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FEATURE RACE COMMENT

 

YEAR: 2009

2009 BROMAC LODGE NZ WELCOME STAKES

Since then and until now, it has been a long time between good horses for Tony and Gay Abell. The space has been occupied by one or two handy horses prefixed with 'Kotare' but none as classy as the first one.

Nearly 40 years ago, the Abells struck it rich with Kotare Legend, a horse they bred. The son of Fallacy won 14 of his 56 races while trained by Leicester Tatterson, but none of them in three light racing campaigns after he turned five and ended at seven with Gary Hillier. He had a bumper season at three, winning nine races but not a Derby, and finishing ninth on the all-time money list that season behind Arapaho, Robalan, Young Quinn, Easton Light, Koarakau, Noodlum, Bachelor Tom and Speedy Guest. It was hard to find one half as good after that, although the ill-fated Kotare Testament went close to doing so.

But Abell had many more strings to his bow and harness racing, to its benefit, found them out. He waited longer than most to become a member of the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club. "There was a waiting list when I wanted to join, and I gave John Osborne a cheque - which he discovered in a trouser pocket eighteen months later." After serving as a steward and then as a committeeman, he went on to become President of the Club and these were good years. He was Chairman of the Inter-Dominion Harness Racing Council - now defunct - and he was Chairman of the NZ Sires' Stakes Board - all posts that took a man of merit to handle. These were front-line jobs, and Abell said it was nothing for him to be in and out of town three times a week.

He still holds his AI ticket, and it's probably true to say that no-one has had it longer. "Back then, I stood Bay Foyle, Brad Hanover, Estes Minbar and Dominion Hanover, and when AI came in that was pretty much the end of it for back-yard breeders. It was time to give up. It was work for the vets, but I asked Cliff Irvine why it couldn't be done by others, and Cliff said there was no reason at all why not. So I went on the first AI course, and being an 'A' followed by a 'b' my name was the first on the list, and I was the first to get a certificate. I still do it now, for my mares and a few who are nearby."

One of them is Extra B G, the dam of Kotare Mach, a 2-year-old colt by Mach Three. In winning the $100,000 Bromac Lodge NZ Welcome Stakes at Addington last Saturday with crushing ease against moderate opposition, Kotare Mach has signalled that the Abells have one with the talent that could match what Kotare Legend did. It would also be a just reward for the countless hours and effort that Abell has given to harness racing as a distinguished administrator. As sponsor Bob McArdle said: "One can't measure the influence Tony has had on the industry, and I know we will be seeing a lot more of this horse in these circumstances."

The Abells bred Kotare Mach, but it was the late Peter Andrews, who followed Tony as the Chairman of the Met, who started the ball rolling. He bought Tanisa Vance as a yearling at Auckland although the official owners when she first went to stud were Graham Heenan, Keith Miles and Graeme Hawkins. "I can recall how tiny Tanisa Vance was, and she was tried and was no good, so they bred her to Pathfinder," said Abell. "I remember the foal was a thin, terrible looking thing, and they asked me to look after her. The mare was in foal to Butler B G, so I also reared and weaned the filly she had, and it was broken in and tried but didn't race."

In the meantime, Abell had leased Tanisa Vance and bred two from her - the smart Kotare Jaeger by Andrel who won eight, and Kotare Jay, and Jane Moody used her later to breed Ross The Boss. Having taken over the Butler B G filly, named Extra B G in return for looking after her, Abell sent her to Camtastic, Falcon Seelster and Presidential Ball for filly foals, Armbro Operative - to whom she left a capable horse in Kotare Jago - and a filly by Village Jasper before he settled on Mach Three. "Extra B G was from a strong family and she was a good size herself. She hadn't had many colts, just one in fact, and I really like Mach Three from the start. I actually had a booking, but when they put the fee up from $6000 to $8000 I didn't take it up. Then, we were up at Auckland for the final night of the Inter-Dominions, and Mach Three was advertised at a special rate of $6000 just for that night. I booked in Extra B G then."

The mare left a brown colt and if Abell didn't know he had something a little extra then, the figuring came soon enough. "He was a little bull, always strong and capable. I liked him right from the start and I told this to my neighbour, Dennis Bennett. And he looked bigger than he's turned out to be. I thought he might be half a hand taller than what he is." Abell broke him and did all the early work with him. "As is my habit, with anything I think a bit of I send to Mark Smolenski for evaluation. He usually has them for a month. He got very excited about him, and of course that didn't surprise me."

"He was just a happy, easy-going horse. And my question to Mark was 'will we qualify him?" He did that well enough; Dexter Dunn driving him for Smolenski in a qualifer he won by 11 lengths on November 1 at Ashburton. There was talk of big money for him after that. "We had three approaches before he raced, and the answer to each of them was no. We really breed horses to sell and shouldn't fall in love with them, but with this one we did. Mark suggested even then, before he raced, that Mark Purdon should have him, but we were happy to leave him where he was for his first start. He got a rough run in that, and a punctured tyre, so we left him there for the Sapling Stakes and Mark took him after that."

From three starts for Purdon and Payne, Kotare Mach has won three, setting a New Zealand record over 1700m at Invercargill, a win in a Sires' Stakes Heat and then his wholesale destruction of the Welcome Stakes field. From the sidelines, and being a horseman himself, Abell had mixed feelings of losing his young star. "He looked forward to his work every day, and I do miss him. But I suspected he could be a bit special, and I knew I had to give him up. My only hope is that I get him home to look after at some time, but then I might not."

Always enthusiastic, Abell is not slowing down at 74, and is handling six yearlings. Extra B G has a filly foal at foot by Live Or Die and her next mating will be back to Mach Three in 2010. They will all carry the 'Kotare' moniker, but it will be 'Mach' who should continue the legend.







Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HR Weekly 16Apr09

 

YEAR: 1972

1972 NZ DERBY STAKES

If you had to pick an outstanding performance during the two days and two nights of the NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club's Cup meeting, it would have to be that of the NZ Derby Stakes winner Willie Win. Seldom has a three-year-old turned in a more impressive winning performance and shown as much sheer speed as Willie Win did, nor had to overcome such obstacles to do so.

The start of the Derby was a poor one and it was not until the final two furlongs that the event bore any resemblance to a $17,020 classic. But then, when first Lord Gregory, then Kotare Scott took cracks at the pacemaking favourite Young Quinn, the excitement started to mount. It reached a high point when Willie Win cut loose from the back with a brilliant sprint that carried him past Kotare Scott at the half-furlong and from then on the result was never in doubt. Considering that Young Quinn had forced a record-breaking pace throughout, the fact that Willie Win could muster such a finishing sprint speaks volumes for his ability.

Willie Win's victory cannot be mentioned without credit being paid to Maurice Holmes, the man who drove Mr Bob Negus's three-year-old to victory. The win was an unparalleled 12th in the classic, his previous winners being 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) and Student Prince (1960).

Willie Win's success was a triumph for the New Zealand bred stallion Good Chase. Good Chase had two representatives in the Derby from his first crop, sired before he embarked on a successful racing career in America, and the other representative ran a very creditable race for third.

In winning, Willie Win clipped one fifth of a second off Flying Note's three-year-old record of 3:25.2 for 13 furlongs set in 1961.

The runner-up in the Derby, Kotare Scott did very well for a horse who started only once as a two-year-old then went into the Derby with two wins and a third from four starts to his credit this season. Kotare Scott's owners Mr and Mrs A R Abell, went very close to completing a notable double for the night for in the previous race, Kotare Legend had shown a lot of ability in winning the NZ Spring Time Stakes for two-year-olds.

Credit: 'Lookout' writing in NZ Trotting



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