CLICK HERE TO GO BACK

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.

-o0o-

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."



-o0o-

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

DENIS NYHAN

Your first (Cup) win was behind Lordship in 1962. You were young then. Did any nerves affect you on the big day?

Well, you can't afford to be nervous. There is too much going on. Lordship had worked brilliantly leading up to the Cup and Russell Cooper had just crafted a beautifully built new Bryant cart which we had. It had shorter shafts. We tried it on Lordshipon the Sunday and he was fine. Everthing went well until Cup morning.

And?

We were out doing stud work (with Johnny Globe) on a lovely morning and then it started to bucket down. We just didn't know how he would handle it. That affected the confidence. As I remember it we got a beautiful run in the one-one and he handled th wet well.

He beat the great Cardigan Bay twice at that meeting but he didn't line up against him in 1963.

He galloped in the Free-For-All in 1962 but then still beat Cardy. I mean they were great horses at that time. But on the last day he felt "noddy" warming up for the first time. He developed needle splints and he hardly raced in 1963-64.

He won the Cup again in 1966, a long time apart and he gave the others a 42-yard start. He must have been a good beginner.

He was a marvel, really. In between all that trouble he still won all the best races (45 wins). As an older horse he could get on the toe at the start. One day he broke a crossbar on the cart kicking it. But when they said "go" he was off like a rocket. That day I started him out in the middle of the track, a big help if you were on a handicap because you were on your own and could angle him straight to the rail and make up the ground. I think we actually led for most of the last round that day.

What made him special to drive?

High Speed. Lordy had unbelievable acceleration. He could circle a field of top class horses - and I mean real top class horses like Robin Dundee and company - in a furlong (200m) and it just gave you an extra dimension in the race. He was also a clever horse on his feet. Very manoeuvrable in a field. A dream horse really.

Who did you model your driving style on?

Bob Young was a driver who always appealed to me. He balanced his horses up so well and he always looked in control. But there were a lot of genuinely great horsemen about then. And I learned a lot when I worked for Eddie Cobb in America.

Such as?

There wer those great horsemen operating therethen too, legendary fellas. Delvin Miller, Cobb, Stanley Dancer, John Simpson. Clint Hodgins was my special favourite. He was a big man, tall, always ice cool and alwaysseemed beautifully balanced in a cart so his size didn't seem to matter. They had two real champions then, Adios Butler who was more of a speed horse, and Bye Bye Byrd, more of a stayer. I saw Clint win a big race on Bye Bye Byrd with a great drive one night. I used to think then wouldn't it be great one day to be good enough to drive great horses like that. I never forgot it.

Robalan paced free-legged of course. There were hardly any free-legged pacers then. It must have been a gamble to take the hopples off.

Not really on looking back. At home we used to work Johnny Globe and Lordship free-legged and they were fine. They were just better with hopples on raceday. Robalan was better without them. He was a beautiful pacer actually. He won a lot of races on the smaller tracks, Hutt Park and Forbury. He could use his speed just as much as on the big ones.

He had a lot of tries before he won the Cup. Why was that?

Well,one year another driver spent all his time looking after me instead of trying to win on his own horse, but basically he wasn't really a two mile(3200) horse. Robalan had phenomenal speed over short distances, probably even faster than Lordy. When he won the Stars Travel Miracle Mile he drew the outside and just blew them away pace and ran world records. He could be a bit keen in his races wanting to use his speed, so while he could stay alright in a two mile race he could take a bit out of himself. We never worked him hard at home to keep him relaxed.

Like what?

My wife Denise (a daughter of great trotting trainer, Bill Doyle, for whom Denis drove Wipe Outin two Cups) did a lot of work and travelling with him, but I don't think from memory he ever worked faster than 4:50 for two miles before a Cup.

Only just before he won in 1974 he collapsed dramatically in a trial. What caused that?

We never found out. They went all over him but he just came right on his own, not long before the race. In the actual Cup Trial he was as good as ever.

So what are the secrets to driving a Cup winner. Does the thought of winning affect your tactics?

You don't think of winning. It is a mistake if you do. You go through processes aimed at getting the best result and that's all you can plan for. Even when you've done everything right you still need a bit of luck on your side. Winning is the best outcome but only one. And while it is like driving any other race, in theory it isn't really because of what is at stake.

Processes?

Knowing every other horse, how it races, the driver's style, checking the colours are still the same in the prelim. Working out where the best horses might be, the ones which will give you a run into the race. That is very important, following the right horse, things like that. You also have to stay cool and have disipline, like Clint Hodgins.

Disipline?

Some drivers change their styles in big races. You never saw the top American drivers do that. They adapted to each horse but they drove in their established style. You can get into trouble doing somethingfancy and different. The same spot in the field can be the best place to be and the worst.

You alway carry a watch. How important are sectional times?

Most important of all. A really good horse can feel like he is going easily when in fact he is running terrific sectionals and they can run themselves out in a big staying race without the driver being fully aware of it. You've seen them on Cup Day. You need to check that it is not happening to you. You can't make a decision on a watch but you can checkthat the ones you are making are right

Any unusual things you did?

Funny thing, I always make a point of studyingthe first race of the day. It was a trotting racebut it was over the Cup distance. I liked to see if they were going at high speed and then checking it off against the times. It gave me a feel for what the Cup might be like. The tempo of the race is everything.

It all sounds like hard work. Did you always get the right answers?

Even if youy are doing everything right you can't afford for something to go wrong at vital stages of the race. That is where the luck comes in. You always need some of it.

Credit: David McCarthy writing in The Press 6Nov2010

2009 SEELITE WINDOWS & DOORS NZ TROTTING FREE-FOR-ALL

Justin Smith read the draw and knew it would be tough. A second-line draw in the $100,000 New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All was not what he wanted for Speculate.

But Speculate is nothing if not tough, and she was convincing in the face of fast finishes from Real Deal Yankee and Running On Time. It is fair to say it was not a vintage field, with Stig, One Over Kenny and Ray on the sideline, and Springfield Richard avoiding the perils of a hard race with the endurance of the 3200m Dominion following so close.

Smith would pefer more than three days between the contests too, but the prize on Tuesday was big enough to be there. Smith trains Speculate with his mother Lynn, who said the mare is particularly fond of her pony mate, Flicka. "She can be a bit of a bad eater, and won't eat unless Flick is there."

The club presentation to Lynn and her husband Gerry was appropriately made by Met committeeman Bruce Hutton, whose family has been connected with the family of Lynn's father Bill Doyle for as long as they can remember. "I know Bruce used to babysit Justin, and at one time or another all of the six Hutton boys would have worked for Bill."

The progress Speculate has made in less tha six months, from a one-win trotter in June to possible favourite for the Dominion, is one they say has been beyond their wildest dreams. Keen breeders, the Smiths have welcomed their first foal of the season, a colt by Lookslikeatrooper from the Chiola Hanover mare, I'm Returning. The breeding is not one that will be repeated. Lookslikeatrooper is Speculate's massive son by CR Commando who was gelded after serving just the one mare, and who will soon embark on a racing career of his own.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 12Nov09

John Burgess and Grant's Wish winning at Motukarara.

John Burgess, 79, has broken his own record as the oldest reinsman to drive a winner in NZ. Burgess drove Grant's Wish to win a maiden trot at Motukarara on Monday, 29th January.

Burgess became the oldest reinsman to drive a winner in NZ when he partnered Katie May, a half-sister to Grant's Wish, to win races at Methven and Waimate late in 2005 as a 78-year-old. Burgess is also the trainer, breeder and part-owner of Grant's Wish. The Brookside horseman races the 5-year-old mare with the estate of his wife, Shirley, who died three and a half years ago. "I met Shirley when I was 14, bike riding and running. It took me a while to get over her death," Burgess said. "The horses have helped me cope."

Grant's Wish is the fifth trotting winner Burgess has bred from La Finale. The others were Peter Dylan (5 wins), Star Blaze (3) and John's Buddy (2). La Finale (Beau Nonantais-Tutahi When) won a race at Oamaru in December 1989 for Burgess at odds of 53-to-one. The runner up was Night Allowance, who won the Inter-Dominion Trotting Final in Auckland four years later.

Burgess has been involved with trotters for 56 years. He trained and drove his first winner, Winter Star, at Methven in April 1970. He stood down from driving at the end of the 1992/93 season when a rule stipulated a retirement age of 65. He made a comeback seven years later when the rule was changed. He has since driven 13 winners. "Paul Nairn (the noted trainer of trotters) talked me into getting my licence back," Burgess said. Burgess lives close to the Nairn stable.

Burgess assists his son Graeme on a property raising pigs and a few cattle. He is no stranger to long hours of work. He held down employment at a meat processing plant and a cardboard factory for 20 years, working between 14 and 16 hours a day. He began teaching himself the rudiments of training standardbreds. He was helped by trainers Don Nyhan and Derek Jones. "I learned most working part-time for Bill Doyle for eight years," Burgess said.

Grant's Wish traces to Passive, an outstanding broodmare for Doyle. The U Scott mare left eight winners from nine foals. Her progeny included When, winner of 18 races including the 1962 NZ Trotting Free-For-All. Her brother (also by Light Brigade) Asia Minor won 15 races including the 1967 NZ Trotting Championship. Passive (U Scott-Violet Wrack) also left Wipe Out, winner of 10 races as a pacer in the late 1960s. Doyle passed the trotter Ready Money to Burgess in 1983 after the gelding had been through the hands of several trainers. Burgess won five races with the son of Nevele Gourmet and Big Spender. He has also won five races with Silver Crown.

Credit: Tayler Strong writing in HRWeekly 31Jan07

DOODY TOWNLEY

One of New Zealand's most successful and esteemed horsemen died at the weekend.

Doody Townley, who drove 21 Group 1 winners and more than 700 others, was 73 when he passed away on Sunday in Ashburton Hospital. He retired at the end of the 1990 season while the 65 compulsory retirement rule was still operative. By anyone's standard Townley was in the handful that made the very top - and stayed there.

He won Group 1 races in the '50s; he was still winning them in the '80s. He was admired for his ability to handle the trotter. Wes Butt, who drove in the same era as Townley, said:"He was one of the best drivers NZ ever had. He was just first class and he excelled with the trotter. It's a sort of a test, driving a trotter. Doody would sit quiet, get them balanced and hold them together."

Although he drove such great pacers as Stella Frost, Rupee, Tactile, Sun Chief and Jacobite, he was happiest handling a trotter. "With a trotter, you're not worrying about luck in the running. To keep trotting is the big thing," Doody said. "I actually think you have won if they trot all the way. It's better to run last and trot all the way. In a sense that's an accomplishment."

Put on the spot when he retired to recall his most memorable race, he chose the 1965 Easter Cup at Addington he won with Jacobite. "I will never forget that race. I came round the bend with about a quarter mile to run. We had just disposed of the others when I see ahead of me Robin Dundee and Lordship. They were two champions ... who'd imagine we would peg those two back. He was a tough horse, Jacobite, and he did it."

Rather than go for a favourite amongst so many fine horses he drove, Townley preferred to respect them all. "It is hard to single out those good horses," he would say. "They all had that bit extra. Bagshaw, for instance, was a good trotter. He won the big trots at Ashburton when they had free-for-alls for the good horses, but nothing historical. Showdown was a good stayer I drove for Billy Doyle, and I suppose the win by Stella Frost in the Auckland Cup was a great thrill."

His major wins included two Auckland Cups, NZ Cup, two Inter-Dominion Pacers' Grand Finals, two Inter-Dominion Trotters' Grand Finals, Rowe Cup, Dullard Cup, Dominion Handicap, two NZ Derbys, two Great Northern Derbys, two NZ FFA's, Easter Cup, seven Champion Stakes, two NZ Trotting FFA's, two Ashburton Cups, four Sapling Stakes, four Welcome Stakes and too many others to list.

At the time of his retirement at the end of the 1989-90 season Townley admitted to some favouritism in driving the trotter. "Oh, yes; I prefer driving a trotter. With a pacer, it's more a case of placing a horse in a race. With a trotter, you are not worrying about luck in the running. To keep trotting is the big thing. I actually think you've won if they trot all the way. It's better to run last and trot all the way. In a sense, that's an accomplishment."

Townley was recognised as a master with the trotter and enjoyed nothing better than driving them; 'Doody' was an artist getting them balanced and in their gait. He had a little lean forward, reminiscent of the great Maurice Holmes.

An absolute professional, always impeccably neat, Townley was the son of a trainer. He was born on June 25, 1925, one of 10 children, had his first drive behind the trotter Walter Jingle at Ashburton on Boxing Day, 1944, and finished down the track behind Betty Maxegin, who he was later to train and win five races in a row with. "I even took her to Auckland to race in the Inter-Dominions, but she was confused racing the other way round and wasn't worth tuppence." He first win was behind Tara's Hall at the Waimate gallops. "She was out of a mare by Vanity Hall, bred by Arthur Nicholl, and my father traied the horse," he recalled.

At the age of 22, after working for his late brother Bob and helping the family turn sheep pens into horse yards on their new Tinwald property the week his father finished second with Dusky Sound to Marlene in the NZ Cup, he began training himself. During the war, when petrol was scarce, the horses went to the races by train. "I remember walking them down the back roads and getting the train at Waimate. They'd go down the night before." And there was nothing, he said, like the road trip to Nelson which now takes the float eight hours but then, via Blenheim, took 17 hours without a stop.

Besides the speedy Betty Maxegin, 'Doody' won good races with Frank Scott, a U Scott trotter; Cleome, Frontier, and Bashaw, by Josedale Dictator, who was "never the same" after being hit by a car.

His first "great opportunity" as a driver came when Jack Grice asked him to handle Rupee. "He was the first good horse I drove...a real natural. He won all the classics, and I remember the first time I got beaten with him. I was following a horse I used to train; I think it was Brave Company, which Colin Berkett had. I was three back on the outer when he just stopped in front of me. I then had to go four wide, and by then Bob Young had shook his hook with Excelsa and I couldn't catch him."

In recent years, he has retired in Ashburton. Suffering from emphysema, he had given up working horses but remained in good health until being hospitalised about a month ago.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 31Mar99

DRIVERS COMPULSORY RETIREMENT

Harness marketing gurus would describe it now as the quaddie from hell. At the end of the 1970-71 season when Jack Litten, Doug Watts, Bob Young and Bll Doyle "four horsemen of the apocalypse" in their era were invited by the authorities to hand in their driving licences having reached 65 - an invitation it was impossible to decline. For many it was almost the harness equivalent of the Buddy Holly plane crash the "day the music died." Three years later when Maurice Holmes had to follow suit, it was.

-o0o-

JACK LITTEN -
was almost an "overnight sensation" for the times, having risen from relative obscurity just before the Second World War with horses like Suspanse and Firewater after having to sell his best star Royal Romance, to Vic Alborn just as she struck her best form. He was able to buy her back later to breed from. Within a decade the battler was a leader in his profession.

His famous training and breeding deeds, especially with young horses, was partly formed by his early association with Bella Button, then of Brooklyn Lodge in New Brighton, who while never officially licenced in either code won many races driving her trotters and produced outstanding gallopers at Riccarton in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Something of a phenomenon, Bella was especially skilled with young horses and the Little Rive'r-born Litten learned his lessons well.

Relative to scale, few have matched his achievements with youngsters in the generations since. But he was an all round champion producing Our Roger, a horse with a famously low heart score, to win a NZ Cup - though he would have dearly loved the "Mighty Atom", the champion Caduceus, to have shared that honour which he actually should have won that day.

On his retirement Jack rated Caduceus setting a 2000m record at Addington in 2:31.8 (it stood for a generation) as his biggest thrill though the 1956 Inter-Dominion Final when he took over the driving himself and won before a crowd we will never see at an ID final again must have been magic.

Royal Romance's daughter, Royal Triumph, would later produce Junior Royal. A granddaughter produced Royal Mile who set a 2-year-old Australasian trotting record for Litten at Addington in July of 1954 in a special time trial. A keen student of breeding "JD" also stood the thoroughbred stallion Aristoi, a brother to world champion Sir Ivor (sire of Sir Tristram).

The horse which established him in classic racing was Fallacy who was at 8/1 first up at three at Ashburton in the spring but paid £46 at his second start and then won the Riccarton Stakes and the NZ Derby. Only the 4-year-old Johnny Globe beat him at that Cup Meeting. His unexpected success at stud was notable. His granddam, Escapade had been an outstanding trotter in the 1920's and her dam (Country Belle) won the NZ Cup.

Like many of his era getting trapped in the field with the money on was a cardinal sin, Jack Litten was never a "pretty" driver (Cecil Devine, his nemesis, was much the same, as was Maurice McTigue) but when the pennies were down their horses could do that little bit more. No stylist, Jack used outside drivers more than most, further proof of his astute thinking. Once established "Litt" seemed to have a never ending string of genuinely outstanding horses.

-o0o-

BOB YOUNG -
was a quiet man who loved gardening; highly respected especially within the game but low key and he peferred it that way. He was especially a master with trotting horses. Unusually Young preceded his father Jimmy in emigrating from Scotland after Roydon Lodge trainer Bobby Dunn offered him a position in the late 1920's. His father arrived a few years later and set up first at Addington and then at the Spreydon terminus with a big team.

Jimmy Young was soon a leading trainer, famous for his colourful use of four letter words. Don Nyhan used to recall the string of well intentioned invective Young considered normal speech after Johnny Globe had gone close to two minutes on grass the message being the driver should have "tried harder".

Rather oddly Bob named Single Task as the best trotter he drove, one of his three Rowe Cup winners. He also drove the first two winners of the Inter-Dominion Trotting Championships. He had his first NZ Cup drive in 1932 and his last in 1967. He was largely a free lancer usually driving second stringers for big stables in major races or for owner-trainers who loved his "there is another day" style. He was hugely popular with punters because of his outstanding strike rate. Avante was the last big name pacer he trained.

-o0o-

DOUG WATTS-
came from South Canterbury where he went to school with Richard Brosnan's father, Jack. He was first a champion apprentice jockey in Wanganui also riding in Australia as a teenager in 1927.

After he won seven of the first eight saddle trots he competed in, Watts turned to harness driving with Jock Henderson at Oamaru. Few have been better at it. He won the NZ Cup with Our Roger(1955) and an Inter-Dominion final on Massacre(1961) both almost entirely due to the driver rather than the horse. He was largely with Vic Leeming at Prebbleton and rarely held a training licence though he raced fine pacers of his own like Valour and Historic.

Watts was a great "money" driver, cool under pressure and adept at finding the short way home. He is still famous for driving seven winners on an eight race card at Reefton in 1954, a feat never bettered. He recalled he only had one engagement when he arrived at the meeting. His longest dividend was over £4 and his shortest £2, three of his drives winning twice.

Doug was good at keeping his own counsel and once he and Leeming had to be escorted off Addington by the police well after the last when a loud demonstration by hundreds calling for their blood over a form reversal was only inflamed the longer Watts waited it out in the driver's room. Ironically, in later years Watts was an astute patrol steward at the course.

-o0o-

BILL DOYLE-
is generally regarded as the founder of a famous trotting dynasty but in fact he inherited much from his father, also W J Doyle who was a master of many trades. He stood thoroughbred, trotting and draught stallions at stud, played a major role in the founding of the Ellesmere Trotting Club; ran the Doyleston pub and a catering business, raced, trained and drove top horses and even gave musical recitals at local functions.

He died when his son was just 20 though both Bill Jnr who owned a Grand National Steeplechase winner, and his sister, Laurel, champion show rider and the first woman licenced to train gallopers in the South Island, retained the wider racing interests of their father. Laurel also trained a Melbourne Cup placegetter, Willie Win.

Bill Doyle's feats as a horseman - he was also one of Canterbury's leading stock dealers - and the success of the next generation as horsewomen are well known.

When, which descended from a borrowed foundation broodmare Violet Wrack who left When's dam Passive, was probably his favourite. He campaigned her with success in America and again on her return, rare in those days.
Gold Horizon, pound for pound, may have actually been his best trotter. He was amoung the pioneer patrons of European trotting stallions, a cause he was passionate about though the results were mixed to say the least.

For a part-time trainer Doyle had an enormous string of top horses, his pacers from earlier eras(Betty Boop, Reason Why, In The Mood, Wipe Out etc) often overlooked in favour of the many trotters which came later. He drove Pacing Power into third for trainer Roy Berry(who drove Springfield Globe his own horse) in the 1943 NZ Cup losing a winning chance when checked at the start.

-o0o-

Losing four driving names of that stature one July 31st was certainly a bad day in harness history.

Credit: David McCarthy writing in HRWeekly 24Jul2013

GOLD HORIZON

The death was reported recently of Gold Horizon, one of the greatest trotters ever to race in NZ and leading stake-winner among those of his gait with £18,260 to his credit.

Gold Horizon won almost every important event on the calendar for those of his gait, several of them twice. He was the poetry of motion when in action and wore a minimum of gear. Apart from the usual harness he wore only shin and ankle boots behind.

Gold Horizon commenced racing as a 5-year-old in the 1947-48 season, when owned and trained by his breeder, J G Gillard. At his first start, Gold Horizon won the Claudelands Handicap at the Waikato Trotting Club's summer meeting on January 3, 1948. At his next attempt, Gold Horizon finished out of a place but made amends by winning at his next two appearances. He finished that season with a third placing and his record was six starts, three wins and a third.

As a 6-year-old, Gold Horizon won two races and gained a second placing, his most important success that season being in the February Handicap at the Auckland Trotting Club's February meeting. The race was run over a mile and a half and Gold Horizon trotted the journey from 12 yards in 3.22. Gold Horizon did not race in the 1949-50 season and won only one race the next term in 10 starts. He had been driven in all his successes up to this time by J G Gillard.

In the 1951-52 season, Gold Horizon was leased by the Leeston owner-trainer, W J Doyle, who has experienced outstanding success with trotters over a long period. At his third start for Doyle, Gold Horizon finished fourth against a field of pacers in the Elgin Handicap at Ashburton and followed that placing by winning the Wishful Handicap at Oamaru, beating Dictation, Highland Kilt and Barrier Reef. Four more successes came his way that season in addition to several placings. He won the Ashburton Trotting Cup Handicap, the NZ Hambletonian Handicap, the R A Armstrong Memorial Handicap and the Hambletonian Handicap at the Canterbury Park Trotting Club's winter meeting. Gold Horizon's improvement under Doyle was remarkable; he became as 'solid as the Rock of Gibraltar,' and developed outstanding stamina.

The next season Gold Horizon won the Wishful Handicap at Oamaru for the second time and followed up that success by winning the Greyhound Handicap at Addington from 48 yards, trotting the mile and five furlong journey in 3.27 4/5, which was then the winning record for the distance. Also for the second time, Gold Horizon won the NZ Hambletonian Handicap at Addington trotting the two mile journey from 60 yards in 4.18. At his last appearance for that term, Gold Horizon easily won the Steward's Trotting stakes at the Easter meeting at Addington, beating Sure Charge by two lengths in 2.42 1/5 for the mile and a quarter journey.

Gold Horizon carried on his winning way in the 1953-54 season to record three wins and two seconds in six starts. His successes were gained in the Christchurch Handicap at the National meeting at Addington, the NZ Trotting Free-For-All and the Steward's Trotting Stakes for the second time. This event, of course, was run under free-for-all conditions.

Although he had reached the advanced age of 12 years when the 1954-55 season opened, Gold Horizon showed he was far from being done with. At his second start for the term he won the Worthy Queen Handicap at the NZ Cup meeting at Addington from 42 yards, trotting the mile and a quarter in 2.39 2/5. Gold Horizon was now racing in the joint ownership of W J Doyle and J G Gillard, but was still being trained and driven by Doyle. Those to finish behind Gold Horizon that day were Slipstream, Fair Isle and Battle Cry. At the same meeting Gold Horizon added the NZ Trotting Free-For-All for the second time. Dictation, Battle Cry and Fair Isle finished in the minor placings.

Shortly after, Doyle's interest in Gold Horizon terminated, and he was returned to his breeder. Although he was raced several times and even tried as a pacer, Gold Horizon did not regain winning form.

Foaled in 1942, Gold Horizon was got by Quite Sure (a most successful sire of trotters), and was the second foal of the Great Parrish mare, Eyre (2.49, P). Eyre was out of Great Eyre, who was got by Great Audubon-Eyrechild, by Rothschild from a Traducer mare. Eyre also left Belcar (3.24, T), to Worthy Belwin. Great Eyre left a string of winners besides Eyre in Golden Eagle, Axminster, Charles Rex, Fighting Friend and Eyre's Last, all of whom were bred by J T Paul at Mangere.



Credit: Írvington' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 16Mar60

WHEN

When commenced racing as a 4-year-old in the 1959-60 season and quickly showed winning form, being successful in the Claremont Handicap at the autumn meeting of the Timaru Trotting Club on March 12, 1960. She was having her second race start, and won by a length and a half on a heavy track.

Three later starts produced two third placings, and then When won two races on end, her last appearances for that season. She won the Waikaura Handicap at Oamaru, and the Addington Handicap at the Canterbury Park Trotting Club's winter meeting, beating Mighty Ruston by half a length when giving that trotter 24 yards start.

As a 5-year-old, When started in 12 races for three wins and six placings. Her successes were gained in the Spring Handicap at New Brighton, the Stewards Handicap at the New Year meeting of the Canterbury Park Trotting Club, and the H F Nicoll Handicap on the fourth day of the Inter-Dominion Championship meeting at Addington. That day When trotted the two mile journey in 4.20 2/5 from 24 yards, and won by two lengths from Hindu, with Court Out and Chances Are third and fourth respectively.
By now it was becoming increasingly obvious that When was destined for dress-circle company among those of her gait. The patient policy adopted by her breeder-owner-trainer-driver, W J Doyle, a master with trotters, was bearing fruit.

At 6 years, When won six races and was placed twice in 13 starts for £4050 in stakes. When made her first appearance for that season in the Opening Handicap at Addington, but failed to gain a place. Improved by the race, When made no mistakes on the second day, winning the Winter Handicap by the comfortable margin of two lengths from Merry Nora. He time for the mile and five furlongs was 3.32 3/5, a 2.10 4/5 mile rate. In her next five starts, When gained only one fourth placing - in the NZ Trotting Free-For-All at Addington on the third day of the Cup meeting. That race was won by Reprimand, with Au Fait and Coronet Lass second and third.

However, When then regained winning form with a vengeance, winning five races and being placed second at her last six starts for the season. When won the Stewards' Handicap at the Canterbury Park New Year meeting (her second success in that event), the Hornby Handicap on the second day of the same meeting, the Autumn Handicap at New Brighton from 36 yards, the NZ Hambletonian Handicap at Addington, and the L S Smart Trotting Free-for-all at the Winter meeting of the Canterbury Park Trotting Club. Her second placing was gained in the Reta Peter Handicap at the NZ Metropolitan Easter meeting when she failed by only a nose to beat Moon Boy.

When has reached the pinnacle of her career this season, and has returned some superlative performances. She commenced the season by finishing third at her first start to Moon Boy and Spinster Scott in the Christchurch Handicap at the National meeting. This event was run under invitation conditions. At her next start on the second day of the meeting , When took her place in the Winter Free-for-all and won by a length and a half from Moon Boy. From behind the mobile starting gate When began well but met with a check at the end of the first furlong and was very lucky to escape serious trouble. She trotted the 12 furlongs and a half in 3.21, a little better than a 2.9 mile rate.

Two starts later When was beaten into third place in the Worthy Queen Handicap at the Cup meeting at Addington by Our Own and With You, and this defeat was followed by a second placing in the Dominion Handicap at the same meeting. In that event When was well back in the early stages, and although she improved over the last half mile and finished strongly, she failed by three-quarters of a length to reach Spinster Scott. When made amends at her next start at the meeting when she proved too good for her rivals in the NZ Trotting Free-For-All, winning by a length from Reprimand, with Moon Boy in third place. Two starts later, When gave starts up to 36 yards to her rivals in the Winslow Handicap at Ashburton and won comfortably by a length.

She carried on her winning way at the New Year meeting of the Canterbury Park Trotting Club when she won the Trotters' Flying Mile at that meeting. From behind the mobile starting gate When was quickly in front and set a solid pace. She beat Resistor by a length and trotted the mile in 2.02 4/5, a fresh NZ record for one of her gait. Taken to Hutt Park for the Royal meeting, When gave starts of up to 30 yards and a beating to the rest in the Duke of Edinburgh Handicap.

When's last race appearance in the Dominion was made at the Autumn meeting of the New Brighton Trotting Club, and her success, from 48 yards, in the Autumn Handicap, could be classed as one of the easiest in her career. When was still well back at the half mile and was seventh on the turn for home. From there on her class told, and she did not have to do her best to win by a length and a half. Her 2.38 3/5 for the mile and a quarter journey was great trotting by any standards, and a world grass track record to boot.

Earlier in her career, When appeared to experience difficulty in mustering her speed in the early part of her races, and was inclined to leave her feet if bustled. Patience, combined with experience and the expert knowledge of W J Doyle, remedied that failing, if it could be called such. In practically all her races over the last two seasons When has been as 'solid as the Rock of Gibraltar'.

A hardy chestnut in colour, When was by Light Brigade, a champion sire of trotters, and is the 1955 foal of the U Scott mare Passive, who took a record of 3.20 4/5 for a mile and a half as a trotter. Passive's dam, Violet Wrack, was a very good winner at the trotting gait for W J Doyle. Chances Are is a full sister to When, and Reflective is a half-sister, both being winners.

When has now started 43 times for 18 wins and 13 placings for £11,420 in stakes, including £250 received for lowering Dianthus Girl's NZ record for one mile of 2.03 2/5 to 2.02 4/5 when she won the Trotters' Flying Mile at the Canterbury Park meeting at New Year.



Credit: 'Irvington' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 20Mar63

1952 NZ HAMBLETONIAN TROT

Gold Horizon(W J Doyle) notches his third important success of the season by winning the NZ Hambletonian Handicap from Single Cash(9) and Fair Isle(4). Signal Light was fourth.

By Quite Sure(2.01¾ - a record he set as a free-legged pacer), Gold Horizon is out of another pacer in Eyre(2.49). This marked his ninth win, his stakes earnings being £7285.

Single Task's effort was meritorious as she might have won but for being badly placed just inside the last half mile.



Credit: NZ Hoof Beats Vol 2 No.12

1947 DOMINION HANDICAP

Full Result

First: D Stormont & M Stewart's HIDDEN NOTE. Trained by part-owner M Stewart and driven by D C Watts, started off scratch.

Second: R Young's SURE LADY. Driven by the owner, started off scratch.

Third: A Holmes's FIRE WATER. Driven by the owner, started off scratch.

Fourth: F E Graham's REREWAKA. Driven by W J Doyle, started off 12yds.

The winner won by three lengths, with a neck to third.

Also started: Betty Maxigin, Toushay, Medical Student, Mae Wynne, Aerial Scott, Bomber, Pardon Me, Mistydale, Range Finder, Forewarned and Will Cary




Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar 19Nov47