a lot in that respect recently."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 08May02

 

YEAR: 2002

Light And Sound & Mark Purdon
2002 FERRYMEAD RESTAURANT & BARS NZ WELCOME STAKES

Mark Purdon has chased around a few brilliant In The Pockets in his time. Like a lot of trainers and drivers, he was on the receiving end of the good old fashioned hidings that Under Cover Lover, Christian Cullen and Courage Under Fire dished out, and it took a while before he could join the party with one of his own.

"I probably had about six or eight In The Pockets when I trained up north, and they were pretty much all flops," he said. "Ouch was a good horse, but he had been already 'made' by Geoff Small when we got him. Apart from him there wasn't much to speak of. That was just bad luck though; you only had to look at what horses like Christian Cullen and Courage Under Fire could do to know that In The Pocket left stock of extreme quality."

Purdon has finally got himself one now. The tide turned when John and Ann Seaton, Tim Vince and his partner Janine Browne parted with $55,000 to buy Light And Sound at the Yearling Sales this time last season. After being narrowly beaten on debut in December, the In The Pocket half-brother to Stars And Stripes has strung together five sensational victories, the latest of them in the Ferrymead Restaurant & Bars NZ Welecome Stakes.

Using his speed to work to the front early, Light And Sound never looked out of second gear, and he only needed a sharp sprint home in 57.9 and 27.9 to hold nearest challenger Russian Road at bay. There was nothing awe-inspiring about Light And Sound's overall time for the 1950 metre event, but it was hard not to be impressed with the way he went about his business.

Harness racing fans have grown accustomed to the superlatives that follow Light And Sound around now, so probably the freshest news on Saturday night was the mention of plans to geld the 2-year-old. "It is a hard call to make," Purdon said. "If he was in America, there would have probably been a contract out on him by now, by someone trying to secure his siring future. I am surprised no-one has contacted his owners about that. In my heart I would love to keep him a colt, but I am a racehorse trainer and I have got to advise what is in the best interests of the horse."

The subject of gelding Light And Sound surfaced after his trip north to Alexandra Park for his debut. "He is just too colty, and he behaved very immaturely when we went to Auckland in December. He got his leg over a fence while he was being stabled in Pukekohe, and although he is paddocked on his own he did the same thing back here at home prior to the Sapling Stakes at Ashburton. He is actually a lovely colt, but he gets very dominant around other horses. It happens though, when you get horses at their peak and they are feeling good, that is when they get dynamic. That is why we have not travelled again with him. If he is on a float or a plane around other horses he is the sort that would kick out; you could end up having a puffy joint and then it would take a couple of days before you could work him again. But I have no concerns at all that he wouldn't come back after being gelded, because he is such an athlete," Purdon said.

Plans to geld Light And Sound will be shelved for the meantime though, as focus now switches to his two remaining missions this season...the PGG Yearling Sales Series Open on May 3, and the Garrard's Sires' Stakes Final a week later. "He has got a lot of brilliance, this horse. If they took him on in a race he could pace his last mile in 1:56. He is special."


Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 04Apr02

 

YEAR: 2002

2002 TYCO ELECTRONICS/ RALPH THOMPSON SHAW & THOMPSON NZ TROTTING CHAMPIONSHIP

Light And Sound's victory on Saturday night was the beginning of a Group Race rampage for his trainer/ driver, as Purdon also went on to win the NZ Trotting Championship with Waihemo Hanger and the NZ Derby with Jack Cade.

A fortnight ago, Waihemo Hanger looked back to his old tricks when he broke in the home straight when travelling easily enough behind the winner Jay Bee Ar. But after a sparkling trial win mid-week and the addition of a boring pole on his near-side, Waihemo Hanger trotted sweetly around the Addington bends while up forcing the issue and held too many guns for Dependable and the fast-finishing Hutzpah.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 04Apr02



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