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1935 NEW ZEALAND DERBY

Double Great was second favourite in the New Zealand Derby Stakes, and after being one of the leaders from the start, he fairly outstayed the rest of the field in the run down the straight.

Gaillard gave some trouble at the start, but he was one of the first away at the release of the barriers, and with Double Great, Frisco Lady, and Superior Rank in close attendance they raced into the back stretch. At the top of the straight, J Bryce, jun., behind Double Great appeared to slow the field up, and as they raced past the stands, Double Great and Gaillard were just showing the way to Pot Luck, on the inside, Superior Rank, Frisco Lady and Casanova.

It was not until three furlongs from home that real racing commenced, and at this stage Casanova made a fast run on the outside of the field, while Gaillard began to feel the strain. Double Great and Casanova were first into the straight, just ahead of Pot Luck, Frisco Lady, and Superior Rank. The result was never in doubt, for though Double Great had to be touched up with the whip he was not so distressed as some of the others, and he had a comfortable margin in his favour as the post was reached.

Double Great, is a worthy son of a worthy sire, Great Bingen, and gifted with excellent racing temperament, he is likely to develop into a good stake winner. He had evidently been improved by his race on the first, and the runner up, Frisco Lady was perhaps unlucky in not having the privilege of racing on Tuesday. The chestnut filly would have been better suited by a fast track, for at the start she did not appear at home on the going, but once on the good surface in the straight, she finished straight and true under a hard drive. Frisco Lady has won two races and has been once second in three races. On a good fast track she will still further improve.

Casanova did not have any the best of the running, and three furlongs from home he put in a very fast run on the outside of the field. He looked a picture and is likely to develop into a good stayer. Superior Rank was always in the firing line, and registered a good performance to finish fourth. Pot Luck tired over the later stages, and Gaillard, after being well placed early in the race, was well beaten over the last quarter mile. He did not appear at home in the sticky going.

Credit: THE PRESS 15 Nov 1935

SIR JOHN McKENZIE

Sir John McKenzie, who died in London last Friday at the age of 79, will long be remembered in trotting cicles as a sportsman who assisted in no small measure the remarkable growth and progress of the standardbred sport in the Dominion. He was a leading owner, breeder and administrator, and his foresight in importing many American-bred standardbreds to this country over the last 25 years has proved, and will continue to prove, of great beneit to all concerned in the breeding of pacers and trotters.

Born in Victoria, Sir John McKenzie spent 52 years of his life in NZ. He swiftly became famous as a businessman, and it was in the early 1920's that he became actively interested in the breeding and racing of standardbreds, his entry into this field being ostensibly as a hobby - a means of escape from business pressure and worry.

In 1927 Sir John McKenzie established his Roydon Lodge stud, on the Yaldhurst property formerly occupied by Archdeacon Wilson, and then known as Broomfield. The Roydon Lodge stud quickly became established as one of the most important in the country. Sir John McKenzie made a number of trips to the United States, where he bought mares and stallions, many of whom belonged to the most successful winning families there.

The two greatest stallions he imported were U Scott and Light Brigade, both of whom are still at the stud. U Scott is NZ leading sire at the moment and one of the greatest sires ever to come to the Dominion. He has been at or near the top of the sires' list for many years now. Light Brigade has also been high on the sires' list for many years, and he has twice been the leading sire of straight-out trotters. Other sires imported by Sir John incude Gallant Knight, Silk Thread, Llewellyn, Spencer Volo, Peter Chenault, Winthrop, Worthy Belwin and Arion Axworthy.

Airflow, the dam of winner of about £40,000 was probably the most successful mare imported by Sir John. Her winners include Slipstream, Red Emperor, Flight Commander and Ariel Scott. Belle Keller, the grandam of Certissimus, Slapfast, the grandam of Johnny Globe, Fair Warning, Miss Worth, Flora Volo, Volo Maid, Real The Great, Widow Volo, New Fancy, Taka Chance, Spangled Maiden, Dolores and Addie Guy were other mares he imported from the United States.

Great Bingen was probably the greatest pacer ever owned by Sir John. Great Bingen won £14,120 in stakes, a record which stood for 17 years. He was the first pacer outside the United States to pace two miles in better than 4.20. Great Bingen finished second in two NZ Trotting Cups and won six free-for-alls. He was later a fairly successful sire.

Among the many important successes of horses owned by Sir John were: NZ Derby Stakes (Royal Minstrel, Acron, Taxpayer, Double Great), Ashburton Trotting Cup (Fantom), NZ Sapling Stakes (La Mignon, Taxpayer), NZ Champion Stakes (Gallant Chief), NZ Futurity Stakes (Scottish Emperor), Great Northern Stakes (Highland Scott), Great Northern Derby (Acron), Rowe Cup (Fantom - twice), Canterbury Park Juvenile Stakes (La Mignon), Dunedin Cup (Great Bingen, Nyallo Scott), NZ Free-For-All (Acron - twice, Great Bingen), National Cup (Commander Scott - twice), Dominion Trotting Handicap (Fantom), Timaru Nursery Stakes (Hightland Scott), Oamaru Juvenile Stakes (Scottish Emperor, Royal Minstrel). Other useful winners in recent years include Air Command, Ohio, Scotch Paree, Black Wings, Wha' Hae, Bobby Burns and Risingholme.

Noble Scott, who Sir John sold to a Victorian studmaster, has developed into one of the leading sires in Australia. Sir John also raced several gallopers, but met with only moderate success. The horses he owned in recent years included Flying Control, Rustler and Bowling Green.

A fine tribute to Sir John's work for trotting was paid by a writer for 'The Times,' London, who stated that "by importing first-class stallions and brood-mares Sir John McKenzie probably did more for trotting than any other man in NZ, and by his example of honesty and impartiality, kept the pastime clean and above board."

A motion of sympathy with Lady McKenzie and Mr R A McKenzie in the death of Sir John was passed at a meeting of the committee and stewards of the NZ Metropolitan trotting Club at Addington on Saturday. The meeting was held after the first race. Flags on the main stands were flown at half-mast as a mark of respect.

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NZ Trotting Calendar 16Dec53

Through the reconstruction of certain trusts, further substantial sums are to be made available by Sir John and Lady McKenzie and their family for charitable, educational and benevolent purposes throughout NZ.

Discussions have been taking place for some time between Sir John McKenzie's legal representatives and the Government so that legislation can be introduced at an early date to give effect to the purposes chosen by the donors. It is anticipated that investments to be set aside will be valued at approximately £1,000,000.

"On behalf of the Government, and also as a Christchurch citizen, I wish to express publicly to Sir John McKenzie and Lady McKenzie and their family the thanks of the people of NZ for their extraordinarily generous action in making this gift to posterity," said the Prime Minister (Mr Holland). "Sir John McKenzie and his family have been generous benefactors to innumerable charitable and other bodies for many years, and this latest public-spirited action is the culmination of a long list of gifts, many of which have been made without publicity or a desire for it. Posterity will be grateful to Sir John McKenzie and Lady McKenzie and thousands of needy and deserving people will benefit from their generosity in creating this new trust."

Sir John said it gave him and his wife the greatest pleasure to be able to make this announcement in Coronation year, "and in particular that it should synchronise with the impending visit of our gracious Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh."

Founder and manager of a NZ-wide chain of department stores, Sir John is well known for his generous philanthropy and his wide interest in trotting. He was born in Victoria, and educated in Melbourne, where he started in business. He served in the South African War with the 3rd Victorian Bushmen's Contingent. Later he came to NZ to start the chain of stores which have become department stores. Sir John is the founder of the J R McKenzie Charitable Trust for the benefit of ailing children, NZ soldiers, sailors, airmen, and the Plunket Society, and is also founder of the well-known Rotary J R McKenzie Youth Education Fund. He also helped to establish the Risingholme Community Centre.

For many years Sir John has been a strong supporter of trotting in Canterbury. Some of NZ's best-known trotters and pacers have raced in his colours, and Roydon Lodge Stud is the leading light-harness nursery in the Dominion.

Before her marriage in 1914, Lady McKenzie was Miss A M Wrigley. Sir John and Lady McKenzie have one son, Roy. Their other son Don was lost while serving with the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the war.

Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar 31Aug55

J Bryce & R Morten after the 1925 NZ Cup

JAMES BRYCE

One of the greatest trainers of light-harness horses the Dominion has ever known, James Bryce has been retired from active participation in the profession in which he was such an outstanding success, for several years now; but his interest in the sport remains high and he still possesses a keen eye for a good horse.

Trainers of the calibre of James Bryce do not come along every day.

James Bryce is the head of a family of horsemen who have written their names, large and bold, on the pages of 40 years of the Dominion's light-harness history. Bryce trained the winners of six NZ Trotting Cups, an all-time record for the race, and twice as many as any other trainer before him or since.

The story was told in Glasgow that Bryce's father had a peculiar genius for a horse. James relates that even among Scottish horse-dealers his father was known as a 'hard man.' In all his long experience he has never seen his father's equal in doctoring up a horse. He would pick up a steed that looked as though it was ready for the 'boneyard' and after treating it for a couple of months or so, he would have it in condition that would make it unrecognisable by its original owner. He usually got four or five times what he paid for these horses, which were mostly draughts.

James Bryce rode his first winner in Glasgow when he was 18. By the time he was 20 he was established as a trainer in a modest way at Govan, just outside Glasgow. "In those days," he said with a reflective smile, "they used to start trotting races with a pistol, and I was getting left. So I made a study of the starter and the way he raised the pistol and fired it. In the end I got to know his ways so well that I could tell to a fraction of a second when the report was due. After that, I never got left," grinned Bryce.

Bryce was soon training some of the best horses in Scotland and England. Like NZ horses the ones in the Old Country were nearly all American-bred on one or both sides. Trotting did not make the progress Bryce had hoped for, however, and one day, after reading about trotting in NZ in 'The Referee,' and seeing some pictures of Addington in the 'Weekly Press,' he decided Maoriland was the place for him. And it was thus that the neat little man with the raw Gaelic accent came to be standing on the Wellington wharf on a dull, cheerless morning in 1913...friendless? Well, not quite. Gathered around him were his wife, his belongings and five children...A stranger approached. "Are you Mr Bryce?" - "Yes." "Well, I have some bad news for you. Your two horses have been shipwrecked, and are still in England." The day seemed even bleaker to the little man from Caledonia. Not a promising start in a new land. When he reached NZ after paying passages for himself and his family and freight for two horses, Bryce had £300 left. He did not know a soul in NZ.

He was waiting on the wharf, pondering the future, when he was told that the two mares, Our Aggie and Jenny Lind, both of whom he had seen safely shipped on the Westmeath, an old troop transport, a fortnight before he left England, were still in the Old Country. The vessel had gone aground in the Mersey, and had to put back to port, but they had been transhipped to the Nairnshire, and after a rough passage to the Dominion they arrived - strapped to the deck, after the mate had suggested putting them overboard.

Our Aggie and Jenny Lind arrived two months after the Bryce family, who had decided to go to Christchurch. When they arrived at Lyttleton and saw the hills there, 'Scotty's' first question to himself was: "Where could you race trotters?" The family was taken to a boarding-house in the city but left after his wife had discovered that the woman of the house drank 'phonic' which is the Gaelic for methylated spirits.

Bryce's first home in NZ was Woolston, where he received a horse called Little Arthur, owned by Mr Wm Hayward, to train. Bryce relates that Little Arthur was a poor, dejected animal, and that he turned over in his mind that if this was a fair sample of the horses he was going to get, the future looked pretty bleak. "But I misjudged him," he continued. "I discovered he was asthmatical. I then included in his feed cod-liver oil, beaten-up eggs and sweet milk, and this helped his lungs. He did well and won at the Met. He was my first winner in this country."

A few months after arriving in the Dominion, Our Aggie struck form and won several races. Years later she became the dam of Red Shadow, considered by 'Scotty' to be the best-performed horse he ever drove. Red Shadow won the Great Northern Derby in 1930, and the NZ Cup and Metropolitan Free-For-All in 1933, taking all four principal races at the Cup meeting. Red Shadow sired Golden Shadow, winner of the Great Northern Derby Stakes in 1943, and Shadow Maid who won the Auckland Cup in the same year.

After a short time at 'Coldstream Lodge,' Fendalton, Bryce shifted to 'Oakhampton Lodge,' Hornby, then an 'unkept, dirty place.' Hard work promptly put that right, and soon the stables - 20 stalls to begin with - were built. The amenities included hot and cold water, a swimming pool for the horses, shelter sheds, railed yards, etc; so grew up the most modern trotting establishment seen up to that time in this country. And from this faithfully-harnessed source came an ever- swelling stream of fast pacers and trotters. Out of 'Oakhampton's' stalls were led superbly-conditioned horses that put Bryce at the head of his field only two short years after his arrival from Scotland. For seven consecutive seasons, from 1915-16 until 1921-22 and again in 1923-24, Bryce was leading trainer - eight times in all. He was also leading horseman in the 1915-16, 1918-19, 1921-22, 1922-23 and 1923-24 seasons and his son James, Jnr headed the horseman's list in the 1935-36 season.

Bryce trained and drove the winner of almost every important handicap and classic event in NZ. His sons Andrew and James carried on the family traditions. Andrew drove the 1927 NZ Cup winner Kohara; in 1921 he drove Man o' War to victory in the Auckland Cup, and in 1928 and 1929 he won the same race with Gold Jacket. James, Jnr, has driven two NZ Derby winners in Double Great and Twos Loose, four Auckland Cup winners in Shadow Maid, Sea Born and Captain Sandy twice, a November Free-for-all winner in Plutus, a National Cup behind De Soto, a Dominion Handicap on Waikato Prince, two Timaru Nursery Stakes on Highland Scott and Shadow Maid, a NZ Champion Stakes and a Wellington Stakes on Gallant Chief, a Great Northern Stakes on Highland Scott, a Great Northern Derby on Golden Shadow, and hosts of other good races; he still brings home the odd winner.

Few very big dividends were paid by horses driven by 'Scotty' Bryce. That speaks for itself. "They soon tumbled to me," he explained naively. Way back in 1923, horses driven by the old master had earned more than £100,000 in stakes for their owners; his full total must be nearer £250,000. When verging on three score and ten he was still a skilled reinsman. Much of this skill was in Bryce's hands. Only as a last resort did the whip come into play on a good horse 'Scotty' was driving.

Bryce considers Cathedral Chimes the gamest horse he ever drove. Catherdal Chimes won the Auckland and NZ Cups in successive years. Taurekareka was the first horse in the Dominion to win the trotting (or pacing, as you will)'triple crown,' the NZ Sapling Stakes, NZ Derby and Great Northern Derby. Bryce still affirms that he was unlucky not win a second Cup with Great Hope and a third with Ahuriri. Ahuriri was interfered with by Padlock or, in Bryce's opinion he would have won instead of going down to Peter Bingen and Great Bingen in a blanket finish in 1928.

He also thinks Matchlight, with an ounce of luck, would have won the NZ Cup. "I had a lot of time for Matchlight," said Bryce. "He won the President's Handicap at Forbury Park giving Trix Pointer 60 yards start, and then won both the big handicaps at the Canterbury Park June meeting when that club raced at Sockburn. He won those three races on end. Author Dillon was a bit lucky to beat Matchlight in the NZ Cup," declared Bryce. "Hendriksen, who drove Matchlight for me that year - I broke a leg and was in hospital - admitted he made a mistake in the way he drove him. Next day Matchlight won the Courtenay Handicap easily from the backmark," said Bryce.

"I always feel I had two horses that could have beaten two minutes," continued Bryce. "Red Shadow, from a standing start went 2.04 4/5 for third. Ahuriri was the other. As a 2-year-old before the 1922 Sapling Stakes he worked a mile in 2.10, his last half in 62sec. That was good work for any 2-year-old," remarked Bryce, who went on to say that he did not like the idea of sending his horses against time because there was so little inducement to do so.

J Bryce's principal training successes were in the NZ Cup (Cathedral Chimes 1916; Great Hope 1923; Ahuriri 1925 and 1926; Kohara 1927 and Red Shadow 1933); Auckland Cup (Cathedral Chimes 1915; Admiral Wood 1916; Man o' War 1920 and 1921; Ahuriri 1927 and Shadow Maid 1943; NZ Sapling Stakes (Ahuriri 1922; Taurekereka 1923 and Kohara 1924); NZ Derby (Great Hope 1922; Taurekereka 1923 and Kohara 1925); Great Northern Derby (Chid 1916; Tuarekareka 1923, Red Shadow 1930 and Golden Shadow 1943); NZ Champion Stakes - Metropolitan (Queen Chimes 1918; Great Hope 1922; Taurekareka 1924 and Kohara 1925); Taranaki Futurity Stakes (Queen Chimes 1918; Lochnagar 1919 and Ratana 1922); NZ Trotting Stakes - Forbury Park (Katute 1926); November Free-For-All (Admiral Wood 1916; Cathedral Chimes 1917 and Red Shadow 1933); Dominion Trotting Handicap (Whispering Willie 1916; Whist 1919; Moneyspider 1928 and Waikato Prince 1937); National Handicap (Matchlight 1918; Man o' War 1921 and Alto Chimes 1923); Timaru Nursery Stakes (Shadow Son 1938; Shadow Maid, division 1940); New Brighton Challenge Stakes (Shadow Son 1938); NZ Trotting Gold Cup - Wellington (Taraire 1923); Canterbury Handicap (Cathedral Chimes 1918 and 1919); and Rowe Cup - Auckland (Bluewood 1919), a record unapproached by any other trainer, past or present.

James Bryce tells some good stories against himself. Can you imagine the worthy Scot trying to get over the fence at Addington? Bryce will tell you how he was caught in the act, and how he came to be on the outside looking in. Two days of the Addington Cup meeting had passed - this was in August, 1928 - and between the second and third days the Trotting Association fonally made a decision on Bryce's appeal against a term of suspension in connection with the much-fought Free Advice case. Bryce had to take his medicine. Thinking that all the suspension did was to prevent him from driving, he went on the third day with his team only to be told he was not allowed on the track according to the rules.

After being graciously allowed to pay his acceptance fees and to see that the stable boys knew how to gear the team, Bryce left. On an upturned bucket in Bill Tomkinson's yard, just across the road, 'Scotty' indulged in a little self-pity and sympathy for himself. "After a' the years a mon's been in the game, nae tae be alooed on the coorse," he soliloquised. Telling Claude Dunlevey, Tomkinson's head man, how anxious he was to see if Native Chief would stand on the mark for the umpteenth time, Claude told him that if he went through the motor paddock he could see the start over the gate. Away went Bryce, and before he reached the gate he saw a "mon wi' a bit o' timber" leaning against the tin fence having a free view, so Bryce joined him. But not for long. Soon appeared authority in the form of a gateman, who ordered the pair down, waxing sarcastic as he escorted Bryce through the motor paddock, at the same time delivering a homily about getting through the proper channels and paying his bob like a man. And once again Native Chief stood on the mark.

Bryce made a notable contribution towards placing training on a higher plane here. A fellow trainer of his pays him the compliment of saying that Bryce was years ahead of most NZ trainers in the conditioning and driving of horses in those days. "We must never lose sight of the fact," said this admirer of Bryce's methods, "that it took men like 'Scotty' to improve the spit and polish part of our training methods. He was as meticulous, clean and thorough as any trainer I've ever known. Detail was his second name. The horse had to be fit and healthy, inside and outside, and he was kind to his horses, was proud of the 'guid yins.' Those of us with any savy tried to copy him."

Bryce was a great believer in swimming exercise for his horses, especially unsound ones, and at "Oakhampton Lodge" he built a luxurious swimming pool, 18ft at its deep end, as part of his comprehensive training routine. Many a lame horse was kept fit or saved from early racing oblivion by this pool, which was availed of by other trainers in the district, men who continue to acknowledge the debt they owe to the many refinements of conditioning and gaiting, and to the profound horsesense that took James Bryce to the top of the ladder and kept him there year after year.


Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar 14Aug57