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Manny Edwards

EDWARDS: M B

M B Edwards, whose death occured last week, was one of the Dominion's most successful trainers and reinsmen over a long period. He headed the trainers' list in the 1926-7 season.

Edwards was the son of the late M Edwards, who was also a leading trainer and driver. When he set up on his own account about thirty years ago, M B Edwards met with early success with Phil Smith, Homeleigh Dick and Vice Admiral. Many of his early winners came fron the 'Willowbank' Stud, Southland, among the good ones sent to him from that successful nursery being Dalmeny, Black Admiral, Dalnahine, Harold Thorpe, and Shine Soon. Another Southland pacer with whom he won important races was Mate o' Mine.

For a period Edwards enjoyed outstanding success in the classic field, his juvenile winners including War Buoy (NZ Sapling Stakes, NZ Derby, etc), Frisco Lady (NZ Sapling Stakes and NZ Champion Stakes), Twos Loose (Timaru Nursery Stakes, NZ Sapling Stakes and NZ Derby) and Gamble (NZ Derby).

Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar 5May48

MANVERS EDWARDS (Dill)

Dill Edwards was a son of Manny, he was also a public trainer most of his life. There is a photo of Dill talking to the Governor General of NZ, Lord Galway at Addington after winning a prominent race.

Dill had several successes but his most prominent being the trainer driver of three NZ Sapling Stakes at Ashburton - 1933 War Bouy, 1935 Frisco Lady, 1937 Two's Loose. Another good horse Dill had was Gamble.

Dill Edwards applied for and was granted his fathers racing colours of White, Green sleeves and cap

Credit: Lesley Glassey writing in the Berry Family History

DUAL GAITED TRAINERS

It seem slightly traitorous to some that high profile harness trainers are casting their eyes over the thoroughbred industry to extent their interests.

The way the gallops are going, you would have to wonder why? But when people of the calibre of Barry Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen announce they are increasing their commitment to the galloping code, and supporting acts like Todd Mitchell and Brian Court have already taken the plunge, it seems a trend in the making. If so, it is one old enough to have grey hairs.

A century ago, one of New Zealand's leading harness trainers was the Palmerston North-based Lou Robertson, a superb horseman though inclined to test the patience of officialdom with some of his adventures. He left New Zealand for Australia when bookmakers were banned here (1910); became a top harness trainer in Melbourne, but switched to gallopers at the request of his owners. He won the 1915 Caulfield Cup (and again as late as 1949) and after that trained several turf stars until the remarkable year of 1935 when he won the Cox Plate, the Melbourne Cup, the VRC Derby and the VRC Oaks in a matter of weeks. Lou was ludicrously superstitious but never regretted his journey to the 'dark side' from harness.

Dave Price of the same era was the man who spied the freak pacing mare Princess on the road to Ashburton in the 1880s and turned her into a goldmine on both sides of the Tasman. When he was disqualified for life for pulling Princess in Australia he toured in a circus with her doing riding tricks. He developed our first genuine Addington superstar, Ribbonwood, and travelled to America to buy the famous foundation mare, Norice.

The banning of bookmakers hastened Price's permanent exit to Australia when he switched to thoroughbreds in Sydney in 1922. His list of top horses would fill this column. He was famous enough to have his racing memoirs published in a series in a top Sydney newspaper - and he had plenty of stories to tell, especially about his New Zealand career.

In the 1920s an Australian trainer, Peter Riddle, set up a trotting stable in Domain Terrace at Addington and soon had remarkable success. He returned home, took up with gallopers, and owned and trained a fabulous horse called Shannon which later set world records in America.

Bill Tomkinson (for his son Jim), Ces Donald, and Jimmy Bryce (for his daughter Rona) were among prominent trainers of the 1930s to have gallopers (at least ones which were supposed to do that), while that remarkable horseman 'Dil' Edwards was winning the best races at Addington and top races at Riccarton at the same time from his Yaldhurst stable.

Jack Shaw was a famous dual-gaited trainer, having the champion trotting mare of the 1930s in Worthy Queen and the champion galloper of the 1950s in Beaumaris. Claude Fairman, who trained the famous pacing mare, Blue Mist, used to help out with Shaw's gallopers. Lately of course, Graeme Rogerson has been trying a similar change in reverse - as Freeman Holmes did more than 100 years ago.

Graeme has found it a challenge, as is any training enterprise, but is a hard man to beat. History suggests Barry, Natalie and company will be well up to the task doing it the other way round.

Credit: David McCarthy writing in HRWeekly 26Jan11

CYRIL WHITE

A lot has changed in the world since Cyril White was born during New Zealand Cup Week in 1918. When Lucky Jack won his first Cup in 1937, White was working as a 'cowboy' at Arthur Nicoll's Durbar Lodge in Ashburton, which meant he was more often tending to and milking the cows.

"Gordon Stewart was the Manager at Durbar Lodge then, and Wrack was nearly finished (as a sire)," recalls White. "I used to ride the hunters as pacemakers and we'd get very strong arms from spending hours on dry brushing the horses. In those days the streets were paved with grass," he added.

Wrack's famous son and three-time Cup winner Indianapolis was unplaced from 72 yards in 1937, as Lucky Jack won for trainer/driver Roy Berry and Ashburton breeder/owner Bill Lowe, but the 18 year-old White was too busy working in a woolshed at Middleton to be anywhere near Addington.

Cyril White will turn 90 on Tuesday, November 11, which also happens to be Cup Day, and life today revolves around waiting for his 'meals on wheels' and the nearest he will get to Addington this year is his Trackside channel. He was hoping to get to Ashburton on Monday to see the 'new wonder horse' Auckland Reactor, but mention the name Purdon to Cyril White and he asks after Roy and whether he is still 'about' too.

White would also do stints with such famous horsemen as Manny 'Dil' Edwards at Yaldhurst and 'F J' Smith in Auckland before the war, and set up stables in Ashburton when he got back from "four years and a fortnight" away fighting in North Africa and Italy for the 8th Army. A horseman with a reputation for his 'old school' methods which most often worked and a skill if not cunning to win when the time was right, White was still training well into his 70s and in the 1989/90 season, when he won a couple of races with the Noodlum mare Willsee. The first of those was a Methven around Cup Week in 1989 when Willsee scored at long odds for local identity Dave Lemon with his son John driving.

Before that there were wins with trotters Reign Hi and Baywood along with pacing mare Opening Night at Methven, and White has fond memories of a good trotting mare in the early 80s called Cathy Crockett who won six races and had a lot of placings along the way. The daughter of Crockett won five races in the early part for White, the last of those at Addington and at good odds, before she raced from various other stables for over two years without showing any form at all. White then got her back as a 9-year-old, and at Ashburton on Boxing Day in 1986 she won the feature class five trot downing Novander at odds of 14-to-one. she was raced by her breeder Les Moore, a long-time supporter of the stable. "She was a funny old thing - early on she would jump everything in sight, but you always had to give her her head." There are stories about how it helped when Cyril allowed the sulky wheels to run freely enough too though.

That same day at Ashburton, the class three trot was won by Pat O'Reilly jnr and Tyron Scottie, a horse that White lined up a couple of times the previous season after converting him to trotting for Ashburton owners Alan and Ian Neumann. Tyron Scottie was a Noodlum gelding who had been bought as a pacer at the yearling sales for $4000. He had been broken in by Allan Dunn and "made to pace" by Gordon Middleton, and White spotted him trotting while being jogged on a lead around the roads one day. "His legs had been cut where the hopples went, and I said to the owners I think I can make a trotter out of him. After starting him a few times, I told them that the horse was going to travel, and I was getting a bit past all that." Tyron Scottie was winning his fourth race that season from his six starts for O'Reilly, and would win 21 races and about $300,000 in all.

Shortly before that, White had raced a talented pacer called Rock On, who won five races for him including a Kurow Cup. A Dancers Boy gelding, Rock On won the Oamaru Juvenile Stakes on debut and as an early 3-year-old at Ashburton, when White was 60, he also drove him to win his second start that season at odds of 12-to-one. White's last win as a driver was with Rock On as a 4-year-old at Addington at 21-to-one downing Carnival King, a good sort trained by the late Pat O'Reilly snr, along with Captain Clive and Seafield Hanover. White bred Rock On from Widow Grattan, by Widower Scott from Nimble Grattan, a Josedale Grattan mare who had been a handy trotter for him back in the 50s.

Josedale Grattan, who won the 1941 New Zealand Cup for F J Smith, had been "a real gentleman of a horse" during White's time with the renowned Welsh horseman. "We used to go to a few dances with widows (from the war) and they could be quite nimble, and that's how Rock On got his name," laughed White.

Life wasn't much fun though when White was a lad and working around various farms and stables before volunteering for the war. He didn't always have a lot to do with the horses in those days, outside of riding work and cleaning up afterwards. Top horses like Josedale Grattan, Van Derby, Ironside and King's Warrior made an impression during his time with Smith though. Van Derby was a beautiful horse and F J thought he would win the Cup with him, but something went wrong. King's Warrior and Ironside started in the Cup before Josedale Grattan, an American-bred horse which Smith had bought and imported as a 2-year-old, ran away from Gold Bar in 1941. F J was very meticulous in everything he did, and caused a bit of a fuss as a driver because he wore gloves. He would give the horses a body wash with methylated spirits - he would never put a hot horse under cold water. Mind you, we often didn't have a hose and running water anyway."

One horse he does remember very well back then was Tonioro, who won a trot during a galloping meeting at Ashburton in May 1940, during his time working for the Vivian brothers at 'Shands Track'. He had been set to win by Lester Maidens and paid fourteen pounds, and I had 'ten bob' on him and that paid for my new teeth. I had them done in stages as I could pay for it."

"In those days we were still learning to drink, which could be quite handy at such times. A schooner (45oz) of beer would cost sixpence, and there would be a lot of them. Now a jug costs seven dollars - it's just as well I don't need much."

White can also well recall in those pre-War years taking care of horses such as the good George Barton-owned mare Santa Fe and Bittersweet on trips to the West Coast, and how often the bridges would get washed out and they'd have to walk them for miles for dry lodgings at night.

White was 21 when he signed up for the War and 22 when he found himself "going back and forth across the desert with Rommel. You didn't think much about the situation then because it was just a way of life, and you got on with it. They were pretty clever though at turning you into a soldier inside of three months." White spent most of his time in the infantry and in Africa, but never got further than Italy during "the last push". "We won through in Africa eventually because Montgowery was a mate of Churchill and he got the equipment he needed. "Freyberg didn't get that, and at the end of the day it was just aboutwho had the most guns and gas."

White lost a lot of mates, but the only time he was hurt if was his "own silly fault. We had taken over a position from the Brits and they had dug the trenches about six foot deep. I was sitting up there one day when a couple of shells came over and landed about fifty feet away. I thought I'd better slip down out of the way, but it was a lot deeper than I was used to and my knee blew up like a balloon. I reckon they must have been coalminers." Towards the end of the war in Italy, White can recall the trotting meetings at Trieste where Tom Gunning also figured, and "mule racing just below (Monte) Cassino."

When White got home in 1945 he set up his own stables in Ashburton, and married Olive McDowell, who went into a Home about five years ago. "Like a lot of lads in my time, I thought I might become a jockey, but I was too big-boned. I kept riding for most of my life and actually had a (galloping) licence for a time (in the 50s) as well after the War. But I saw one lady come off and get hurt quite badly, and that put me off riding very much. I preferred to drive the trotters after that."

Apart from his own mare Nimble Grattan, there were good ones like the Quite Sure entire Super Note and the Light Brigade mare Tronso for Bill and Ray Jamison. White "had to give up" Tronso about a month beforev she won the Dominion for Colin Berkett, who he says would "short change" horses by not jogging them enough. He also recalls about the stock of Quite Sure that "they were quite flighty and too thin-skinned to wear hopples".

White obviously has a lifetime of stories to tell, all of which would in some way be colourful, but one that sticks in his mind was a trip to Nelson in the late 50s with a nice team of horses in Nimble Grattan, Our Bridget and Stylish Petro. "We had been at one pub and then had a bit of trouble getting past (the pub at) Leithfield. We got past Kaikoura and one fellow was snoring away, and the driver hadn't realised something had come adrift from the truck - every time we went around a corner, something wasn't right. Eventually we pulled up and realised we had lost a wheel. One fellow caught a ride to Blenheim with the wheel to get it fixed, but by the time he got back we had sorted something else out. Anyway, by the time we got to the track, the races had begun and we just unloaded Our Bridget and she went out and won."

White actually (offically) trained and drove Our Bridget and Stylish Petro to win early on the first dat of the meeting. Our Bridget didn't win later that same day,but she did win again at good odds on the second day. Nimble Grattan didn't win on that trip and had to wait until a few seasons later when she was a 7-year-old and won three races. The first of those was at Kaikoura and the second was a Ashburton, when White drove her to upset Ahumai and Wes Butt and pay £64. She would later win in Auckland from another stable, before White got her back as a well-out-of-form 11-year-old and he won with her again at a Hororata meeting paying £16.

They could be "tough old birds" in those days, and it seems "they don't make horses the way they used to".
Needless to say, the game has changed and there aren't many Cyril Whites left about either.




Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 6Nov08

Alister Kerslake

ALISTER KERSLAKE

Alister Kerslake, who had been in ill-health over recent months, died at his Methven home on Monday.

Aged 73, Kerslake was a straight shooter who made a name for himself as a breeder, owner and trainer, and over the years prepared some of the country's notable drivers and trainers. Champion driver Maurice McKendry, Phil Williamson, Ian Cameron and his son Lindsay all did their apprenticeship under Kerslake.

But it was his ability and knack of setting young horses for big races and winning them that set him apart from most others. He won the 1971 NZ Derby with Bachelor Star, the 1975 NZ Derby with Main Adios, the Great Northern Derby three years later with Main Star, and the 1979 NZ Derby with Game Adios. All were out of the Captain Adios-Loyal Guest mare Adio Star who won the Broodmare of the Year in the 1977-78 season.

Kerslake was born in Rakaia, starting off riding trackwork for the local butcher, Bill Black, later for Dill Edwards, and also for Wally Tatterson. As a lad, he took the Tatterson-trained Emulous into the birdcage for the New Zealand Cup. His early working life was at the Railways, then as a butcher in Methven, before doing what he had always wanted to do, work with horses.

That came in 1968, though he had started a lot earlier, winning five races with Lady Knight, and others with Burns Night in the 50s. On shifting to Highbank, his first winners were Loyal Adios and True Forbes, he sold New Guest who became the dam of the outstanding racemare Hilarious Guest, and near the end of his career he raced Bionic Chance, a cracker filly who he maintained should have won a Derby. Bionic Chance won the NZ Standardbred Breeders Stakes, 17 other races and $323,630 in stakes.

Kerslake trained more than 180 winners. They were all well bred, well trained, and he always used top drivers. He stood three of the horses he trained at stud, Adios Bachelor, Main Star and Bionic Adios; Main Adios and Bachelor Star were sent to Australia.

When interviewed just recently, Kerslake said: "Horses were everything to me. They were my life from the time I could run around. I was always around them and I always wanted something to do with them.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 27May98

NANCY EDWARDS

Nancy Edwards, who died in Auckland earlier this month aged 91, was a daughter of a great handler of trotters at the turn of the century, Bert Edwards.

The outstanding horseman of his era, Bert won races at the inaugural trotting meetings at Lancaster Park in Christchurch and Potter's Paddock (now Alexandra Park) in Auckland. He owned the first horse in New Zealand to get within American standard time of 2:30 for the mile - Yum Yum, who won by 15 lengths pulling up in 2:27½ at the Canterbury Park Trotting Club's meeting of May 24, 1894.

He owned the first pneumatic-tyred sulky produced in New Zealand, lowered NZ trotting records on five occasions, and held trainer's, driver's and rider's licences from the time they were first issued to the time of his death with a completely clean sheet.

In a stint of several years in Auckland in the early 1890s, Bert and his brother Manny made their mark in no uncertain terms, and, on returning to Canterbury, Bert capped his brilliant career winning the first NZ Cup at Addington in 1904 with the 14-year-old straightout trotter Monte Carlo.

Manny, who also enjoyed a very successful career as a trotting horseman, became the father of two fine harness exponents in Dil and Stan Edwards, while Stan's son Murray also became a proficient trainer-driver.

Nancy Edwards and her sister Marjorie made their mark in thoroughbred breeding, establishing in Otahuhu the plush "Mardella Stud," where they successfully stood such noted sires as Vaals, Dink, Treasure Hunt and Probation. The Edwards sisters all but became involved in standardbred breeding, changing their minds when they had the Italian-bred stallion Medoro on the water and selling him for 7000 guineas to their neighbour Noel Simpson.

Noel made the purchase as his first move in transforming his "Yendarra" property from a cattle farm to a standardbred breeding operation. Medoro became an immediate success as a sire of pacers and trotters in New Zealand, giving Simpson a fine start on his way to becoming Australasia's outstanding standardbred breeder.

Credit: Ron Bisman writing in HRWeekly 25Jan89

DAVE CLARKSON

Dave Clarkson, who was named commentator of the century in 1974 and was a life member of the trotting Hall of Fame, died in Christchurch last week, aged 70, after a long illness.

He began commentating in 1937 at the Banks Peninsula Racing Club, and during a thirty-four-year career he became known for his distinctive style of commentaries at galloping and trotting meetings in the Canterbury region, and also at Trentham for a number of years.

Always a keen racing enthusiast, Mr Clarkson was involved in many areas of the racing industry, both professionally and privately. He was bloodstock manager for Pyne Gould Guiness Ltd in Christchurch for many years until he retired from the position about five years ago. Mr Clarkson was also an auctioneer at the Trentham Yearling Sale for about 25 years and he was instrumental in establishing the South Island bloodstock sale.

After his retirement from race commentating in 1971, Mr Clarkson served as judge for the Canterbury Jockey Club, after which he became a steward for the club and he was later elected an honorary steward. Also a racehorse owner, Mr Clarkson had a good deal of success with the smart galloper Just A Rebel, whom he raced in partnership with the Riccarton trainer Dave Kerr.

Mr Clarkson is survived by two sons.

-o0o-

NZ Trotting Calendar 5Sep45

"I'll pick them up for you as I see them walking round." Yes, its the voice of Dave Clarkson - a voice known to every owner of a radio who ever heard of a horse, from one end od the Dominion to the other. He even has his fans in Australia; he has been listened to with bated breath in Egypt, in Italy, Fiji and Trieste.

Recently the well known radio personality, Jack Maybury, managed to entice Dave Clarkson into the 3ZB studios for an interview. As was only to be expected when these two able 'men of the mike' got together, it was a very successful and very entertaining interview.

Jack Maybury started off by saying that the voice of racing commentator Dave Clarkson has at some time or other been listened to on every radio set in the land. "I feel justified in saying too," said Jacko, "that thousands of listeners, including this one, have repeatedly questioned,'How does he do it?' Well, Dave, I dont know whether, like the Society of Magicians, you are sworn to secrecy - are you? Good! How did you come to take up racing commentaries?"

Answer: Well, I just fluked it. I was drafting sheep with Mr Guy Nicoll one day for the late Mr Walter Parkinson at Kaituna, when the conversation turned to the question of securing a commentator for the Banks Peninsula Club. I listened to the various suggestions of those present and then when we were coming away said to Mr Parkinson,'How about me having a go at this racing business?' One thing led to another, the result being that I was given a start and did my first broadcast for the Banks Peninsula Club on October 20, 1937.

Question: It is not a full-time job with you?

A: No, it is not a full-time job. Actually I am an auctioneer and stock agent and am employed by Messrs H Matson and Co, of Christchurch, my headquarters being at Leeston, in the Ellesmere district.

Q: Having a sporting chief like Allan Matson, I presume, facilitates your fulfilling microphone engagements?

A: Yes, it does. Mr Allan Matson and his brother John, who are the principals of the firm, are very good and let me off just whenever I am wanted by the various racing and trotting clubs.

Q: Do you find the task a tedious one?

A: No, I do not. I Enjoy every race day.

Q: If the answer to this one is yes - you don't show it in your work - ever get nervous?

A: No. Never now. Although I must admit when I first started I was very nervous for the first few days.

Q: Now, let me see - does, say, a race as important as the NZ Cup impose a greater strain on you than does, well, an ordinary hack event?

A: Yes, it does a little. When you broadcast the NZ Cup it is usually relayed throughout the country, and when the technician in the box with you says 'Don't forget you are on a national hook-up' you think, well, here goes, and it has to be good.

Q: From an announcing point of view, which is the more difficult to commentate on - galloping or trotting?

A: Galloping is the harder, mainly because the tracks are further round in circumference and therefore the horses are further away. Added to this is the fact that the gallopers race in closer formation and travel faster.

Q: In the course of your duties, you are called upon to descibe races over all manner of distances - have you any special preference in this direction?

A: Yes, I have. If the track is a mile and a half in circumference, I prefer a mile and a half race, the reason being that the start is directly below you as you stand in the box, and you therefore have what you might call a proper sight of them as they leave the barrier. In the same way, if it is a mile and a quarter track, I prefer a race of that distance and so on. This can be easily understood when you think how hard it is to see them up at the six furlong barrier as at Riccarton and Trentham.

Q: Now Dave, heres's a thing that has most of us guessing - we go to the races and maybe in a field of 20 we back our particular fancy. I think I speak for a lot of sports when I say it's a ticklish job to pick up that one horse at the barrier, let alone follow his fortunes - good or bad - during the race. With you, well, as easy as falling off the preverbial log - you lay aside the racebook and with that now quite famous phrase,'I'll pick them up for you as I see them walking round'...you proceed to run through the entire field. Is it numerology, psychology, astrology, or just plain Clarksonology?

A: Well, now, that is a question I am often asked, and it is not so easy to answer. Firstly, you must have good binoculars and I am particularly proud of mine. Secondly, I have been brought up among horses all my life, and have a great love for them.

Q: Does it entail a great degree of initial study on your part?

A: When I first started I used to swot the colours up quite a bit, But now I never see them until the actual day of the races.

Q: I hope you don't consider me too inquisitive, and please don't think I have any designs on a racing commentator's job. I tried it once - yes - a draught horse derby in Hereford Street - only three starters too - believe me I had a headache for days afterwards. It is rumoured that a lot of people see pink elephants - do you see horses in your sleep?

A: Well, I am afraid I don't see horses in my sleep, and am lucky enough to be one of those who sleeps particularly soundly.

Q: How exactly do you follow the candidates through the progress of a race?

A: There are several small things that give us a clue to the various horses in the race, but the main item is the colours. You must know them from A to Z. Then some particular horse may have a white bridle or martingale on, or both. Another might be wearing a breast-
plate. Then one of the horses in the race may be grey and this is a wonderful help. Then in the trotting sport you get to know the crouch of the various drivers in the sulkies. They have their little pecularities in style which stand out to you. Can't you see at this moment the crouch of Dil Edwards, the way F J Smith holds his hands and the way Allan Holmes leans forward behind Gold Bar. Then in the galloping sport riders such as L J Ellis, W J Broughton and R J Mackie have a seat of their own that is hard to miss, and you couldn't help but pick up Arthur Didham with his long legs. All these points help to make the job a bit easier.

Q: When something comes out of the blue, as it were, is your judgement taxed?

A: Well, no, it is not. But knowing the colours and those smaller points you are able to pick out the horse 'that comes from the clouds' just as soon as it appears.

Q: Do adverse weather conditions make it very difficult?

A: Yes, they make a big difference. If it is a lovely fine day the horses are brought into the birdcage and the jockeys come out to mount with their colours up and you get a good look at them as they parade round. Then you get them set in the back of your mind. If it is a wet day the riders or drivers appear with their coats on, and go to the post like this, which means that you don't get a chance to get a look at the colours and freshen up your memory until about two minutes before the starter lets them go.

Q: When your engagements take you away from your home area, is it difficult to become acquainted with new horses?

A: Yes, it is rather. When I first went up to Trentham to act for the Wellington Racing Club, I found it was nearly like starting all over again. I had then to become acquainted with a big number of North Island horses, and learn their colours. Even now on each trip to Trentham I find that I come in contact with a good number of fresh horses on each visit.

Q: Do you really get as excited during the finish of a race as you appear to over the air?

A: Do I really get excited? I have been asked this question several times. Well, yes I do. The tougher the finish the better I like it. Nothing appeals more than a race with the pace on all the way and a head and head finish. I love to see them go.

"Again our grateful thanks for having made this broadcast possible," said Jacko in conclusion. "I feel I voice the sentiments of many thousands of listeners all over NZ in saying 'Thanks a million for the job you have done so well in the past." We appreciate you, and trust you may enjoy the very best of health to enable you to carry on the good work for many many years to come."

Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar 16Aug83

BILL DOYLE

It was back in October 1948 or 1949, the year doesn't matter much. Bill Doyle had his trotting mare Passive down at Oamaru and was with her in the box before the race when a stranger stuck his head over the door. "Do you want to sell your horse?" was the visitor's opening gambit. "No." "Are you sure you don't want to sell her?" "Quite sure. I brought her down here to race, not to sell," was Bill Doyle's firm reply. The stranger left. The race over - she was either third of nowhere depending on the year - Passive was on her way back to her stall when they encountered the would-be buyer again. "You haven't changed your mind?" he asked. Hopefully. "No." "You know you've got the best bred mare in the country there, don't you? Seeing your not going to sell, you may as well have this."

And with that the stranger handed the visiting trainer a piece of paper and walked away. Now, more than thirty years later, Bill Doyle scrambles around a draw in the lounge in his spacious old home and produces that piece of paper. The ink-pen writing is still easily legible, even though the paper itself is almost coming apart through many foldings. "There it is," he says. "Passive's breeding right back. He must have spent countless hours, months, finding all this out and putting it down." And there it is too, Passive's pedigree all the way back to the pure-bred imported Arabian mare who was mated to Traducer in the 1860's sometime. Traducer, an English thoroughbred, was by The Libel and foaled in 1857.

Bill Doyle had never seen the would-be buyer before that day...and he hasn't seen him since. Didn't even find out his name. "But he must have been right," Doyle concedes. Passive's breeding record bears that out. Her record is better than just about any other in the Stud Book. At the end of her racing career - and she won a good number of races for Doyle - she produced foals to Ripcord twice, champion sire Light Brigade six times and Flying Song once. Eight of those were winners, six producing winners themselves, while even Passive's grand-daughters have kept the current chain going.

Currently keeping the Doyle name among the leading lights of trotting owners is About Now, a pet around his Leeston property and winner of 22 races as well. She's won four this term for stakes of more than $21,000 and, at this stage, must be a Rowe Cup prospect. But back to Passive.

Bill Doyle bred her himself out of Violet Wrack (by Wrack from Violet Wilkes), a mare he trained and raced for his friend Dan Robertson from Hakataramea. "I won a lot of races with her. When she finished I asked Dan if I could breed from her. 'Take the first foal,' he said, so I put her to U Scott to get Passive." The youngster couldn't have pleased her breeder more. "I'll tell you how good she was, I would have started her in the Sapling Stakes as a trotter if she hadn't broken a leg when she was two. She was a real flying machine," Doyle recalls with obvious pleasure. Later, when the leg mended, she showed a fair amount of ability. Still, it was some years after the accident she finally hit the track again. Doyle hadn't intended to race her but was persuaded by a friend from down south to at least try her again. "She trotted with a stiff leg, a real old peg-leg getting along, she was."

Her first foal was Reflective, by Ripcord. Reflective herself left winners in Jeepers Creepers (dam of Deep Hanover and Kenwood Song), Journey Home, All Alone, In Disguise and Let's Think. Chances Are (by Light Brigade) left five winners, Big Spender (dam of Ready Money and Lay Off), Rebel Statesman, Main Chance, Chichester and Smart Move. As well, her three other daughters Chance Again (Sly Chance), Hello Stranger (Espiritu) and Passive Lady (Leica Lady and Poker Night)have produced winners. Then came When.

"What a great mare she was." Doyle, relaxed in his lounge, surrounded by photographs of some of his winning horses, trophies galore, savours the memory. "She was the fastest of them all." When held the NZ mile record at 2:02.8 in 1963 when Doyle took her to America. "She was never right over there. The virus got to her but not as badly as it did some. They were dragging horses out of the barns only two or three days after we had got there. And it seems to hang on to them."

That trip, as Doyle assesses it, could have produced a sensation in NZ breeding circles. Ha almost bought a Russian mare to cross with the local blood. "What a horse. I can see her now as plain as day. The length of that lovely big chestnut...I fell in love with that mare." A pause in proceedings to search the myriads of photographs and cuttings from the time so the beauty of the beast can be shared. Apparently she'd been stabled in the box next to When. Both were down to contest the international trot series at Yonkers, an event conceived by raceway owner Martin Tananbaum. "I really took a fancy to her. I'd be into the box with her all the time. She was being looked after by a doctor and a professor and, while they couldn't speak English, I got on well with them through an interpreter." The Russians told Doyle she was for sale, along with another mare, a grey, they had brought over for the series. I told them I couldn't afford to pay too much but would talk to them again."

Off on a different tack for a moment to explain how the series was organised. The Americans would pay all expenses for owner and horses and then would share any winnings, fifty-fifty. "Tanabaum himsef was out here and he wanted When so much, he agreed to my terms in the end. The first race was mine...I'd play ball with the rest. We really sweated over that." That first race was for about $65,000, Doyle recalls. He was confident that after it he'd be able to buy the Russian mare. But it wasn't to be. When finished only second, beaten by an Italian 'gentleman' driver, a count, and his horse. He disorganised half the field at one stage and the stipes were waiting for him. They asked me to testify that the Italian had been to blame, but I wouldn't. I would not have liked to win the race that way."

Doyle produced a huge photograph of two smiling drivers, himself and the count, shaking hands after the event. "I really felt like kicking him. In the end, he bought both those Russian horses with his prize money. They would have provided a great cross for our blood. They belonged to the old Vladivostok line." (Incidentally, they finished at the rear of the field.)
Back home, When made a brief and successful reappearance on the racetrack before going into the broodmare paddock to produce winners in Now Charles, Time To Go, Now, Live Twice, Dining Out, Forget It and Now or Never.

So Rare, another by Ripcord, produced Perfect Answer, who qualified and a winner in Rarify. Asia Minor, winner of a host of races, was Passive's next foal by Light Brigade. At three the gelding - "I wouldn't have a colt on the place" - won the NZ Trotting Stakes for Doyle. Then came Remember When, a winner herself and dam of Boadicea, Anniversary Day and Now Then. Remember When, too, was by Light Brigade and was a sister to Wipe Out who developed into a Cup class pacer. "He was a big flat-footed horse who took a 65 to 67 inch hopple. He started off trotting but one day he just broke into a pace. We put the hopples on then ...and we never took them off." He was a good horse all through, but Bill Doyle especially remembers his double at the Auckland winter meeting in May, 1969. There, in the hands of Peter Wolfenden, he won the Mark Memorial on the first night and then the Adams Gold Cup on the second. Those trophies rest on the mantlepice today. Wipe Out made it three in a row when he returned home to Canterbury to take out the Louisson Handicap at Addington at his next start, early the following season.
Someday, a top trotter, was the next of Passive's progeny. As well as trotting a winning mile in 2:06, she also became the dam of About Now and Some Evander, an unraced colt who is now at stud. Snoopy, by Flying Song, was Passive's last foal and he was a good winner in America.

Passive, though, isn't the only broodmare to have given Bill Doyle a top-line family. He has just as much time for Within, a Wrack mare from Lady Swithin who raced in the 1930s and early 40s. For instance, she trotted an Australasian record 3:32.2 for the 13 furlongs of the Holmwood Handicap at Addington in 1941. "Often I'd line her up against the pacers...and we'd beat them too," he says, producing the photograph of the finish of her record breaking run. He'd bought her off her Auckland breeder, Jim Paul, "a great man with trotters."

Doyle was up there in the north with Bomber some years later to win a Dominion Trotting Handicap for his trainer. "Bomber had never raced before. He chased every seagull off the course that day at Alexandra Park and still won. He could trot." Bomber was by Quite Sure. And that win gave Bill Doyle something to laugh about to this day. Apparently Miss Julia Cuff, from Hinds, had promised a new suit to the trainer of the first Quite Sure winner in NZ. Eventually it went to the owners of that trotting machine Certissimus. "But Bomber's win came months before," Doyle contends. "After that I'd often remind her she owed me a new suit. I never did get it."

Among several talented trotters (With You and Encircle for instance), Within also left Circlette, herself a winner and dam of half a dozen more. Circlette (by U Scott) left Certain Smile, Caught Napping, Villa Caprina, Country John, Going and Mercury Montego. Certain Smile is the dam of Emme Smile and Mini Smile and the grandam of an up-and-coming young trotter, Mini's Pride. Villa Caprina is the dam of Villa Katrina and top-flighter Relinquish, and grandam of recent double winner The Stag. There are more to come. Going, of course, is the dam of Sid and Let's Go.

Pictures around the wall. Every one evokes a story. Some can be told, others shouldn't. Horses, top horses almost without exception. Horses like Gold Horizon, another by Quite Sure, and the top trotter of his era. Bill Doyle leased him as a 9-year-old. At that stage he had had six wins from 24 starts. Then he really started to blossom. Over four seasons he lined up 35 times for another 14 wins and 11 placings and stakes of more than £15,000. When he retired in the late 1950s, Gold Horizon had won £18,260, a record amount for a trotter in Australasia. He was second twice in the Dominion Handicap, the first time to Barrier Reef, and the second when he conceded the winner, Vodka, 60 yards. He also won a couple of NZ Trotting Free-For-Alls and an Ashburton Cup against some of the better pacers around.

There was Lament, too, original wearer in the 1930s of the white bridle the Doyle horses used for more than forty years. "I think it's probably still around here somwhere," Doyle, now 77, says. Lament won "just about every trotting free-for-all there was" for Doyle.

Top mare In The Mood provided one of the most sensational incidents of his racing life. She was by U Scott, out of Princess Napoleon, and was a yearling buy from J R McKenzie. "I should have won the NZ Cup with her but she got into trouble early, was last into the straight, only to finish fourth," he reckons. He then took In The Mood and War Form north "to win the Auckland Cup." About the time of the war, Doyle recalls, and there were only five or six starters that year. His horses finished a furlong last. An incredible result. And, if that wasn't bad enough, when they got home they hardly had any hair left. And neither had the attendant who had been with them all through the trip. Doyle shakes his head. It's not the heat, or the screeching of the tame guinea fowl outside, which give him cause to wonder. "They were got at," he said. "Good and proper." He did, though, have some luck in Auckland Cups. He drove the winners of two...Nedworthy in 1940 and Loyal Friend in 1943. Betty Boop also took the big Auckland prize in 1944. She won the NZ Futurity for Doyle. "I sold her lease the night before the Futurity, win lose or draw."

In The Mood, the winner of £12,000, left three colts, all to Light Brigade. The first was Showdown who won an Ashburton Cup in 1958, the second was Reason Why who went on to make his mark as a sire in Western Australia, and the other was Light Mood, one of the few horses Doyle has sold through the yearling sales. Light Mood won nine races, beating Robin Dundee by three lengths in his last victory.

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Part two NZ Trotting Calendar 16Feb82

Bill Doyle has had a huge amount of success with his horses, pacers and trotters, over the years. He's bred his own and he's bought them. So what does he look for in a potentially good horse?

"First there's is the feet, then the legs, the body, and some character should show through the head," he says. "A good horse should have decent wide black feet. I feel your judgement's slipping a bit if you look at a foot with a lot of white in it. They can give you a lot of trouble."

His training methods, he reckons, are "pretty orthodox." Feeding and individual attention are essential for all horses. "If you can't feed them properly and get attached to them, you shouldn't have horses." And is Bill Doyle attached to all his horses? "I should say so. There's the occasional one you've got to square up, but once you've won that round, yes, then you get attached to them."

The Doyle horses lack nothing in attention. He spends hours every day getting the mud out of their feet and brushing hooves with tar and oil; interminable hours grooming the racehorses, a master practitioner of the dying art of 'dressing' a horse. He studies each one carefully and works out what they need to eat. Those ready for racing usually get their evening meal in two halves, rather than filling up all at once. And when the season's right, they can take their share of wind-blown pears which lie on the ground under the old tree in the yard. Even pick the ones which haven't fallen , if they like. He can call out to any of them - his youngsters, too - and they'll respond. Come to his hand.

He admits he's past doing his own shoeing these days and says there's no real secret to it - rather a method of trial and error until you come up with something that works. "I often get asked for advice. 'Try everything' I say." Variety in training is also essential, although the days of working around the roads are gone now. "There's too much traffic...and most of the drivers show no consideration to anyone with a horse on the road. It's out of the question." But there's plenty of room on Doyle's property for the horses in work to have a change of scenery nearly every other day. "They've got to have variety. They get sick of being bottled up in one place." Sometimes, by way of a change, the horses are sent to another Doyle property, where they're hacked around his cattle.

Bill Doyle is, in his own assessment, first and foremost a farmer, a cattle farmer with a hungry market to satisfy. "Cattle breeding and fattening is my priority always." He held a professional licence once but gave up public training a long time ago to put the farming first. Even these days, when he's gradually cutting down his cattle operation, his horses remain a hobby, a relaxation.

The Doyle family has always farmed in the area around Leeston...and it's always had horses. Bill's grandfather, J H Doyle, came out from Scotland in the 1860s and settled not far from Leeston in the area now known as 'Doyleston'. He, too, was a successful horseman. Bill Doyle provides the proof. Amongst racing books spanning almost a century, there's one with results from a Southbridge race meeting some time during 1875-76. There, winning a three mile saddle trot for the princely sum of five sovereigns, is one J H Doyle. "My grandfather." Bill's father, also W J, was also a farmer and worked with a lot of horses, quite apart from his racing team. He handled a lot of horses during World War I, mainly gun horses. And then, too, he supplied many of the local fishermen down at Lake Ellersmere with horses for their traps.

It was more than sixty years ago that the present Bill Doyle started with racehorses, riding in saddle races. He particularly remembers his first win, on a horse called Wirey trained by his father. "It was a one and a quarter mile saddle race at Greymouth. I remember Dad saying to me before the race 'if you don't come first in this , there won't be a home for you'." Doyle chuckles at the memory. "I won that race by ten lengths." And from that time the wins have come regularly. How many over the years? "I couldn't tell you within a hundred." He's even owned a Grand National Steeplechase winner, Thurina, who took out the country's premier jumping event in 1933. Bert Ellis rode the horse that day. The trainer was Bill's sister. Bill himself says he was always too heavy for the thoroughbreds.

Today, Bill Doyle regrets that trotting has grown to "too big a business. The sport's gone, the pleasure of being involved with a sport has been lost. There are so many horses around (and there's usually no more than a dozen on his property at once) it's become a liability to have one. More and more people are buying horses and breeding them, going into it thinking it's an easy game. But it's not. It's tough." You can't make it just by training a small team. You have to sell. "The American market keeps most going. They'd be shot without that." Rules and regulations now had taken most of the pleasure away. Which is why he is drifting away slowly. "I feel my hands are tied now." Those same rules and regulations had allowed the inexperienced to get licences, to allow people who might not have even seen a horse until a couple of years previously to drive. "In the early days you found that those with licences had worked with stock all the time. They had a big advantage."

"You only had to compare the attitudes of some of the less experienced drivers today with those of men like Maurie Holmes, Peter Wolfenden and Bob Cameron. The topliners think about their drives for days, during the preliminary all they're concentrating on is the job in front of them. You don't see them chatting away to other drivers during the preliminaries. And at the start, they're not waiting for the tape to go past them, they're watching the starter all the time.By the time the tape's gone, so too have the top men. They don't wait."

Doyle's also critical of drivers pushing and shoving during races. "Those old hands don't push and shove...but at the same time, they wouldn't give you an inch. They know where everyone else is, and once they get to where they want to be, they stay there. And they're entitled to. Generally you get only one chance in a race and you've got to take it when you can. Not barge your way through when it's too late. They're not plough horses these fellows are driving. They're sensitive racehorses and must be nursed through, otherwise they're ruined." Doyle fully agrees with stipendiary stewards taking a hard line for interference. "They must be given the message somehow," he contends.

He recalls with some feeling the days when he could drive himself. "I had my greatest fun then. You pitted yourself against some of the finest chaps in the world, men like Gladdy McKendry, Dil Edwards, Freeman Holmes, Ces Donald, Ossie Hooper, Maurice Holmes, Maurice McTigue...the list goes on. They asked for no quarter, you gave them none. They were good friends, and if you fell out, well you just started off again."

It's time to bring the horses in, to start to get them settled for the night. There are some hours of work left yet and the bookwork hasn't been done this afternoon. Bill Doyle calls out as he goes from paddock to paddock, talks to those in their separate yards. The ones he wants follow him into the barn where they'll get their feet seen to...a brush and a feed.They're all individuals with their own needs. You've got to see they get them. Good food and good shelter. That's the story.

You leave him oiling a hoof. Late afternoon. Bill Doyle will be out and about again at five the next morning. A bit tough when your 77? Not really. That is when his morning helper arrives. "And I probably take the record for going to bed early. That helps."



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Article in HRWeekly 28Apr88

The death occurred on Monday of Bill Doyle. Regarded as someone special with the trotter, Bill was 82.

From Leeston, a farming area half an hour south of Christchurch, Bill Doyle became a legendary horseman right from the start of his career in harness racing.

At the age of 20, Bill took over a team of horses trained by his father. One of them was Prince Author, who soon after won the Reefton and Hokitika Cups. Like his father, Bill trained gallopers as well as trotters, and in 1933 prepared Thurlina to win the Grand National Steeplechase in the hands of his good friend Bert Ellis.

While his father had the store at Doyleston and ran his team from there, Bill bought a property at Leeston during the depression years. Prince Author was followed by the top trotter Mountain Mist, All Peters, Olson and the top racemare Violet Wrack, who left Passive. From nine foals, Passive produced eight winners - Reflective, Chances Are, When, So Rare, Asia Minor, Remember When, Wipeout, Someday and Snoopy.

In 1934, the stable was represented by the fine young pacer Subsidy, who finished second in the Sapling Stakes, then came out the next season to win the Great Northern Derby. Then came some outstanding trotters, notably the dashing Gold Horizon, When, Lament, Bomber, Going, About Now and Elite Rey.

Gold Horizon won the Worthy Queen Handicap, the Hambletonian Handicap (twice) and the NZ Trotting Free-For-All (twice). Lament won nine free-for-alls. Bomber won the Dominion Handicap in 1943 and When was invited to race in New York by Yonkers officials in the early 1960s.

Top pacers trained over the years included Betty Boop (winner of the 1944 Auckland Cup and the NZ Futurity Stakes). In The Mood (placed in the NZ Cup), Ned Worthy (winner of the Auckland Cup in 1940), Wipeout (10 wins), Showdown, Warform, Reason Why, Chances Are, Encircle, Now, Someday, All Alone and many others.

Until about 18 months ago, Bill was still training the young trotter Look. Quiet and modest. Bill Doyle was never one to dwell on the past.

Credit: Graham Ingram writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 9&16Feb82

Reta Peter with Trainer-Driver A G Wilson

RETA PETER

She was only a slight little thing of 15.1 hands. She had found out a string of trainers before she pranced into a stall at Alf Wilson's New Brighton stable one fine day in the year 1919: but she earned a place among the square-gaited immortals by defeating fields of pacers two years in succession in the NZ Cup.

Do you have a youngster in your family who wants to know why we call our premier event the NZ Trotting Cup when trotters no longer appear in it; haven't for years, in fact? And are you, like us, sometimes left wondering what a marvel of trotting speed, solidity and staying power Reta Peter must have been?

To the moderns it sounds almost like a fairy tale; bewildering to the younger generation who now so rarely enjoy the exhilarating spectacle of a trotter competing successfully against any sort of pacers. Reta Peter won the NZ Cup in 1920 and 1921, and she is the only trotter with two NZ Cups to her credit.

The late A G Wilson trained and drove Reta Peter for both her successes in the premier event from his famous training establishment, 'Myosotis Lodge,' New Brighton. The story of Reta Peter is set down here in Alf's own words:

"I had just returned from World War I and was not keen on starting training horses again," said Wilson. "In fact I had decided to give it up. But it wasn't to be. Frank Robson came to me and begged me to take Reta Peter to train. I said I'd give her a trial. The first thing I did was to have a look at her feet; she had 8oz shoes in front and 4oz toe-weights and I realised her feet were just murdered by too much weight. I decided on 5oz bar shoes and threw her toe-weights out altogether. When the late Bernie Fanning first examined her feet for me he drew my attention to her weak heels, which opened right out. After I had got her shod to my liking I sent her a mile on the grass track at New Brighton and she went 2:14, real time in 1919, when she did it, and she did it on her own. I got her about 15 months before the 1920 Cup, and that trial decided me - I was still a trainer."

"And she stood to me like the beauty she was; she won three two-mile events against horses of her own gait the first season I raced her. She was six then and already a champion. I remember one day she was giving away 16 seconds - they were handicapped by the bell then - and she was in front at the end of half a mile. Jack McLennan was driving one of the front horses and when Reta Peter passed him so early he shouted out to me, 'Where the hell did you come from'?"

"I realised I had something phenomenal in Reta Peter. I felt confident I could beat the best of the pacers and we thereupon set our caps at the NZ Cup," continued Wilson. "Reta Peter continued to increase our confidence. She did everything I asked of her, and more, and as the big day drew nearer I told everybody I would win. But most of them laughed. They couldn't imagine a trotter, something of a cast-off before she came to my stable, beating the pacers in the Cup."

"It certainly looked a tall order with Author Dillon in the field, but I never had any doubts about the result. Now I will try to go over the race for you again. She was on 9 seconds (the limit under modern handicaps)and began well for a trotter. She was in the middle of the field early. The last time round she was about seventh. She moved up for me at the half, and at the quarter post she came round wide out and won without being knocked about by the best part of a length from General Link and Author Dillon. The backmarker was Author Dillon, and Reta Peter's 4:30 2/5, forced him to go 4:21 4/5, a record for many years. When Author Dillon passed me with half a mile to go his driver, Ben Jarden, turned his head and said: 'Goodbye, Alf.' I replied: 'I'll see you later,' and sure enough, I did," chuckled Alf.

"The following season Reta Peter had no opportunity of a race before the Cup. She had been pin-fired in the meantime and I had to go very carefully with her. For her second Cup - 1921 - the limit was 4:32 and she was on the same mark as Sherwood, 7 seconds. Others in the field included Man O' War, 2 seconds; Albert Cling, 3 seconds; General Link, 6 seconds; Trix Pointer 6 seconds and John Dillon, 7 seconds. There were two false starts and she was first out in both of these. Eventually she got away well. With a round to go she ran up behind the leaders, Vice Admiral and Gleaming. Dil Edwards om Vice Admiral turned round and said to Bill Warren on Gleaming: 'Go on, Bill, here comes the bloody trotter.' She had he skin taken off both her front legs in the last half-mile and after finishing second to Sherwood she was given the race after an inquiry into Sherwood crossing her. I want you to put it on record for the benefit of those who don't know the full story that I didn't enter a protest against Sherwood. The Stipendiary Steward, Mr Mabee, took it up himself. Mr Robson showed Mr Mabee the mare's bleeding legs, and it was the 'stipe' who took up the case," asserted Wilson.

The NZ Trotting Register has the following: "Sherwood finished two lengths in front of Reta Peter, with Vice Admiral two lengths away third and Willie Lincoln a length and a half further back fourth. Sherwood, 4:29, Reta Peter, 4:29 1/5, Vice Admiral, 4:31. A protest was lodged by the owner of Reta Peter (F H Robson) against Sherwood for crossing Reta Peter in the straight. After consideration the stewards upheld the protest, placing Reta Peter first and Sherwood second and fining F G Holmes, driver of Sherwood, £25." This incident is still hotly debated by people who saw the race.

It was about this time that the bell system of starting gave way to the yards system and the standing start. Reta Peter's two-mile mark in the August Handicap, of 1922, a 4:34 class, was 60 yards; or 4:29. A third Cup victory was considered within her powers by Wilson, who related how well she was going in her training until a few days beforehand. "She actually broke down four or five days before the Cup," said Wilson. "She went behind, and there was no chance of mending her again. One of the most relieved men was Nelson Price, trainer of Agathos. Not that he wished Reta Peter any harm; but he rang me up and said his chances had improved since Reta Peter had gone out. He added that Reta Peter was the only one he was afraid of. Agathos duly won and only had to go 4:33 2/5 on a good track, so it certainly looked as though Reta would have been hard to beat again," said Wilson.

Alf describes Reta Peter as "Just a little slight thing, 15.1 hands." He remarked that she did not put up phenomenal times because she did not have to. He claims she trotted her last quarter of her first NZ Cup in 29 seconds, and that under the present system of handicapping she would have won a great fortune and improved her record by several seconds. "She had a lovely temperament," he said. "My grand-daughter used to brush her hind legs and was never in the slightest danger. She was a perfect and a treat to do anything with. Some idea of her quality will be given by the fact that the night before her first Cup I was entertaining some of my friends, including A J McFlinn, the well-known steeplechase jockey. When I showed him Reta Peter he said: 'Put a saddle on her, Alf, and she would not be out of place in the galloping Cup field.' She certainly had great quality and refinement for a trotter." added Wilson.

"You don't see many American sulkies on the racetracks today," remarked Wilson. "Reta Peter raced in a real American sulky, which is pounds lighter than most of the so-called speed carts in use here today. I contend the American sulky, which sits feet closer to the horse than a speed cart, is seconds faster. To begin with, the weight of the driver is not a dead drag or dead weight as in the speed cart. The weight of the driver in the sulky actually pushes the the cart under the horse, so to speak. The speed cart has to be pulled all the way, but the centre of gravity with an American sulky is actually forward of the driver's seat. That's the best explanation of the difference between the sulky and the speed cart I can give you. I hope it's fairly clear, because I think it's most important. I've taken particular notice of many good horses racing in speed carts of recent years and I feel more and more convinced that these carts are a dead drag on the shoulder or mouth of a horse."

"I do think that our best horses would improve up to 2 seconds on their times if they were trained and driven in American sulkies," continued Alf. "At the same time, I'm well aware of why the sulky went out of favour - the sulky, being a forward-weighted vehicle with it's centre of balance in front of the driver, frequently went underneath a horse when the horses reared at the start. There was a lot of this with sulkies. Speed carts do not run under a horse so easily, which is probably one of the main reasons why they have almost pushed the American sulky off the racetrack. The standing start also had a lot to do with this change. Under the old clock system of starting, horses were constantly on the move, and there was little fear of a horse rearing and over-balancing. The standing start altered all that and made the speed cart a safer vehicle for horses having to line up at the barrier. For all that, I think our champions would be able to do a lot better in American sulkies."


Credit: 'Ribbonwood' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 3Nov65

LEICESTER MAIDENS

Now forgotten, a lesson on how few "legends" last beyond our own time, Winchmore trainer Leicester Maidens produced some amazing results with "has been" pacers and trotters on both sides of the Tasman in the 1930's and 1940's. What was his secret? - and did it later play a role in Bart Cummings winning at least one of his Melbourne Cups?

Maiden's feats with top class veteran horses remain unequalled. In 1941, fresh from a two year retirement on health grounds, he won 23 races just from January to July when leading trainer Ces Donald had 34 for the whole season. More remarkably, the youngest of his winners was eight and the eldest two were 12! Zincali, raced by West Coast All Black, Jack Steel, and formerly with experts Maurice McTigue and "Dil" Edwards, was the leading stakes earner nationally, winning six races and setting an Australasian record for a mile and a half.

In 1936 when asked to take a "lost cause" for Ashburton owner, Harry Nicoll, Maidens agreed - if he could also try the New Zealand Cup/ Dominion Handicap winner Wrackler, then 10, which had been hacked in retirement for more than 12 months. Nicoll reluctantly agreed and within three months Wrackler had won the Addington Handicap beating most of the best open class trotters around.

Born in 1900 into an Ashburton farming family, the personable and popular Maidens first came to prominence with Harvest Child, one of two high class winners from th first crop of the "hyped" expensive stallion, Sonoma Harvester who never repeated the feat. Past his best and a refugee from stables such as that of Freeman Holmes, Harvest Child was rejuvenated under Maidens.

At his 1930's peak Maidens had 30 horses in work near Methven, a huge number then. Rollo, then a 12-year-old, had been retired out of Roy Berry's stable but won several rich races for Maidens. Peter Locanda, Marie Celeste - both 10 year olds - Zingarrie, Jesse Owens - who won four of his six starts for Maidens after being taken over from Dinny Teahen of Certissimus fame - and Palomar were other great successes.

His two best results, apart from Zincali, were Blue Mountain and Peter Smith. Blue Mountain was a tough grey horse owned bt Mrs Inex Sweetapple of Auckland and fornerly with Jack Shaw before Maidens raced him in partnership with his owner. He went within a length of beating Indianapolis in that champion's first NZ Cup in 1934, anothe champion Harold Logan being three lengths away.

Maidens inherited Peter Smith late in his career. He won the rich Olivier Handicap and ran third in three NZ Cup attempts, his problem on Cup Day being that as a fast beginner he was always dragging the field up to inevitable tearaway pacemaker, Gold Bar.

Maidens retired again in 1945 and took over the Royal Hotel in Palmerston North. In 17 seasons training by his count he had been in the top four trainers or drivers seven times and rarely outside the top five. In 1949 Maidens turned up in Melbourne, claiming health reasons though his wife, Margaret, remained in Palmerston North. After a time he took over a free-legged pacer well past his best called Dauntless Peter and decided to train him in hopples, something the horse hated with a passion. "He tried to kick them off every day for six weeks," Maidens recalled.

Largely thanks to a rejuvenated Dauntless Peter who beat the best in the Melbourne Free-For-All in spite of carrying a buckled wheel for most of the way so bad the driver had to sit on one side of the cart, Maidens then won a Melbourne trainer's premiership. Later, in 1953, he was on the front pages (headline "Women Screamed) after surviving a spetacular smash at the Showgrounds when thrown 20ft high in the air, and he was also a guest columnist in the Melbourne Argus.

He was then private trainer for owner/breeder Bob Stewart but after a time there was strife with the stewards over the form of Silver Trigger in two races the same night at a provincial meeting. Owner-trainer and horse were disqualified for 12 months. On appeal Stewart was absolved. However Maidens, who had been in trouble for giving the stewards a "serve" about them talking to him before the start of the race on the night, (he won one race and was second in the other) lost his appeal in spite of several impressive character witnesses in his defence. Stewart sold up in favour of galloping in disgust. Maidens later retired and died in Toorak, Melbourne, in 1973.

The Maidens secret? Various tonics were in use in that era but few were unknown to the top trainers on whom Maidens seemed to improve on time after time. He had either found an effective form of natural hormone treatment or, as he himself seemed to claim, he was ahead of his time in recognising the role of ulcers on the performance of older horses. "Old horses suffer more from ulcers because of stress and the standard training feeding diet ofter makes it worse," Maidens once said in an interview. "Ulcers are painful and have a big effect on diet and work. I pay special attention to diets for my horses (lower oats content, special cooked supplements) and work them less to cut stress."

60 years later, after veteran Rogan Josh came from nowhere to win the 1999 Melbourne Cup, Bart Cummings sang the praises of an ulcer product as the winning edge. Treating ulcers became a racing fad - until an ingredient was found to be a prohibited substance. Ulcer treatment remains large in the training of older horses as a result.

It would have been another story the colourful Leicester Maidens would love to have told.

Credit: David McCarthy writing in HR Weekly 6Feb13