CLICK HERE TO GO BACK

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

 

YEAR: 2008

2008 GARRY THOMPSON/ FRED SHAW NZ TROTTING CHAMPIONSHIP

In just 23 starts, Mountbatten has climbed to the top of the trotting ranks in New Zealand. He has won eight races, and more than $200,000. He has won two Group 1s, the Dominion Handicap and the $100,000 Garry Thompson/ Fred Shaw NZ Trotting Championship at Addington last Friday.

Considering he won a one-win front from ten metres behind at the start of the season, Mountbatten's elevation has been remarkable. He followed the Dominion with three races over Christmas at Auckland and Cambridge, and his second to Idid It Myway on the first night of the Met's Easter meeting was his first race for two and a half months. Tim Butt, who trains him with Phil Anderson, was a little concerned when he was beaten by Awesome Imace and Houdini Star the next week, so there was no day off for him last week. "He's a very athletic horse. He's got a big Sundon motor and he's a lot better that what people think," Butt said.

Anthony Butt reached the front with him at the 2000 metres, and he gradually pulled well clear of the others to beat Galleons Assassin by three lengths, who had a long neck on Lotsa Speed, Mountbatten's stablemate and possibly a big mover in waiting in the open class ranks. Idid It Myway broke at the 1000 metres when trying to improve.

Credit: HRWeekly 9Apr08

 

YEAR: 2008

2008 BALLANTYNES TROT

Club syndicates acquiring yearlings at the Sales by trainers selecting them from the middle market is a concept that has proved an outstanding success, and another chapter was written in that story when Roydon Flash took out the featured Ballantynes Trot on New Zealand Cup Day at Addington. A good and consistent sort who is "always a chance," Roydon Flash recorded his ninth win on Tuesday, and along with 13 seconds from his 49 starts to date the 6-year-old son of S J's Photo has now won around $120,000.

Anthony Butt gave the gelding a lovely trip on the outer and he outgunned Braig and the brave pacemaking mare Marie Wishes close to home. Roydon Flash will now back up in Friday's $100,000 NZ Trotting FFA and the $300,000 Dominion Handicap on Friday week. "He might as well race on Friday - that will save me having to work him," said co-trainer Tim Butt. "The trotters don't actually look overly strong at the moment so this could be a very good meeting for him," he added.

Tuesday was already good enough for most of the many people involved in the Met Three Syndicate, which purchased three horses out of the 2004 Premier Sale. The three leading trainers from Addington the previous season have got to do the honours at each sale in recent years, and that year Ken Barron sorted out Willie Five 0, who managed a win at Addington a couple of years ago. Cran Dalgety had selected Analyst, a smart youngster who won a Sires' Stakes 2YO Silver at Addington and started in the Sires' Stakes 3YO Final won by Pay Me Christian. The Presidential Ball colt won four races and $54,000 before he was sold to America.

The syndicates had started out with Met One, which had three winners including a good sort in Pocket Game (4 NZ wins, $64,000) for Barron. Met Two went even better however with New Zealand Derby winner and unlucky Cup runner Likmesiah (13 NZ wins, $424,000) along with Danger Sign (7 NZ wins, $59,000). Met Four races rising star Texas Hold Em, who was second later on Tuesday, along with Jack Jack Attack who has managed half a dozen placings to date. Met Five has three 2-year-olds by Christian Cullen and McArdle and a brother to Sovereignty, while Met Co-Syndicate Manager Blair Cartwright says they are likely to "go again" next year with the amount of interest about. "We normally have a syndicate every second year, but the next one is half full already and we haven't even put it to the existing syndicate members yet," said Cartwright. "It is the horse which make it so successful and easy - I call Roydon Flash out little Eftpos machine," he added.

It was Tim Butt who instigated buying a trotter when the syndicates had previously sought pacers. "Most pacers win a race or two and they have reached their mark, but if you can get a decent trotter, they can go on racing and winning for years," said Butt. "Roydon Flash might not be able to beat the good trotters, but he is still pretty good. He has speed and he can stay so he is always a chance," he added.

Butt recalls that he looked at four colts by S J's Photo in the 2004 Sale and wound up with the last of them for his budgeted $25,000. "He was actually the smallest one of them, but he was out of a Simon Roydon half-sister to Sundon and he had no faults. I don't think the others did any good." The others were Lightscameraction, who won a two-horse Breeders' Crown event as a 2-year-old, and who is still trying to win another race in Australia, along with Kyvalley Mirage (8 Aus wins, $34,775) and Locophoto, who raced without winning.

Once through the Cup Meeting, Roydon Flash will either go to Auckland for Christmas racing or to Victoria, but either way he is heading for the Inter-Dominions.

Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 13Nov08

 

YEAR: 2007

Anthony Butt after the 2007 Easter Cup
Tuherbs isn't likely to be seen in any other colour but yellow for the next eight weeks. They are the specially designed silks worn by the Tour Leaders in this year's inaugural Harness Jewels Series, and Tuherbs made it all-but certain that his will be staying with him when he brilliantly won the Group 1 George Calvert Cleaning Easter Cup at Addington on Saturday night.

It was also a superlative drive from his yellow-jersey wearing pilot Anthony Butt, because after settling three-deep early he made a split-second decision to ease Tuherbs off and into the one-one when the chance presented itself as the field wheeled into the straight for the second-to-last time. Movers were coming around thick and fast at that stage, but instead of getting caught Butt managed to hop onto the back of Sly Flyin as he shot forward 600 metres out and then tracked him all the way to the home bend. Once straightened, Tuherbs powered through the slush and pulled away from a blanket finish behind him involveing Likmesiah, Classic Line, Highview Badlands and Sly Flyin, who all finished within a half a length of each other.

The night belonged to the Live Or Die gelding though, and his 3200m victory was completed in a very quick 4:03.9; once again, another big-race plan came to fruition for master trainers Tim Butt and Phil Anderson. "This race has been a long term aim ever since about Cup time when he was getting through the grades," Anderson said afterwards. "He's a good stand-start horse, so it's always been in the pipeline. And he's kept stepping up, hasn't he."

Tuherbs has always been a pacer that's promised lots, being twice a winner and twice placed from four juvenile starts, but then his career went off the boil at three when he remained winless from five outings, the last two of them across the Tasman. The training partners at Premier Stables never panicked though, and remained unfazed after the fruitless Australian campaign. You can sense that Tuherb's form this season - seven wins from 13 starts - was more or less predicted, even expected. "He's always been more in the mould of a Cup horse than a young star," Anderson continued. "It's just because of the way his mind and body was - he was too big and gangly. And in the early days he was just running on ability, now he's getting there on ability combined with the right frame. The trips away play a big part in that. We like to give all our good horses one...they go away boys and come back men."

Coming up for Tuherbs in the next few weeks is the Noel J Taylor Mile/ NZ Messenger double in Auckland on April 27 and May 4 respectively, both of which will suit a versatile type like Tuherbs, and then it's full steam ahead for the $200,000 Harness Emerald at Ashburton on June 2. Anderson says that the time of year for the latter event doesn't suggest it'll produce produce a super fast mile, but he knows thathis and Butt's representative is capable of one just the same. "He's already gone a quick time there," Anderson said, remembering the three and three-quarter length romp in 1:54.7 that Tuherbs achieved last October. "H rolled along in front that day, which he likes to do. But he has always had that speed, and now he can stay a bit too," he added with a wry grin.

From the Fitch II mare Futurist and bred by Roydon Lodge Stud, Tuherbs was bought out of the Dave Anderson stable by Terry McDonald and his good mate Eddie Griffin before he had even raced. It was a punt that paid off for McDonald - who's not afraid of having one - because Tuherbs won his debut when he contested the NZ Welcome Stakes at Addington and beat home Pay Me Christian that night. The gelding has now won nine of his 22 starts, and netted over $210,000 in stakemoney.

McDonald is a long-time supporter of the industry, having raced many horses from the Graham Court stable and also sponsored events via his company Resource Recycling Ltd. Saturday night finished in style for him when Bad All Over led all the way and won the last eventon the programme in the hands of Court's son Paul. A 3 year old by Badlands Hanover out of the Live Or Die mare Love To Live, the gelding was bred and is raced by McDonald and has now put together four victories in 11 starts.



Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 12Apr07

 

YEAR: 2007

As a trainer of Dominion Handicap winner Simon Katz, Dick Prendergast is remembered more for his talents with a trotter. He had so many of them. In a 10-year period, between 1985/6 and 1994/5, his horses won more than $1 million. For someone who did not turn to training as a career until he was 42, it's a proud record.

Now he's 76. He has two artificial knees. He has three vertebrae fused together in his spine. He has a stent in his heart. He says the rest of his body is nearly "knackered." So his decision the other week to retire from training "was easily made."

For me, I had the good fortune to deal with a mind that was in better shape than the body. When Dick said he would make a few notes, I did not expect a neatly handwritten script that would save countless hours of research. So many good horses would have gone without mention had his memory not been as sharp as it is.

His official start is 1956 when he became licenced, but historically its earlier than that because his father, Bill, who had a carrying business, won the Sapling Stakes with Wildwood Chief for Wes Butt. Dick was 28 when he trained and drove his first winner. From Hyde, he took his Direct Heir mare Tessa to the Cromwell meeting in March 1959, where she beat Spree, driven by his brother, Mick.

In 1963, he moved to Palmerston, where he worked as shearer, truck driver, contract fencer and farmer, and held an amateur trainer's and driver's licence. When health problems became an issue, he sold the farm, brought 60 acres opposite the Oamaru Racecourse, built a house and stables and started breaking-in horses.

The next step was to a racing team, and he soon had one, with Israel an early star. By Crockett, and owned by Dave Cuttance, Israel won seven races, went through the 1981 NZ Cup meeting unbeaten in the intermediate grade, and won a prize for doing that. At the same time, he had the good pacer Hajano, by Jersey Hanover, who won eight, and his half-brother Johnny Balbo, who won four. "Johnny Balbo was sold to the US for $50,000 - big money thirty years ago," he said.

By this stage, Prendergast was in the game for keeps and, deciding there was too much travelling from Oamaru and aware of work opportunities needed for the family, moved to Chertsey where he bought Slim Dykman's stable. "We did so with some trepidation about breaking into the ranks of Canterbury trainers, but our first three out of the gate - Bay Sun, Major Hest and Johnny Balbo - all won."

This, he said, was the start of a "golden era". He worked 25, and had three on the staff. The pin-up boy was undoubtedly Simon Katz, a handsome son of Noble Lord and the Eagle Armbro mare, Carly Tryax, who rose above his pedigree. Prendergast drove him to win the first 12 of his 18 wins, then son-in-law Anthony Butt took over and won the NZ Trotting Free-For-All and the Domnion Handicap in 1987, and Simon Katz won the same prize Israel did six years earlier. His placings included a second in the Rowe Cup, third in the Inter-Dominion Grand Final at Moonee Valley, and his stakes topped $300,000. Within a year Simon Katz was dead from cancer.

Good trotters followed a top one, among them Zola's Pride(8 wins), Robbie Hest(8, including the NZ Trotting Stakes), Springfield Yankee(8), Whizzing By(8, including the NZ Trotting Stakes and Dunedin Cup), and Worthy Adios. Double Stitch won six, and he says Hickory Stick was the fastest he had. "This horse came from Stuart Sutherland as an open class trotter who had broken down and had not raced in eighteen months. In the space of twelve months for me, he won five races, including the Banks Peninsula Cup, the Ordeal Cup and the Canterbury Park Trotting Cup."

Although trotters were always the stable flavour, smart pacers were there, too. Light Foyle won nine before being sold to the US where he won another 30, General McArthur won four before breaking down, free-legged Bay Loch won four, and Eddie Ray won four. A special project was The Coaster, a son of Soky's Atom who was a good pacer for Brian Kerr and won six. Starting off as a maiden trotter, The Coaster won another six at that gait. Others of note were Weston Gee, Weston Bo, Light Buffy and Geena Hest.

"I made a profession from a hobby, and because I got a lot of trotters, it was a brand that stuck. There will always be horses that disappoint you, but others will give you great memories. I think I drove alright. If it was spasmodic, it was not so much me driving a bad race but driving a bad horse." As a driver, he especially treasures winning the Ordeal Cup and the Canterbury Park Cup with Simon Katz, the Trotting Stakes with Robbie Hest and Whizzing By, finishing second in the Dullard Cup with Simon Katz, and winning one of the last saddle races in NZ on Roman Scot for Davey Todd.

He had an excellent strike-rate with developing young horsemen, with Phil Williamson, Graham Ward, Michael Heenan, Greg Tait, and Carl Markham training under his wing, and Kerry O'Reilly, Anthony Butt and his wife Leonie invaluable in other areas. He was a keen and able administrator, serving more than 40 years on various OTB committees, and horsemen's associations.

With no more feed-ups to do, yards to clean and boxes to muck out, 'noms' to think of, track to grade and truck to run, Prendergast has time to do things a man of his vintage should happily retire to. "It's time to watch progress of our many friends, and particularly of my grandson Chris Butt" - who is working for Tim Butt and Phil Anderson - "who will soon have his trials licence, and his sister Kimberley who is doing very well in the pony club."

-o0o-

Hard knocks are part of being a driver, and Prendergast had his share.

The worst was at Invercargill about 30 years ago when he was driving Kimrock. There was trouble at the start and a couple of drivers were tipped out. The rest set off. In the meantime, the ambulance went to th rescue and was parked in the middle of the track. It was there when Kimrock came round and hit it. Prendergast was tossed into the air, and landed heavily.

He drove his float home afterwards, and Leonie recalls she had to carry him inside. That was in January, but it was not until November that he had surgery on his back, and it was another six months before he was near right again. "It had an affect on his life," she said. "He's never really been a hundred percent free of pain since."




Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 31Oct07

 

YEAR: 2007

Flashing Red had to run a NZ record over 3200m to win the $750,000 2007 Christchurch Casino NZ Cup last Tuesday.

Written off as a pale portrait of the horse he was when he carried all before him last spring, Flashing Red overcame a 15m handicap and 14 others in a punishing, grinding, desparate drive to the finish. He was beaten at the 100m; had seen young star Monkey King go past, and then, briefly his stablemate Tribute. This was as near as Flashing Red was going to get and everyone was proud of him. But old horses just don't go away, not when they're great and have done it before, and not when their name is Flashing Red.

With more determination than most have ever seen, Flashing Red must have sensed that Monkey King hadn't finished with the king-hit he needed. Not even gradually, he closed up again, and 20 metres from the finish he was slowly widening the margin to win a magnificent race.

Was there disbelief? Almost. Was there astonishment? Yes. Was there acknowledgement for the greatest staying effort ever seen in the Cup? Yes, yes.

Flashing Red got there the hard way. He made a fair beginning, passing the breakers Foreal, Awesome Armbro and It's Ella. Changeover had made a fast start, and led until David Butcher gave way to Classic Cullen two laps out. This left Baileys Dream parked out, Roman Gladiator inside him, and Sly Flyin on his back. For the first mile, Anthony Butt sat at the back with Tribute and Monkey King. It was quick enough, so there was no hurry to get moving. Just before the 100m, he knew it was time to go. He rattled up Flashing Red. They set off, and Tribute followed, and Monkey King followed Tribute.

They made good, steady progress, and Flashing Red was as strong of any of them on the corner, outside Baileys Dream and Classic Cullen, who were both spent or getting near it, and look! Monkey King has joined in and looking sharp. Sly Flyin is also in the picture, and so is Changeover but he's in a spot of bother behind the tiring Classic Cullen.

With 25,000 people makng noises of some sorts, Monkey King appeared at the 100m as if he had the race by the collar. Stephen Reid, his driver, must have thought so. Had it been anything other than Flashing Red, he certainly would have got away with it. But no-one tangles with Flashing Red at the end of 3200 metres in a record 3:57.8 and has his nose in front at the end of it. Ask Monkey King. He Knows.

-o0o-

The Cup Flashing Red won as an old horse last year will stay where it is. As an older horse this year, he bucked the odds, silenced the young pretenders, and produced what must be the greatest staying performance seen anywhere, anytime. Could any horse have climbed the harness racing mountain from ground-zero that Flashing Red faced this season, as a 10-year-old? And when his campaign seemed as good as gone, could Tim Butt and Phil Anderson and Anthony Butt then pick him up from the canvas and turn him into the 4:00.3 two-mile mauler he was a year ago? When everything said they couldn't, they did.

His win over Monkey King at Addington last Tuesday was certainly a five-star, must-see wonderment. The old dog-over the hill, a handicap to overcome, no longer the mighty marathon cruiser he used to be; little leg ailments - much to much on his plate really. Tim Butt never dropped his guard that far. He was keener on his stablemate Tribute, never on Foreal, but he kept safe and coy with Flashing Red, saying there might be one big race in him somewhere. He never said it would be the $750,000 2007 Christchurch Casino NZ Cup, and only 50 metres from the finish did he know for sure that it was.

Unlike last year, when Flashing Red was more or less invincible and went into the Cup with three successive wins, this campaign and build-up had never reached any glitzy heights. Tim said it was almost as if there were two different horses. He was thrilled when he started his build-up to the Cup again, pretty much quickly on target with his second in the Avon City Ford Cup to Baileys Dream, but the run took the edge off him. He had three further races, and appeared to slip with each of them. Not only was the prospect of winning a second Cup fading by the week, but there was the daunting challenge after his fading sixth at Ashburton of not knowing for sure what was needed to turn him round, if indeed it could be done.

Butt could see it wasn't the same as what it was the previous year. He knew they had to do something different when it was taking him so long to recover from his races. "He was fit enough, we knew that, so we focused on eliminating anything that might have worried him. We took him to the beach for his training. We'd had a little problem with a front joint, we thought he might have had ulcers. We were really going into unchartered territory with him, but we've always had faith." With a new battle plan underway, and deciding that going into the Cup fresh was the only chance they had, they anxiously monitored his revitalisation programme. "In the last seven days, you could see the change," he said. "And for his last hopple, he worked super. I still thought we might have been coming a week too late."

When he assessed the race, Butt saw a few pluses. "He was off fifteen metres, but that didn't worry me. I thought that two miles might negate that handicap. He has shown before that he rises to the occasion in these big races. And I thought he was old last year at nine, and here he is at ten. I wasn't as confident as I was last year, but I felt he'd still go a cheeky race." Deep down, he suspected Flashing Red might prove him wrong, as he had done before. "I could see Ants was very patient with him over that final mile, and then he had to go when he did. In the end, you've just got to do it. You still know that when they get older, you can't go to the well every week." This was a day in the week when the well was full. "I was yelling for him; I knew Monkey King might come to the end of it."

While Anderson and the Butts will see the end of Flashing Red's NZ racing career on Friday, it will also signal the start of another because there is a plan to return him next season to stand at stud in the South Island. Former trainer and part-owner Stuart Hunter said he would compete next month in the Victoria Cup and other Grand Circuit races in Australia, and his Cup win has already gained him a semi-final start in the new version of the Inter-Dominions

Hunter always enjoys recalling the manner in which he and part-owner Norm Jenkins came by Flashing Red. "He was racing down in Tasmania and bought by Barrie Rattray for $20,000. He was quoted to me at $40,000, which I was told was far too much. Nothing happened for a number of months, but I was still keen and eventually said I was going to go down and if I liked him I'd pay the price. It was an awful day and he was running in mud, but I thought he had some try in him. He always wanted to give you something more. So I paid the $40,000. He can run four twenty-eight quarters, and that can break their hearts." Hunter said he was so much better racing on the bigger tracks in NZ. "He'll race in a fifty-five inch hopple back home, and here he can go in a sixty-one inch. He's exceptional like that, and can stay a lot better."

Jenkins, natually enough, is happy to leave it to those who know best. "They're the experts; I just listen to what they say. I couldn't believe it. I didn't expect him to fight back when he was headed."

Of course, that's exactly what Tim did expect. "He rates right up there with Hands Down and Blossom Lady as the great stayers I've seen. Fortunately I can do what I like without pressure, and that only comes with experience. He was down and out, and he came back."

Back to win another Cup - now that takes a special kind of greatness.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 15Nov07

 

YEAR: 2006

Queenslanders Norm Jenkins & Stu Hunter
Stu Hunter remembers the day he went to Tasmania to see if Flashing Red felt like a horse worth buying. "I had been in snow and blizzards while I was training in America, but on this day the track was a bog; I had three raincoats on and we didn't want to be there. But when I trialled him he did whatever I asked him to do, and I thought a horse who would do that in those conditions might be tough so we bought him."

Aged 53, Hunter had cut his teeth working as a groom for Ross Croghan, and after 18 years in the States and 18 years back home, it wasn't hard for him to know the feel of a good horse. "I had seen him race in Tasmania about four years ago, and I phoned a friend about him and he told me he wasn't for sale. But soon after Barrie Rattray brought him from his owner at the time, Eric Blomquist, for $20,000, and soon after that we heard he was on the market for $40,000. After going down there, the price didn't put us off, and he's been in the finish of all the big ones over home," he said.

That means placings in the Hunter Cup, South Australia Cup, Fremantle Cup, Victoria Cup, Tooheys Mile, Inter-Dominion heat wins, and beating Mister D G in the Ballarat Cup - 13 first three Grand Circuit finishes all told.

Hunter, who previously raced Hyperstat in the 1987 Cup won by Lightning Blue from Luxury Liner and trained former New Zealander Happy Sunrise after he finished second in the Miracle Mile, was keen on the Cup idea as soon as Anthony Butt mentioned it. "He is a horse that's always thrived away from home. I knew he wouldn't be gone when the other horse went past him at the 600m. I just wasn't concerned because I'd seen what he had done racing in the Hunter Cup against Elsu. When you click him up, there is plenty of try in him. It was a scary drive but a great one," he said.

Since arriving at Premier Stables two months ago, Flashing Red has found the regime most agreeable and the staff, especially Aimee Edmonds, quickly made him a stable favourite. "You only dream about getting horses like Flashing Red, and I knew how tough he was," said Tim Butt. "He came over in terrific order. We stuck to the game plan all through, with eleven days between races." Naturally, he was thrilled to win the race, one that his grandfather the late Derek Jones won with Hands Down and Blossom Lady. "It was terrific. We were bought up with the NZ Cup, and the Hands Down one was the best I've seen. I've had five previous starters, so it is good to get the monkey off my back," he said.

Flashing Red is owned by Norm Jenkins, a Queensland property developer.

While Butt said it was a team effort, he paid Flashing Red the ultimate compliment: "When he came to out place he was just another horse. What we got is a horse with a determination to win. There will always be a box for him at home."

-o0o-

(Article but John Robinson, HRWeekly, 16Nov06)

It was fitting that Cobbity Classic should run second to Flashing Red in Tuesday's NZ Cup, because he's the main reason why the runner-up was even here in the first place. Cobbity Classic's connections watched with interest from across the Tasman as Flashing Red grew in stature in the weeks leading up to the Cup; in a way, he was their measuring stick.

"We've gotten pretty used to racing him at home, so we know what he's like," said John McCarthy, Cobbity Classic's Queensland-based trainer. "Yes, we've had a few duels. And I actually think they're pretty similar sorts of horses. I didn't realise it, but someone told me just recently that they've raced against each other twenty times, and Cobbity's beaten him in fourteen of them. so seeing how Flashing Red was going so well across here, we kept paying up for the Cup.Th otherv thing in the back of my mind was that I didn't want Cobbity and our other two Grand Circuit horses (Be Good Johnny and Slipnslide) racing against each other all the time."

In the wash-up, Cobbity Classic came up a length and a quarter short of beating his more favoured fellow Australian - meaning that New Zealand's biggest event was quinellaed by a couple of Queenslanders. "Why not? You blokes do it to us enough times," McCarthy smiled. "But no this is a big thrill, and we're ecstatic. Andrew (son) drove him perfect, and he's only twenty so he will learn a lot from the experience too. Prior to the race we did talk about holding Flashing Red out and trying to lead ourselves, but this is the biggest track he has ever raced on and Red was probably the right horse to follow anyway."

Cobbity Classic only arrived in New Zealand seven days prior to the Cup, landing in Auckland then getting a connecting flight to Christchurch where he stayed with Catherine and David Butt out at Woodend Beach. And despite the 'hit and run' nature of the trip, the McCarthy clan were confident. "He is a good two-miler, so I knew the distance of the Cup wouldn't worry him," McCarthy continued. "He'd had two Grand Curcuit races back home and went really good in both of them, plus we train them in the sand so they are always pretty fit. And even though he has won a couple of Sinshine Sprints, including this year's one in 1:54, staying is his forte."

McCarthy believes that Queensland pacers running one-two in the Cup just further emphasises how far the State has come in recent years. "People under-estimate Queensland racing, yet it's gotten really, really strong lately. From oue stable alone, we won five Grand Circuit races last season. And I don't think Flashing Red's gone any better over here; you've got to remember, he had won two heats of the Inter-Dominion."

Cobbity Classic will step out again in the NZ Free-For-All this Friday, where he is expected to acquit himself well again. This year has been his trainer's first taste of Cup Week in Christchurch, and it won't be his last. "We might have to come back again now," McCarthy said. "Probably with Cobbity, because he is only eight and a year younger than Flashing Red. Or maybe one of our other two. They are not as tough as Cobbity but they have got a bit of zip."

-o0o-

Among the beaten brigade behind the two Queenslanders on Tuesday was favourite Mainland Banner, who finished worse than second for the first time in her 20-start career when coming home ninth. "She got a perfect walk-in start, and then galloped," driver Ricky May lamented. "Sheshould not have done it really. Waipawa Lad galloped too, and I ended up back with him so it did cost us some ground. After that I took my time getting around them. The pressure really went on all of us when Winforu went. We were following Ants (Anthony Butt on Flashing Red) round the last bend, but sh was under sufference by then. She battled on okay afterwards," he said




Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 16Nov06

 

YEAR: 2006

Derek Jones MMNZ
Derek Jones was a man with a magnetizing personality. His sincerity, lightning wit, kindness, generosity, fairness, and above all, an easy-going charm, made him everyone's friend. Like a valuable commodity, Derek collected them from near and far, but especially within harness racing where he was renowned throughout the world.

He was a superior horseman who trained more than 1000 winners, an entertaining raconteur and speaker, eulogist, part-time barber, and one who never lacked stamina when social activities demanded it. He was a spark at any gathering: no-one left his company without a smile. In short, he had qualities that cut a man above the rest. His death, last Friday at the age of 79, after complications following heart surgery three days earlier, was unexpected.

In the dust cover of his biography 'Win Without Boasting', author Don Wright introduced it by saying: "A master horseman, devoted industry servant, family patriarch, humorist, and a friend to all, especially those in less fortunate circumstances. Those qualities and characteristics sum up the life of Derek Jones MMNZ. A respected citizen, his consideration for others and ability to make friends is legendary. His mirth, humour and generosity towards all, including his staff, young horsemen and rivals have endeared him to many from all walks of life and stamped as a pillar of the industry. The famous Templeton trainer/driver is patriarch of a harness racing family that continues to exert a profound influence."

As an administrator, he was President of the New Zealand Trotting Trainers' and Driver' Association, and served in the same capacity for the Banks Peninsula Trotting Club. He was a trustee of the Addington Harness Racing Hall of Fame, honoured with a special award from the NZ Trotting Hall of Fame, and he gained recognition outside harness racing for the work he did inside with his NZ Order of Merit award six years ago.

He was also a tireless campaigner for achieving a fee for drivers. "When I started, a trainer didn't get paid if he drove a horse he trained. But you got paid if you drove a horse for someone else. It was ludicrous."

Derek's remarkable record as a trainer and a driver have been overshadowed in recent years by talented family members profiting from his actions in standing aside. Son Peter said winning the New Zealand Cup for his father with Hands Down was a bigger thrill than when he trained Borana to win it. "I wanted the win with Hands Down to be a bigger thrill for my parents than me. It was a way of paying them back for all they had done for me."

Derek's grandson Anthony Butt was given favourable opportunities to establish himself, and in his first season of driving won the national junior drivers, title. Butt recalled a remark that was so typical of his grandfather..."I remember being in the drivers' room after Blossom Lady ran fifth in her first NZ Cup, and feeling so disappointed about it, but Derek came into the room and said 'at least it saves us from having a party'. I felt a bit better after that." His brother Roddy was also a former national junior driving champion, and Tim, another grandson, trained recent champions Take A Moment and Lyell Creek, plus top liners Sonofthedon, Happy Asset, Mister D G and Foreal. Other trainers who 'did their time' with Derek and became successful were Nigel McGrath, Erin Crawford, Stephen Doody, Kelvin Harrison, Ray Sharpe and Andrew Stuart.

Training in partnership with Jack Grant, Derek headed the Training Premiership twice, in 1965 and 1969. Grant, who was with Derek for 24 years and stable foreman before becoming a training partner, said: "They were the best years of my life. If anyone should have driven 1000 winners" - he drove 814 - "it should have been Derek, but he stood down for Peter and then for Anthony."

Top trainers Max Miller and Tommy Behrns can vouch for his generosity and kindness. Miller said: "He was a special sort of fellow. I had Jacquinot Bay who was a good horse, and I wanted to race him in sprints and take him to Hutt Park. It didn't suit the owner who wanted to race him in the Cup, so he got Derek to train him. He ran third in the Hannon but didn't do much else. When he was sold, soon after, Derek sent the commission to me. I wouldn't expect many others to do that."

Behrns said he was the most caring guy in the game, "and we are not talking about racing here. I'm referring to the times he spent seeing the elderly and infirmed. Time after time you would see him leaving the trials and take off to visit someone in a home or the hospital. There wouldn't be a month that went by without him coming to see dad (Jack), and for the last five years he was housebound and didn't get many visitors. He meant the world to dad. He'd done it all his life."

Derek was born in Christchurch in 1926 and became a hardresser "long enough for me to get sick of it". He started his driving career at Methven in 1946, aged 19, and drove his first winner - Quite Clever - in a division race at Riccarton two months later. Soon after, he moved north, winning races with Silent Knight and Culture, two smart horses trained by Dan Fraser.

His first horse of great class was Soangetaha, who arrived while he was still a young man. A son of Light Brigade, Soangetaha was one of three horses brought south by Derek in 1949 following an air crash that claimed the life of Andy Ryland. Culture and Barrier Reef were the others. Soangetaha won 15 races including two Auckland Cups, two heats of the Inter-Dominion and was runner-up in the Grand Final. "He was a superb horse. They talk about Harold Logan, but I never had a horse that could begin as quick." The year after Soangetaha was beaten in the Grand Final, he won the Dominion Handicap with Barrier Reef, always regarded by Derek as the fastest trotter he has driven. Many good horses followed, including Trueco, Dismiss, Somerset Lad, Slick Chick, Cheta, Lochgair, Dispense, Snowline, Dupreez, Our Own, Diarac, Doctor Dan, Ardleigh, Smokeaway and Disband.

Derek had great affection for Disband, a U Scott mare renowned for her notoriously bad manners at the start. "She would never begin," he said. "The first time she got a mobile she had too much class for them."

At the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, Leading Light, Light View and Topeka were stable stars, followed by Premiership, Hands Down and Blossom Lady. Hands Down won a NZ Cup, three Easter Cups, four Louisson Handicaps and a NZ Free-For-All. Derek drove him in most of his trackwork, but Peter handled him on raceday.

As great as the good ones were, Derek thought Blossom Lady was the best of them. "Ability-wise, she had to be the best I had." He said when she was at her peak that he had to "murder her in training. The harder you were on her, the better she would race. It was simply a matter of facing up to that reality. Her recovery powers after strenuous races and work were amazing. That was what stood to her and made her such a great stayer." Besides the NZ Cup, she won 43 other races including two Standardbred Breeders Stakes, a NZ Free-For-All, two Hunter Cups and five Inter-Dominion Heats.
During that time, principal owner Ralph Kermode wrote a letter to Derek that said in part: "Thank you for all the time and effort you have put into 'Bloss' and the expert way you have managed her and kept her going so long. Thank you for your frequent hospitality and your friendship."

Outside of harness racing, visiting the sick and delivering eulogies at funerals, Derek enjoyed the opera and musicals, rugby, travelling, meeting friends and making new ones, and supporting his wider family. Just days before he died, he was making plans for his next overseas trip. Nothing, however, gave him as much pleasure as helping someone else less fortunate than himself.

In that respect, he truly was a man without peer.

He is survived by his son Peter, daughters Glenys, Jennifer and Leigh, 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

-o0o-

The funeral was held at Addington Raceway on Monday 3 July, 2006 attended by about 1500. The white hearse was led down the straight by the pacer Bowencourt because she has such a close resemblance to Blossom Lady. He left the track to the commentaries of Blossom Lady and Hands Down winning their Cups echoing around the course.

-o0o-

On a board in the stable is a sign on diplomacy, which reads "The ability to tell a person to go to hell in such a way that he looks forward to the trip."

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 5Jul06

 

YEAR: 2005

Harnetts Creek clear & cruising.
Harnetts Creek showed that he will be a serious open class force this year when he resumed at Addington last Thursday night.

Eased back early from his wide draw in the $20,000 Avon City Ford Cup, Harnetts Creek and pilot Anthony Butt got around the field at about the only time the speed backed off, surging to the front with about 1200 metres to run. The pace was back on again from then onwards though, and Butt said Harnetts Creek was 'fair travelling' turning for home before pulling clear to win by more that two lengths. The Soky's Atom gelding's time of 3:14.7 for the 2600 metre event was stunning considering the cool and drizzly conditions, and it had a real stamp of arrogance about it.

"I thought the draw might have beaten him tonight," trainer John Parsons said afterwards. "He's always been not too bad fresh, and even though he is eight years old now, I reckon he is better this time in than ever before."

Parsons says that Butt being in Harnetts Creek's sulky last week was a sign of things to come this season. Blair (Orange) was pretty much committed to Mark Purdon's team now that he is out, so that's why we asked Anthony. I think his driving style suits the horse, too."

Harnetts Creek has now won 11 of his 46 starts, and even though last season was his first real taste of the 'big time', Parsons is hopeful that the pace can acquit himself even better this term. "When he ran fifth in the Inter-Dominion Final it was like the worst of an unlucky season," he said. "Then we gave him one more start in the Easter Cup, but in hindsight we should have knocked off before that because he raced like a tired horse. So he had a month out, and I just jogged him up through the winter and gave him a long, slow build-up. He has had one trial and two work-outs prior to tonight, and Anthony said he felt sharper in the latest of those - he will sharpen up more after this run too."

On Harnetts Creek's programme leading up to the NZ Cup is the Hannon Memorial and Flying Stakes, with his trainer saying that he will "take in everything" because he both needs it and thrives on it.

Well known for his success in the galloping world too, Parsons enjoys the challenge of training horses in both codes. "Gallopers wouldn't take a quarter of the work that pacers do. But I do enjoy it, because you can just potter around with them and you are not as reliant on staff either," he said.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 21Sep05

 

YEAR: 2005

Tuherbs is too strong for Pay Me Christian
Terry McDonald has never been afraid of having a bit of a flutter on the tote, and last Friday night a punt of a different kind paid big dividends for him when Tuherbs won the $50,000 NZ Welcome Stakes at Addington.

Tuherbs was bred by Roydon Lodge Stud, and the Live Or Die-Futurist gelding did all his early education under the guidance of part-owner/trainer Dave Anderson, but on Friday he made his debutin the colours of Tim Butt after being bought by McDonald and his good mate Eddie Griffin a little over a month ago. "We have people looking around for horses for us all the time, and it was actually Mark Jones that spotted Tuherbs at the trials one day," Butt said. "We trialled him once, at Dave's, and knew he had a six-figure price tag - but that is the going rate for a good, young horse these days."

In between times Butt had put the proposition to McDonald, who had raced the likes of Show Cruiser and Life Goes Bye from the stable in the past. "Tim mentioned that the asking price was fairly high, but I left it to his judgement to decide whether he was worth it or not," McDonald said. "He believed Tuherbs was, so then I rang Eddie and he nearly fainted, but he said he would get the money together somehow."

In business and as friends McDonald and Griffin go back a long way, 30 years in fact. Originally they were partners in the Acme Metal & Drum Company, McDonald managing the Christchurch branch and Griffin overseeing the Dunedin one. The picture changed about seven years ago when McDonald amalgamated with McIvor Metals to form Resource Recycling Ltd and Griffin went out on his own, but they have remained great mates and continued to race the odd horse together. One of those was In The Way, who ran second to Giovanetto in the 1991 Welcome Stakes, so Tuherbs did his bit to settle the score by going one better last Friday night.

He had to be good to do it too, because apart from a second-row draw over the 1950 metre sprint trip he had the red hot favourite Pay Me Christian standing in his way as well. Tuherbs and driver Anthony Butt tracked Pay Me Christian with every stride, settling behind him after the start and then following him three-wide and into the race over the last lap. Gaps appeared between the pair when Pay Me Christian took off at the 600 metre mark just as Tuherbs got humped four-wide, but once around the final bend he was soon idling in behind his main rival once again and waiting to pounce. Butt went to pass at the furlong, but then had to suddenly grab hold of Tuherbs and steer him wider when Pay Me Christian baulked for the second time and went sideways. Unfazed by the loss of momentum, Tuherbs straightened, gathered himself and zoomed on past the favourite, winning virtually untouched by one and a half lengths in a 1:58 mile rate.

"He is a lovely horse," Tim enthused afterwards. "He has got a great temperament, and settled in right from day one after we got him; Dave deserves a lot of credit for what the horse did tonight. "And the thing about Tuherbs is that he probably doesn't really know what he is doing yet. We will target a Sires' Stakes Heat with him in a fortnight, hopefully the Final after that, and then that will be it for the season."

For McDonald, winning the Welcome Stakes was one of his most enjoyable moments in the 40 years he has owned and raced horses. His involvement has never been more in-depth than it is right now either, because he is breeding from seven mares and the total head count across the board is well into the 30s. The latest to join the list is the dam of Tuherbs, Fitch II mare Futurist, who he bought for "a steal" when outlaying $6500 for her at the Roydon Lodge Sale earlier the same day. She is in foal to Julius Caesar, and after such an emphatic debut performance by Tuherbs she too looks like a punt that is going to pay off.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 13Apr05

 

YEAR: 2004

2004 SOUTHERN TRUST DOMINION TROTTING HANDICAP

It's all been said before, but it needs to be said again - how much of a equine wonder is Lyell Creek? A champion, a freak, a marvel, great, phenomenal, amazing. They've all been trotted out to desperately describe the feats no other horse has done. Like this report, however, they don't adequately cover his stature as a world class icon.

The horse is 11 - though he could be going on seven. He has been to places most of us only see on the map. He has footed it with the best, and his reputation is legendary. After winning millions, he returned home, and if he wanted it, honourable retirement.

'Lyell' obviously had other ideas. He settled happily into stable life again at Premier Stables, and with the exception of one or two minor hic-cups, he has dominated the ranks of open class trotters in New Zealand. He ran a corker first-up for the season, when his ill-fated stablemate Sonofthedon won, then showed his intolerance of being bustled early with a mulish display on the grass at Motukarara. With others sharing the load in front on Cup Day, Lyell Creek was in his element and showed it with a stylish win over Sumthingaboutmaori.

Would he do the same 10 days later in the $100,000 Southern Trust Dominion Handicap, off 10 metres?

'Lyell' made his intensions known quickly, with such a speedy beginning that had him sixth or seventh, on the outer, after 300 metres. From there, driver Anthony Butt had the race at his mercy. He had Castleton's Mission two places behind him, he'd probably seen Allegro Agitato in a gallop, and he had the classy Australian Sumthingaboutmaori inside him, four deep. He only had to press the button at some time near the corner to turn 'Lyell' loose and set the crowd alight. It all came together swimmingly well, and while Castleton's Mission looked more like his old self with a solid charge from the back, Lyell Creek was on his way to another Dominion win.

"He is just so superior to the others," said Butt, who said his failure back at Motukarara was due to being 'off colour'. "He had a little break, and he's been so healthy since then," he said.

To match his own talent as a horseman, Butt has never been short of a great horse to keep him at the top of the top level. "Blossom Lady - she was the first, Happy Asset and Take A Moment, and now more of 'Lyell'. I mean, to win 16 Group 1 races like he has is unreal. Take A Moment is a great horse, but 'Lyell' is amazing. He's one of those horses you'll never see again."

For the record, it was Butt's sixth successive win in the Dominion Handicap, and it was brother Tim's sixth successive training win. Some record!


Credit: Mike Grainger writing in NZHR Weekly

<< PREVIOUS  1 2 3  NEXT >>


In the event that you cannot find the information you require from the contents, please contact the Racing Department at Addington Raceway.
Phone (03) 338 9094