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1924 NEW ZEALAND TROTTING CUP

Another New Zealand Trotting Cup has been decided and the spoils are with the Australian horse Sheik. The field paraded in the best of condition and nothing had it on the winner for looks. He was an absolute picture.

Acron was a hot favorite, but he whipped around at the start and took practically no part m the race. He had a cobber in First Carbine, who was very mulish and refused to go off. With half the journey covered Riddle took the lead with Sheik, and that, was the beginning of the end. Realm made a dab going out of tha straight the last time, but he was done with at the far turn. This left Taraire and Great Hope to chase the leader, but they had no chance, and Riddle landed his horse home a winner by a length and a quarter. It was a very popular win, and when Sheik took charge, with a mile to go, the huge crowd started to applaud.

What would have happened had Acron gone away with his field is hard to say, but he must, have made matters interesting. Onyx was not herself, and as a consequence did not run as well as she might have. Great Hope, last year's winner, made a fine effort in the straight, but he could not get to the winner. On the far bend Taraire appeared a possibility, but he could not sustain his run.

The time was exceptionally good, the full distance taking 4min 25 4/5sec. The first mile took 2min 14sec, and the mile and a half 3min 22sec. The last half was run in lmin 3 4/5sec, an extraordinarily fine time.

Credit: NZ Truth 15 Nov 1924

Owner, Trainer, Driver Peter Riddle with Mrs Riddle

1924 NEW ZEALAND TROTTING CUP

The 1924 Cup Meeting brought together a number of fine performances, with individual highlights being recorded by the likes of Acron, Great Bingen, Great Hope, the imported Jack Potts, the 3-year-old Kohara and the trotting mare Nikora, who downed a field of 17 in the Dominion.

The Cup itself was another triumph for Australia, with Sheik, owned, trained and driven by Sydney's Peter Riddle, stalling off the game bid of the little Great Hope and Andy Bryce, who was the third member of his family to drive in the race. Riddle was a fine horseman and had been competing with success for a decade at Addington, where he had a team of six at this time.

Sheik was among them, having arrived the previous season, and his form was such that he was favourite along with Acron, both appearing well handicapped on 36 yards.

Great Bingen, in his first attempt at the Cup, was given 72 yards however and owner John McKenzie was so unhappy that he withdrew him, only to then watch Acron go the wrong way at the start.

Acron, who won the Free-For-All on the second day in Australasian record time for the mile of 2:03 3/5, was to be the beginning of a long history of disappointments for the McKenzie family in the great race.

**Credit - New Zealand HRWeekly 8Oct 2003**

The seven-year-old stallion Sheik became the third Australian-bred horse, after Durbar(1908) and Adelaide Direct(1917), to win the New Zealand Cup. Only two more Stanley Rio(1976) and Steel Jaw(1983), have followed.

Sheik's victory was a popular one because he had shown himself to be a top-class horse. He was well supported, being the second favourite after Acron. Betting on the race reached £17,000, with Acron and Sheik carrying half of the invested sum.

Sheik's sire Bonnie Chief was by Chieftain from Clare, by Childe Harold. Francesca, his dam, was by Franz from Phoebe, both by Vancleve. John Cameron, of Moree in New South Wales, bred Sheik and was on the course to see the horse win. Sheik had been leased to trainer Peter Riddle, who in the previous year had bought the horse outright when Cameron disposed of his racing stock. Riddle was Sydney-based and had his first experience of Addington racing in 1914, when he unsuccessfully campaigned a team at the Cup meeting.

In the 1923-24 season Sheik was campaigned in New Zealand and from six starts had two wins, two seconds, a third and a fourth. Riddle had six horses in training at Addington for this meeting and Sheik, because of his good form the previous season, was always one of the favoured candidates after the handicapper had set h9im on 36 yards. One owner far from satisfied with the 60-yard handicap given his horse, Great Bingen, was J R McKenzie. McKenzie withdrew Great Bingen from the race. He was left with his other representative, race favourite Acron, but the horse whipped around at the start and was out of the race.

The outstanding mare Onyx was handicapped on the back mark of 84 yards in the 12-horse field. She had won the August Handicap and National Cup from 72 yards in August and earned her impostion. However, Onyx was always too far back in the fast-run race to have any chance. First Carbine, like Acron, lost his chance at the start. Paul Default, from the front, led out, and was followed by Blue Mountain King, Great Hope, Tatsy Dillon and Sheik. After a mile Sheik took the lead, and entered the last lap ahead of Realm, Great Hope, Taraire and Vilo. Taraire and Great Hope, the Bryce pair, closed on Sheik nearing the home bend and Taraire looked the likely winner. However, Sheik shook him off and then withstood a secod challenge, from Great Hope, eventually winning by a length from Great Hope, with two lengths to Taraire. Then came Realm (who went a fine race for Bill Tomkinson from 72 yards), Vilo, Tatsy Dillon, Paul Default, Alto Chimes, Blue Mountain King, Onyx, Acron and First Carbine. The Auckland pair, Blue Mountain King (who had won the 1923 Auckland Cup) and First Carbine, were disappointing. Blue Mountain King and Realm were by Ribbonwood and were bred in Australia.

Only one saddle race was programmed on the first day, with these events gradually being phased out in favour of sulky racing. Although Addington's betting had peaked, the club kept faith with it's many owners and trainers and offered £15,450 in stakes over the three days. Racing on the second and third days was exceptional, with Acron, Great Hope, Great Bingen, Jack Potts, Kohara and Nikora providing the highlights. Acron, who failed completely in the Cup, gave a great display of pacing, winning the Free-For-All in a record 2:03.6, beating the previous best Australasian time of 2:04.2, set by Happy Voyage against time. Realm was second and Logan Chief third. Great Hope won the Courtenay Handicap in a record race-winning time of 4:24.4 from Sheik, and capped a fine meeting when he won the final event, the Spring Handicap. Great Hope started from 60 yards and paced the mile in 2:07.8. From the three races at the meeting the Bryce star performer recorded two wins and a second.

Great Bingen, heavily backed, won the Hagley Handicap on Cup Day and Jack Kennerley reappeared with his budding champion in the Christchurch Handicap on the final day. Already on a 72-yard handicap, Great Bingen was just beaten into third by Vilo and Dolly Dillon.

Jack Potts won the Metropolitan Handicap and then the Victoria Handicap, recording his fourth victory in nine months. The American-bred stallion became one of New Zealand's most successful sires. For nine seasons in succession (1937-38 to 1945-46) he was leading sire.

In his first outing as a three-year-old, Kohara won the Australasian Handicap. The previous June, Kohara had won the 1923 Sapling Stakes at Ashburton. He proved his juvenile form was the promise of better things to come when he won the 1927 New Zealand Cup for James Bryce. Nikora, an aged mare, won the Dominion Handicap from 16 others.

The horses did not take all the limelight at the 1924 carnival. Andrew Bryce became the third member of the Bryce family to sit behind a NZ Cup contender, taking the drive behind Great Hope. Owner George Barton had the pleasure of seeing his Bell Harold win the St Albans Handicap on Cup Day. Barton's name was to appear 10 times on top of the owners'list between the years 1927-28 and 1937-38 - unquestionably he was one of the most successful owners in New Zealand harness racing history.

The opening event on the third day was the Governor's Handicap for trotters. A youthful Maurice Holmes, then only 16, drove Wonder Why, from the 60-yard mark, into third place, but he had to wait a little longer for his first success.

**Credit - Bernie Wood writing in The Cup**

REALM

Realm, who figures in a number of NZ pedigrees today, was bred by Mr T W McMahon, of Kurrajong, NSW, in the memorable year of 1914; Realm was a great performer both in NSW and NZ, but rather a disappointment as a sire. An odd winner by him occasionally crops up in NSW and Victoria. In NZ he was represented by Shadowland, winner of the NZ Derby (1926); Regime, and Royal Serene. The latter had records of 2.12 1/5 and 4.36 1/5. In addition to winning the Derby in 3.27 2/5, Shadowland was successful over two miles.

One of Realm's greatest performances was in 1924, when from a flying start in a Free-For-All he paced the mile in 2.03 4/5, being beaten a length by Acron. A couple of days prior to his sensational mile, Realm, off 72yds had run fourth to Sheik (36yds), Great Hope (24yds), and Taraire (48yds) in the 1924 NZ Cup. Of these four Realm's time of 4.24 3/5 was the fastest.

During August, 1922, soon after he reached NZ, Realm won twice in 4.32 4/5 and 4.26 4/5. He was also successfully placed in other races of varying distances, including a win over 10 furlongs in 2.44. On December 5, 1925, Realm ran second off 72yds to Great Bingen (108yds) in 4.29 1/5. Great Bingen's time was 4.25 4/5 and three lengths separated them.

In NSW he was also a good winner, and put up a winning record of 2.13 in a mile race at Victoria Park in 1922. Hoplessly left, he was credited with running the last half in under a minute. Driven by P Riddle, Realm, then raced by Mr J Barrett, won a division at Harold Park (then Epping) in 2.37 1/2, equal to a mile rate of 2.20. Subsequently he won at Victoria Park in 3.35, 3.31 and 2.53, but probably his best long-distance performance in Australia was his second to Box Seat at Victoria Park in 1922. The latter was on 140yds and Realm on 90yds, and the verdict was a yard. Box Seat averaged 2.13 1/2 for two miles and Realm better than 2.16.

In his racing career Realm was credited with winning over £4500 in stakes. Though his full-brother, Childe Wood, was a great success as a sire, Realm, a mighty racehorse, was a comparative failure.

Credit: 'Old Timer' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 24May50

Fred Johnston & Zingarrie

FRED JOHNSTON

Fred Johnston has been shoeing horses for 54 years. He is the official farrier at Addington meetings.

This maestro of the anvil chorus opened a blacksmith shop in Sydenham in 1890, and down through the years, under his "spreading chestnut tree" have stood such celebrities as Red Child, Kentucky, Thelma, Bellflower, Durbar, Marian, Aberfeldy, Dan Patch, Author Dillon, Admiral Wood, Wildwood Junior and hundreds more. And Fred is still on the job. When I looked him up on Saturday he was deftly rasping away at a nimble foot belonging to Zingarrie.

Fred paused in his rasping to answer my question: "Wildwood Junior was the best horse I ever shod," he replied. "He won two Cups, and his third would have been easy if he hadn't gone wrong. The black horse's shoes weighed only 13oz in all. We had made some progress even in those days, as you see," added Johnston, "but what a headache the early trotters used to give us! They were nearly all speedy-cutters, and the pacers were mostly cross-firers, and I used to lie awake night after night trying to puzzle out ways and means of improving their gait. You see, in the early days the breed wasn't there. The farrier was expected to make trotters out of cart horses. Today, they are so well bred they are gaited, so to speak, as soon as they are foaled."

Fred Johnston mopped his brow. He had just been all through the throes and anxieties of levelling up the footwork of a particularly bad knee-knocker he had to deal with 40 years ago. The mere recital of it made him feel like the village smithy of old, and honest sweat glistened in beads on his brow.

"Knee-knockers!" he exclaimed, while continuing the mopping. "They were at their worst 40 years ago. Today few knee-knockers are worth going on with. It was always a hard defect to attempt to cure. When Peter Riddle first came to this country with a team of horses, I had the pleasure of doing his shoeing. He said: 'If you can't get a horse that doesn't knock its knees, don't have one at all.' That's what he thought of knee-knockers. Gus Milsom was of the same opinion: so was the late Bob McMillan," added Johnston. "But in the early days we had no option," continued our worthy smith. "There were few good-gaited horses about."

Johnston went into some detail to explain what a scalper is, and instanced the case of a great trotter named Red Child, who raced about 50 years ago. Red Child scalped very badly. It was impossible to race him without scalping boots on the hind feet to protect him from striking himself with his front feet. Many a headache he gave me before I got him right," said Johnston.

"But I had a worse case than that. It was McKinley, a horse I owned myself, and the worst cross-firer I ever had. I could have slept in peace if I had had the knowledge in the year 1902 I gained in later years. McKinley pulled so many front shoes off he nearly had me in the asylum. But when I did get him to rights he was a good horse."

"What do you regard as your greatest shoeing triumph?" I asked the man of the forge.

Without a moment's hesitation Fred answered: "A trotter called Impatient." He went on to relate how Randall McDonnell had a horse of that name, and wanted to race him at Addington. "I asked Randall if the horse had any defects, and he answered: 'Yes; he paddles in front and dwells behind.' That wasn't so simple; but I took his shoes off and weighed them, and asked Randall what weight he wanted on the horse. His reply was; 'He's in your hands; do what you think best.' I decided to lower the heels of his front feet a quarter of an inch, but that made a longer toe on his front feet. I put three ounces more weight on him than he had before, and made his hind shoes three ounces lighter. Then I put good caulks on the heels, and rolled the toes of the hind shoes. Randall worked him next day, went to the races, and won a three-mile race with him. He did not put a foot wrong. I still consider that was my master-piece," said Johnston reflectively.

"Round about 1897 Bob Day came to Sydenham with a team of horses, among them Gazelle, a trotter, and the first to break five minutes for two miles at Lancaster Park. I mention this mare in particular because she was easy to shoe, wearing only a 4oz shoe on each foot. Bob Day, incidentally, is still hale and hearty, and was at the last matinee meeting at Brighton," added Johnston.

"No foot, no horse! That axiom is as true today as ever it was," said Johnston. The foot was the one essential thing about a horse; a defect in any other part may not make it useless, but a bad foot could make it unsuitable for anything except breeding. "If all horses were straight-legged and sound in bones and hooves, the task of the trainer would be greatly simplified," said our farrier, "and there would be no headaches for us."

Nature however plays her little pranks with horseflesh just as she does with humans, and the horse is prone to the same freakish twists and deformities that beset the human race. What science, veterinary skill and balancing have done to correct these deficiences with the aid of modern shoeing methods forms a fascinating study. Much of the improvement in pacing and trotting speed is due to the particular genius of men like Fred Johnston. His life-long struggle for balance in gait has led him to explore many avenues in equine chiropody; in fact, the trotting footwear specialist is one of the most important units in the game.

Although horse-shoes have been made for many centuries, and their general design has not changed, and presumably never will, there have been many refinements. Fifty years ago, Fred Johnston will tell you, it was no uncommon thing for harness horses to wear shoes each weighing a pound or more, but today shoes are made as light as possible, commensurate with proper protection.

Fred was always sending to America for shoeing data in the early days, and he attributes some of his success to the information he was able to get from a shoers journal published by the late Wm. Russell, an expert in the craft. The Americans have naturally always been in the forefront in the shoeing of the trotting horse, because there the standard-bred as we know it today originated. And what a story the history of American shoeing tells us! Weight has been gradually decreased from the terrific load of two pounds on each foot to less than a pound on the whole four!

Some of the early colt trotters carried excessive weight, and Belle Nara, 2.08¾, who in 1888 lowered the world's record for yearlings in a race, to 2.38, carried almost two pounds in shoe and toe-weight, on each foot. Even 10 years later the amount of weight carried by the cracks resembled, in many instances, the old-timers rather than the modern colt. A conspicuous instance was Peter The Great. It took a lot of iron to balance him, but few were aware just how much. The statement appears that he won the Kentucky Futurity of 1898, carrying a 12oz shoe and 5oz toe-weight on each foot. Five years later, when Lou Dillon made the two-minute trotter a reality, she wore shes that weighed 4½oz each in front, and 3½oz each behind. She wore no toe-weights.

Brittle-footed horses are always a problem. Indianapolis was one of the worst cases ever experienced in this country. His feet were very dry and brittle, and before he won his first NZ Cup one of the front hooves split from top to bottom, and the blood was oozing out. A clever riveting operation by the late E Archer, another celebrated man of the anvil, enabled the big pacer to carry on and win three Cups; but if the delicate operation to his foot had been out so much as a hair's breadth, he would never have raced again.

Even in the early days of man attention had been drawn to the brittle nature of the horses hoof, for in Judg. v22 we find it stated: "Then were the horse-hoofs broken by the means of their prancings." In ancient Greek and Roman journals also it is found that armies had to be disbanded in consequence of the horses' hoofs breaking and wearing. The exact time, however, when shoes were allpied to horses feet is not known, but the Persians get the credit of being the first to use them. In the year 1653 an iron shoe was found in the tomb of Childeric, King of France, who died AD 481, and William the Conqueror is credited with having introduced the art of horse-shoeing into England.

Horse-shoeing is "Science With Practice." For the shoer to have a knowledge of the different forms or kinds of feet, to shape the various kinds of shoes and attach them properly, and then give a reason for his work, is one of the finest samples of "science with practice." The doctor's patient can tell him where it hurts. A veterinary surgeon or a farrier has to find out for himself.



Credit: 'Ribbonwood' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 11 Oct 44

J S Shaw holds Native Prince

J S SHAW

J S Shaw, talented reinsman and trainer of champions, breeder of bloodstock and one of the most consistent buyers of 'bargain' yearlings at Trentham over a long period; for nine years a stipendiary steward to the NZ Trotting Conference, has purchased a half share in the trotter Not Quite, whom he will race in partnership with Mr W Hosking. Shaw has also taken out a driver's licence, and he may hold the reins over Not Quite at the New Brighton Trotting Club's meeting on September 6, for which the trotter is being trained by C Fairman. Shaw had his last drive in a race behind Tempest at the Metropolitan meeting on 1937. He won, and is naturally hopeful of bridging a decade with success on either side. (Note: Not Quite finished fifth)

"I am certain, if conditions had been ideal that day she would have trotted two minutes." J S Shaw was discussing his champion of 13 years standing, Worthy Queen, a trotter who made history on a windy, dusty day at Addington in April, 1934, by trotting a mile against time in 2.03 3/5. "It was partly my own fault. There was a gale blowing, and it was the first time she had ever had a horse galloping beside her. I was under the impression I could trail the pacemaker, but was told I couldn't. Over the first three furlongs she was trying to beat the galloper, trying to go faster than she could. She was pulling hard and trotting all in a heap. She was hitched to a short sulky and round the showgrounds bend her hock was hitting my leg. It wasn't until she reached the back straight that she flattened out to really trot. But the first half in 61 1/2 took as much out of her as 58 or 59 would have if she had been trotting kindly.

"She was a really wonderful mare. She didn't know what it was to do anything wrong. She never broke in a race unless something took the legs from under her, which happened on only one occasion to my knowledge. She had her funny little ways," continued Shaw. "On race day you had no chance of driving her on the roads or on to the tracks. She had to be led, and even then she insisted upon stopping now and again to gaze at things. Nothing would thwart her."

Worthy Queen's 2.03 3/5 is not her only record that remains unassailed after 13 years. Her 3.14 1/5 in a race was also established in 1934, and she was clocked from post to post on that occasion in 3.09 - and round the field.

Worthy Queen, by Worthy Bingen from Queen Chimes, a Coldstream Bells mare from Vanquish, was bred by the late J R Corrigan, of Hawera, and sold as a yearling to Mr T Agnew, of Hastings. "A mutual friend of both, the late Harry Jones, saw her trotting in the paddock and told Mr Corrigan what a wonderful filly she was," related Shaw, "with the result that Mr Corrigan leased her back. For him she won several races under the direction of Alex Corrigan and afterwards, when I shifted from Auckland to Christchurch he sent her down to me. That was in 1931. I won several races with her for Mr Corrigan. When he became ill and restricted his racing activities he sold the mare's racing rights to me, and she continued to win races."

"Although Worthy Queen was the best trotter up to a mile and a half ever seen in this country, she was not a top-notch two-miler. The best two-mile trotter I ever had was Peter Dean, by Petereta-Ivy Dean. Mrs Sweetapple and I bought him five minutes before a race on the third day of the Auckland Christmas meeting of 1932. He was 144yds behind in a mile and a half race, and although I had never driven him before, he won; and he also won a two mile race the same day. He cost us £1000, but in the first three months we owned him he won £1025. He won three times and was second in his first four starts for us. Shortly after I brought him to Christchurch he kicked at another horse in an adjoining paddock, injuring himself behind, and although he won races afterwards, he was never sound again. His action changed altogether. I consider he is easily the best two-mile trotter I have ever seen. In a trial before leaving Auckland he came the last half-mile in 61sec and the last quarter in 29sec. When I make this claim I am not forgetting Hardy Wilkes, Electrocute, Bellflower, Submarine, Muricata, Quincey, Whispering Willie, Sea Gift, Trampfast, Wrackler, Huon Voyage, Moneyspider and other great staying trotters."

"Hardy Wilkes was a phenomenal horse, too. He broke five times in a NZ Cup when competing against the pacers and then finished just out of the money. He was especially good in bad ground, but was a very difficult horse to control. He was trained by A Fleming when I was in his employ. I was still in my teens when I trained my first horse. This was none other than Whispering Willie. He won many races, including the Auckland Summer Cup among the pacers at Auckland. For his inches he was a super horse. The sulky he raced in weighed 86lb, compared with the average of 35lb today. What was most remarkable about Whispering Willie was that he won races for every person who trained and drove him, among the number being J Wilson, G Murfitt, J Bryce, R W Mills, W Orange and myself."

Native Prince was a pacer who still stands high in Shaw's regard. "He was a really beautiful-looking horse," he said. "He was bred in Hastings, and sold as a yearling by Ben Shadbolt to C Rokkjer. He won races in Australia, and was bought back to Auckland by Peter Riddle and sold to Mrs Sweetapple. I trained him to win many races, and he finished up by running a great race in the NZ Cup, although he was unplaced. He was a really genuine horse."

"Jewel Pointer was the best all-rounder I ever had. He was good in saddle or harness, he won from a mile to two miles, he was equally at home on grass of clay, mud or dry, and any class of mud to boot. Besides being foolproof at the start - which was a great asset with him - you could always afford to take a risk and get a position before a race had been long in progress. I bought Jewel Pointer for Mr Moodabe for about £300, and he won thousands. One of his best feats was to win three £1000 races within eight days, besides three seconds. He had to travel from Auckland to Christchurch, and it has to be remembered that stakes were then less than half what they are today."

"Carmel must be included among a number a really good horses I had the good fortune to train and drive. The Richmond brothers, friends of mine, bought Carmel among some draught horses at a sale for 14gns the vendor being A Cameron. They leased him to me and I developed him and won several races before selling him to Mr J W Murphy. He went into C S Donald's stable, and under his guidance he won the Auckland Cup and many other races. Torpedo Huon, a good-looking well-bred horse from Australia, was a good winner under my direction, but he did not breed on," continued Shaw. "Western King was also bought in Australia for Mr Moodabe. Unfortunately, this grand pacer got hurt and I thought he would never race here. Even under this severe handicap he went 2.07 4/5 round a field to win, and he had a good two-mile record as well. This horse might have been capable of anything if he had not been injured. Florrie Bingen was one of my favourites. She was bought by Mrs Sweetapple and myself for £150 and she won numerous races, including two over two miles at one meeting in Christchurch towards the conclusion of her career. This was the first meeting at which a limit was put on both ends of a race. One of the races she won was 4.40 to 4.35."

In August 1930, after a run of successes with Warplane and Native Chief, I went out of racing and bought a partnership in a gymnasium in Auckland. A year later I came to Christchurch with Peter Pirate, setting up as a public trainer. It was then that I received Impromptu to train. He was not doing any good at that stage. The first time I started him he won at New Brighton. The following week he won the leading event at Wellington. He ended up by going 3.13 and winning very easily at Ashburton and beating Harold Logan in a free-for-all at Auckland. On his day it took a really good horse to beat Impromptu over any distance; but he was a bad-gaited horse and one of the hardest to train I ever had anything to do with. When I received Royal Silk to train he had one miss and then won five on end, including the big race at Dunedin, the Auckland Cup, the big sprint on the second day, and the big two-miles on the third day of the Auckland meeting; and the NZ Trotting Gold Cup at Wellington."

Koro Peter, champion 2-year-old trotter of the late 1920s, and the only horse of his age and gait to win in open company in the Dominion during the last 20 years, was another celebrity who passed through J S Shaw's hands. This big, overgrown gelding by Peter Moko from Koro Ena, trained and driven by his owner, T Cooper, astounded the trotting world by winning the Introductory Handicap of a mile and a half, from a big field of all ages at Cambridge in May, 1928. Shaw immediately opened negotiations on behalf of Mrs Sweetapple to buy Koro Peter, and secured him for £500. "The same season, a 2-year-old trotting filly named First Wrack, bred and owned by Mr H F Nicoll, had finished third in open company in the Allenton Handicap, of a mile and a half, at Ashburton a month before Koro Peter won at Cambridge. These youngsters were the only 2-year-old trotters to have shown any form for many years. In fact, it is the exception rather than the rule, even up to the present day, for a 2-year-old trotter to race, let alone perform with any degree of success," said Shaw.

"Koro Peter and First Wrack created such Dominion-wide interest that the upshot of it all was that their merit was recognised by the Auckland Trotting Club, which matched them over a mile and a quarter at their June meeting, 1928. The totalisator was opened on the event, and Koro Peter was made favourite. It was a terrible day. The going was fetlock deep in slush, and the two horses had to frighten thousands of seagulls off the track as they went along. These birds frightened First Wrack more than they did Koro Peter, and Koro Peter managed to win after a great struggle all the way up the straight. After the match Koro Peter was sold to Mr G McMillan for £1000 and entered R B Berry's stable, from which he met with a lot of success, First Wrack also reached the top flight of trotters."

"Man o' War was the greatest stayer I ever had," continued Shaw. "He was so clean-winded that he would race on less work than any other horse I have trained. In addition, he had a splendid disposition and was most intelligent. I only had him for about 12 months. He was previously trained by J Bryce, for whom he won two Auckland Cups. The last time I drove Man o' War was a very memorable occasion. It was at Addington when a special day's racing was put on in honour of the American fleet. Man o' War rose to the occasion and won the HMS Hood Handicap, the leading event of the day. This was the worst day that I have ever experienced on a racetrack. There was hail and sleet all day and the races could not be postponed, as this was the only day the fleet could be in Christchurch. Of this particular race I saw only about half; Man o' War came from the back mark and did the job himself. I was absoutely blinded with the slush that was flying everywhere. This may soung incredible, but there are many of the old drivers who will vividly remember it. Some of our mounts had to be led back to the birdcage, as we were driving blind. The morning after the races I woke in daylight but everything was still black. It was hours before my eyesight returned to normal. Most of us had driven all day and our eyes had to be attended to in between races by the doctors present at the meeting. Warplane was a son of Man o' War bred by the late James Pettie, and sold to Mrs Sweetapple for £250. He was a very successful performer over all distances. On the last occasion I brought him to Christchurch - August, 1930 - he won two races in good company, his only two starts at the meeting."

"The Abbey was a good horse I trained, but he had to be humoured. He won several good handicaps for Mr Moodabe. One of his wins was the Whangarei Cup. The Abbey was one of those horses who suffered by the old system of handicapping. I remember one meeting in Christchurch, I won a 4.40 class with him on the first day in 4.29, and he was handicapped the next day in the big race on 4.28 in a 4.29 class, going back 11secs for winning a race which from memory was worth £250 to the winner. He ran second from a 4.28 mark and the found himself in NZ Cup company. Cases such as these," said Shaw, "must make the present-day owner thankful for the existing system of penalties."

"Peter Pirate was one of the best mud horses I ever drove," he continued. "I leased him for Mr Moodabe towards the end of his career, and he won several races. I drove him in four events at an Auckland meeting, for which he was trained by Edgar Kennerley, and he won three and was third in the other. One of his wins was the Adams Memorial Cup. I bought Ironside from Mr H F Nicoll for Mr Hosking for £500. I didn't get on well with this horse, although he won his first race for me, but under G Robertson and later F J Smith, he won good races and stakes running into several thousands. Among his successes were the Ashburton Cup and Adams Memorial Cup."

"The last horse I trained before I was appointed a stipendiary steward was Golden Eagle. She was a really sweet trotter and I was sorry to have to give her up. I bought her from J T Paul on his recommendation for £250 on behalf of Mr Hosking. She won several races, and when I parted with her she was sold to Mr G J Barton for £500. For him she also proved a good winner. Sold to a West Australian owner, she continued to win races in Perth. It was also on J T Paul's recommendation that I bought Not Quite for Mr Hosking and myself," said Shaw.

"The first horse I ever rode in a race was Bribery. He was a wonderful saddle horse, especially over two miles. At that time I was head lad for Mr T G Fox, one of my first employers. Mr Fox was a really considerate boss, and one whose advice I found very valuable in later life. I would like to make some reference to saddle races, particularly straight-out trotters' saddle races. The men who shone in this department some 30 years ago were A Pringle, T Annat, W Orange, J McEwen, F Holmes, and a bit later J McLennan, D Bennett and F G Holmes. In those days when men used to ride in trotting races they were in much better health than they are today, when you very seldom see a horse worked in saddle. I won a lot of saddle races with straight-out trotters and enjoyed them very much though I was never in the first flight of saddle horsemen and had to waste hard to get down to 10st."

"I remember once winning a two mile saddle race on a trotter called Rothmoor giving away starts of up to 28secs. When the limit horses went away I was on the ground putting a martingale on. I had 28secs in which to complete this, mount my horse, and travel down to the starting post to catch my clock under the old system of starting. The present system of starting is far ahead of the old system of the clock. And there is no doubt that the present system of handicapping is also a great improvement on the old order, under which there was a definite encouragement to wait for slow tracks."

Shaw recalled that he won the first Taranaki Cup with Overate, a trotter competing against pacers; and the first Adams Memorial Cup with the imported American stallion Ballin, who had just been converted fron a trotter to a pacer. Another Taranaki Cup winner he trained and drove was Jewel Wood, who also won the Nelson Cup and the first Hawkes Bay Cup in the same season. "The Squire was a trotter I had more than average success with in Auckland," said Shaw. "Mr G McMillan came by him in exchange for a mare named Bingen Jean, and the exchange proved a very good one from our point of view, as The Squire won the two big trotting events at the first Auckland meeting at which we raced him."

Asked about the standard of driving, Shaw said he considered there are equally as many, if not more, expert reinsmen today; but there are considerably more of those who, in his opinion, have not had sufficient experience before being granted a licence. "I think the grading of horsemen a big mistake," he said. "Either a man is capable of driving in any class of race or he is not. The races that we found the hardest to drive in were the maiden races, because here you have the large fields of green horses, and it is in these events that the inexperienced horsemen of today, classified 'C' grade, are found in the largest numbers. I always found it advisable in a race to trail the man, not the horse," said Shaw. "By this I mean that you will invariably get a better run behind an experienced horseman than you will get behind an inexperienced one who in the majority of cases cannot stay put for any length of time. The old hand knows the shortest way round and retains that little in reserve until the right end of the race."

"One of my regrets," continued Shaw, "is the complete dissappearance of the unhoppled pacer. At one time this class of horse was catered by the Auckland Trotting Club by the inclusion of a race for unhoppled horses, which embraced straight-out trotters and free-legged pacers. I won several of these events with a little horse called Nipper. The late A J Julian had a good unhoppled pacer in Haricot, and the late W J Tomkinson won more than his share with that good free-legged mare Pearlie Chimes. But easily the best of this class of horse was Don Wild, who held his own among the best hoppled pacers in the Dominion. I think that if this class of horse was catered for again, so would they be developed. In fact, the way pacers are bred today,they should have less need for straps, and I see no reason why the number of unhoppled pacers should not be considerably multiplied until there are as many of them as there were in Don Wild's day."

Amaris, Fairyland, Gay Paree, Halgana, Arachne, Sal Pointer, Ben Lomond, Warspite, Great Change, Jimmy Richmond, Meritorious, Prinzora, Rustle and Mr Penalty were some of the many other winners of both gaits Shaw trained and drove up to the time he was appointed stipendiary steward to the NZ Trotting Conference in 1937. He held this position with credit to himself and the sport until last year, when he resigned. As stated previously Shaw may return to trotting as an owner and driver with Not Quite (in whom he holds a half-interest with Mr W Hosking), at the New Brighton meeting on September 6. He is assured of a warm reception from the public an his fellow reinsmen.



Credit: 'Ribbomwood' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 20Aug47

W S Hosking, Vodka and J S Shaw

JACK SHAW

J S(Jack)Shaw has been almost everything connected with racing and trotting. He has had through his hands some of the best horses of the three great contesting gaits - galloping, trotting and pacing - won races with saddle horses and jumpers, and had an incredible number of different experiences.

J S has been associated with horses since his youth and his first ride in a race was about 35 years ago on a horse called Bribery, one of the T G Fox team, for whom Jack was head lad. Years later he received his most thilling experience in a race at Wanganui. Driving Jimmy Richmond, Shaw faced a crisis when the rein broke, for he was running in the middle of a packed field. He climbed up on to the horse's back, gathered the rein and continued on to finish third.

Jack Shaw became a prominent trainer at Epsom in the twenties and among his most noted and strongest patrons at that time were Mr M J Moodabe and Mrs Sweetapple. Of the many topline horses through his hands during that period the greatest was Worthy Queen.

The late J R Corrigan, of Hawera, was a major breeder of trotters at the time and between days at the Hawera meeting each year used to sell large numbers of stock, which did much to build up trotting through the Island. Alex Corrigan, a well-knowm driver in his day, now a member of the Trotting Conference, was handling his father's horses back about 1930. Worthy Queen, by Worthy Bingen from Queen Chimes, was bought by a Hastings owner, but on the advice of a friend, her breeder, J R Corrigan leased her back. Alex Corrigan won a number of races with the mare, but she soon reached tough marks for the North and in 1931, when Jack Shaw moved from Epsom to Christchurch, the owner sent Worthy Queen to him. Later, when Mr Corrigan was ill, he sold his racing rights in Worthy Queen to the trainer.

She won many races, but ubdoubtedly her greatest performance was when she established a trotting record against time of 2.03 3/5. Perhaps if conditions had been ideal she would have trotted two minutes. The was a minor gale blowing and it was a remarkable effort. In a race she set up the record of 3.14 1/5 for a mile and a half, and this record, established in 1934, still stands.

The first horse Mr Shaw trained was whispering Willie, who at odd times won races for every trainer who had him, including J Bryce, J Wilson, G Murfitt and W Orange. A number of horses were bought in Australia for Mr Moodabe and trained by Jack, and included amongst them was Torpedo Huon, a rather handsome entire, who did well. Another horse he bought for Mr Moodabe, and perhaps the best pacer Shaw had, was Jewel Pointer, who won many races over all distances and under all conditions. He only cost £300. He once ran three firsts and three seconds within eight days, all in £1000 races, and starting at Auckland had to travel to Christchurch to complete the project.

Perhaps J S's favourite horse, judging from his conversation, is Native Prince. He was bred by Ben Shadbolt of Hawke's Bay, and sold to Chris Rokkjer, who took him to Australia and who, incidently, is still a keen follower of the light harness game. Peter Riddle, later to become famous as the owner of Shannon, bought him and a number of others to Auckland at the time the Aussies were winning everything at Epsom and Otahuhu, and sold him to Mrs Sweetapple. Native Prince won numerous races and worked his way through to New Zealand Cup class.

Gus Cameron sold a chestnut colt by Our Thorpe from the Grattan Abbey mare The Abbess in a consignment of draught horses, for 14gns to the Richmond brothers. Incidentally, the number of horses this breeder has sold must run into big numbers, and the story is told that he "keeps his own five studbooks in his head." The colt became known as Carmel and won races for Jack, who leased him. After being sold Carmel went into C S Donald's team and scored in the Auckland Cup, among other races.

Florrie Bingen, raced in partnership with Mrs Sweetapple, proved a grand bargain. Costing only £150 she won numerous races while under the Shaw mentorship. The greatest stayers through his hands among the trotters were Man O' War and Royal Silk. Mar O'War was in his care for 12 months after the brilliant champion had won two Auckland Cups. Taking Royal Silk over, that smart performer missed once and then won the big race at Dunedin, the Auckland Cup and two other races at Epsom, and the New Zealand Gold Cup at Wellington - in a row.

In 1930 he gave up horse training and he and the New Zealand champion wrestler, George Walker, opened a gym in Auckland. Jack Shaw returned to training the following year, shifting to New Brighton. He continued to be highly successful as a trainer of pacers and trotters until the end of the 1936 season.

When Shaw first went south he had Impromptu, who up to that time had shown useful form. Impromtu eventually beat Harold Logan in a Free-For-All and took a record of 3.13. Other noted horses he had at various times and stages of their careers were Koro Peter, the Petereta trotter Peter Dean, The Abbey, Peter Pirate a noted mudlark, Ironside for a time, The Squire, Ballin, Jewel Wood, Golden Eagle a neat trotter, Overate, Arachne, Fairyland and Great Change, while he drove many others.

In 1937, J S Shaw took a position as stipendiary steward to the New Zealand Trotting Conference, and held this office with distinction until he resigned in 1946. Jack Shaw then transferred his attention almost entirely to gallopers, although he followed both sports with keen interest, he established himself quickly, and among the winners he early turned out were the NZ Oaks winner Idle Jest, All Serene, Eulogize, the useful Peridot, and others.

The most eventful day in his long and varied career was at the 1948 Yearling Sales at Trentham. A colt by Beau Repaire from Mabel Rose was offered. Mabel Rose, being a half-sister to the NZ Derby winner Pensacola, Mrs Shaw, formerly Miss Sutherland, was attracted by the entrant in the ring, as her sister had raced Pensacola in partnership with Mr H Edgington. Early bidding for this colt soon stopped and Jack Shaw and William Dwyer were left to outbid each other. Such was not the case, however, and William Dwyer became the owner at 300 guineas. Using more than astute judgement, Jack went straight to the new owner and purchased the colt at a lesser figure than if he had kept bidding.

That colt then established himself as the hardiest top-class horse since the immortal Carbine and was known to the racing world as Beaumaris. He established a single season stake winning record. Among the mostr remarkable of Beaumaris' feats was his third as a three-year-old in the Auckland Cup and his success in the Wellington Cup. His duels with the flying filly Sweet Spray and the tough gelding Tudor Prince will be talked about when you and I are gone. He has set the name of Jack Shaw firmly in racing history as Carbine did Dan O'Brien, or Liberator Patsy Butler.

It is doubtful if any other trotter in the Dominion can match Vodka for speed but his ability to hold a position early has cost him races here. In America horses race to the start at top speed and under these conditions Vodka should shine. Mr Shaw will stable his star at the famous Roosevelt Raceway, 17 miles from New York, and Vodka should race towards the end of April. The season opens on April 1 and continues over 100 days until July, whilst at other New York tracks the curcuit continues until the end of November. The sea trip to the States takes about one month and Jack expects Vodka to be in racing trim six weeks after his arrival. Vodka will be competing once a week, mostly over a mile. The stakes are worth $6000 (roughly £1900). Fifty per cent goes to the winner, 25% to the second horse and 15% to third and 10% to fourth. Should Vodka strike form it is possible that the Americans will invite him to test their best in the American Trotting Championships, which are run over one mile and a quarter in July. America's best are invited to start and this test is the highlight of the American season. This distance would suit Vodka who proved his staying power in NZ.

Well known in Northern trotting circles, Mr W Hosking, of Waiuku, bred Vodka, but he was originally educated to pacing by young Pukekohe trainer J K Hughes. Vodka's early career was not much too enthuse over and he only started five times as a two-year-old, running one fourth. Next season he was converted to the trotting gait and gained immediate success, although at times losing all chances by starting in a pace. At four years Vodka showed real ability by beating the the good trotter Willonyx and later winning two races at Hutt Park. It is understood at this stage of Vodka's career that Mr Hosking gave the horse to Mr Shaw, who recorded one placing with him that season.

At five years Vodka won first up in the Addington Trotting Stakes and at the Cup meeting beat Mountain Range...the final win recorded that season was at the winter meeting when he beat Swanee River. At the Easter meeting he finished fourth but ran the two miles in 4.17 4/5 - a really smart time.

Now a six-year-old, Vodka won four races and was placed six times, earning £5170. his smart time of 3.26 2/5 after going under to Slipstream in the mile and five furlong Freyberg Handicap, was recorded early in the day, and later he won the Fergusson Handicap. Last season was Vodka's leanest so far as winning was concerned and he failed to head them. He registered seven placings however to pay for his keep, but even though he did not win he displayed remarkable speed from almost impossible positions. Over eight starts this season he has won one and been three times in the money. His latest racing was at the Auckland Cup meeting where hw started mostly from impossible marks.

Vodka is by Logan Derby from Cyone Girl, a winner at the pacing gait, by Tsana from Cyone - by Logan Pointer, tracing back to the imported Bell Bingen, ancestress of many winners, including Our Roger, winner of the last NZ Trotting Cup.

Vodka, incidentally, holds the New Zealand winning record for one mile and five furlongs of 3.27. He has trotted the mile and a half in 3.13 4/5, and two miles in 4.16.







Credit: NZ Hoof Beats Feb 1956

DUAL GAITED TRAINERS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Credit: David McCarthy writing in HRWeekly 26Jan11

PETER RIDDLE

Peter Riddle was best known for his New Zealand Cup win with Sheik in 1924 in the horse's first start for the season. He was such a popular figure in his short stay here the crowd cheered him home from the top of the straight - not something which might happen here these days!

He previously trained for Australia's leading owner, Percy Miller and brought a team over in 1914 which was not successful. He returned when Miller turned to galloping and after an "All Stars," - like run through the Auckland Summer carnival of 1922, he decided to stay. He had a big team of mainly Australian horses in work at Domain Terrace in Addington at the time of his Cup win. He returned to Australia two years later after a leaner spell but remained prominent in Sydney for some years.

TRIVIA FACT: Switching to training gallopers during the depression, Peter got 12 months when a rider on one of his horses at the 800m was heard to say "how good will this be when they let it go?"

Later h took a shine to a yearling bred by Miller that nobody else liked, bought it for less than $1000 and trained him to become the champion, Shannon. Unhappily Peter was in poor health at the time and Shannon was sold to the US after his death. Shannon broke Seabiscuit's track records in America and was a leading sire there

Credit: David McCarthy writing in Harnessed Jan 2017

FRED JOHNSTON

Mr Fred Johnston, who died in Christchurch last week, at the age of 86, shod horses for 54 years. He was one of the best known farriers in the Dominion and was the official farrier at Addington meetings for about 25 years.

Among the great horses he put shoes on were Author Dillon, Red Child, Kentucky, Thelma, Bellflower, Durbar, Marian, Aberfeldy, Dan Patch and Wildwood Junior.

Fred Johnston, who was still attending meetings at Addington and New Brighton up till the close of last season, saw all the champions from Fritz and Ribbonwood down to the present time, and he declared right up till the end that Wildwood Junior was the best horse he ever shod. Wildwood Junior won the NZ Cup twice, and Fred was convinced he would have won the race a third time if he had not broken down. Wildwood Junior was one of the finest specimens of the standard breed seen on Dominion tracks up to his day - and later. Fred Johnston, in an interview with the writer some years ago said of Wildwood Junior: "He was a treat to put shoes on. His four shoes weighed only 13ozs in all. We had made some progress even in those days, as you see," said Johnston.

Wildwood Junior, a pacer, won the NZ Cup in the years 1909 and 1910. "But," he continued, "what a headache the early trotters used to give us! They were nearly all speedy cutters, and the pacers were mostly cross-firers, and I used to lie awake at night trying to puzzle out ways and means of improving their gait. You see, in the early days the breed wasn't there. The farrier was expected to make trotters out of cart horses. Today, they are so well bred they are gaited, so to speak, as soon as they are foaled."

Johnston thought knee-knockers were at their worst about 40 years ago. In later years knee-knockers, in his view, were not worth going on with. It would always remain a hard defect to cure. He recalled that when Peter Riddle, a very successful Australian trainer, first came to NZ with a team of horses, he had had the pleasure of shoeing Riddle's horses. Riddle remarked to Johnston: "If you can't get a horse that doesn't knock its knees , don't have one at all." That is what Riddle thought of knee-knockers. Other authorities, Gus Milsom and Bob McMillan, were of the same opinion.

"But in the early days we had no option. There were few good-gaited horses about. Round about 1897 a man named Bob Day came to Sydenham with a team of horses, among them Gazelle, a trotter, and the first to break five minutes for two miles at Lancaster Park. I mention this mare in particular because she was easy to shoe, wearing only a 4oz shoe on each foot," said Johnston, who often referred to the axiom: "No foot, no horse!" "That's as true today as ever it was," he said. The foot was the one essential thing about a horse; a defect in any other part may not make it useless, but a bad foot could make it unsuitable for anything except breeding.

Fred Johnston's passing emphasises the acute depletion of the ranks of the Dominion's farriers. At the last meeting of the NZ Trotting Conference, in Christchurch, the Ashburton delegate, Mr A J McNicoll, drew the attention of delegates to the plight of the horse-shoeing trade. "Farriers are a dying race," he said. There is not a single farrier in Ashburton. The nearest one was in Tinwald, and he was an elderly man. He urged Conference to promote some scheme for the training of young men as farriers. "In a short time, if nothing is done about it, it will be practically impossible to get a horse shod," warned Mr Nicoll.

Mr W G Clark (Winton) said it was a very live question. There was little incentive for a 'young fellow' to become a farrier and the authorities were apparently apathetic to their interests. After Mr A L Matson (President) had spoken, Mr Nicoll agreed that the matter be left to the incoming Executive with a recommendation that everything possible should be done to encourage young men to become farriers.


Credit: 'Ribbonwood' writing in NZ Trotting Calendar 13Aug52