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T K Victor

2002 NRM SIRES' STAKES 2YO TROTTERS CHAMPIONSHIP

Good manners, the best trip of all, and a determined stayer's finish brought T K Victor a Group 2 win in the NRM Sires' Stakes Trotters Championship for 2-year-olds at Addington last week.

The son of Simon Roydon is trained by Dale Cameron, but he has been in the care of Brent Lilley while he has been in the south. "He is only a pony, but you have to sit behind to fall in love with him," said Lilley, who met Cameron and drove a few horses for him while he was employed by Barry Purdon a few years ago. "He had never been to the beach before he got here," he said. T K Victor was driven to perfection by David Butt, who also won the race in 1998 with Special Branch and the year after that with Shine.

T K Victor was bred by Robert Tapp and Patricia Johnson, who bought his dam Bonnie Quine empty at a broodmare and weanling sale three years ago for $500. "We had seen her race at Cambridge," recalled Tapp, "so we knew she had ability. The first consort that came to mind over Sundon and all others was Simon Roydon, simply because it was a similar cross to Continentalvictory, who won the Hambletonian in the States, but it also crossed one of the best trotting families in Arndon's family with a doubling up of Star's Pride."

Tapp has bred numerous winners, including Cee Eye Bee, T K Swift, T K Dancer, Steel Dawn and El Sirocco, and preparing to race later this season are T K Blackjack and T K Stellar. Bonny Quine is also the dam of a yearling colt by Straphanger and was served this season by Above The Stars.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 08May02

2002 CHRISTCHURCH CASINO NZ TROTTING DERBY

Two months ago, Kevin Townley didn't have a 3-year-old trotter. There was one in his stable called Sundon's Luck, but in no way was he reliable, and when Townley floated him home from Ashburton after the Hambletonian in February he knew he had some serious sorting out to do. "He had a gallop that day, just like he had done on debut at Addington," Townley recalled. "I was getting pretty worried at that stage, and remember thinking 'gee, I still don't have a 3-year-old trotter yet'."

Townley has compiled a super record with trotters over the years, especially in the younger age group ranks, but his hopes that Sundon's Luck would follow in the footsteps of such greats as Solar Fire and Sunning were diminishing day by day. It was a long-term plan that he had mapped out for Sundon's Luck ever since the horse had arrived on his property as a yearling, and he could see it was coming unstuck.

Bred by trotting stalwarts Trevor and Vera Allingham, Sudon's Luck went under the hammer at Karaka in the Autumn of 2000. Townley wasn't flying north for the Sales, but he was keen on the son of Sundon and Chiola's Luck all the same. "I thought he was the pick of the catalogue because of his breeding," Townley said. "Ben Calder (of Johnson's Oysters) was interested in buying a trotter at that stage too, so, knowing my vet Bill Bishop was going to go up for the Sales, I said to Ben...'why don't we just get Bill to look at Sundon's Luck for us, and save ourselves the trip'. "Bill loved him, and got him for $16,000."

Placed in the ownership of Calder, Bishop and their respective wives Karen and Helen, Sundon's Luck was soon in the care of his new trainer. It wasn't long before Townley had news for the foursome - some good, some bad. "He was up and running at two and had the ability, but not the brain." Townley said. "He just wasn't settled, and was very hyperactive. And he was too competitive; every time I put him alongside another horse he would go a hundred miles an hour trying to beat it, and fly to bits. All we could do was put him out for a good spell, and hope he would have the brain when he came back at three."

Sundon's Luck finally made it to the racetrack at the beginning of February this year. His trainer/driver took the necessary precautions by placing him on the unruly, but he galloped. Strike one. Then the 3-year-old went to Ashburton for the Hambletonian, and galloped again. Strike Two. Just when he thought he was going to strike out, Townley put bat on ball and hit a homer. Sundon's Luck sat in the one-one at Addington on March 8, and burst clear of his opposition to win with his ears pricked. Then a fortnight later at the same venue he gave leader Tony H a head start of some 20 metres, worked round to sit outside him for the last half, and ran him to a neck. And last Saturday night, in the event that meant more to Townley than any of them so far, Sundon's Luck jogged home to win the $50,000 Christchurch Casino NZ Trotting Derby.

"Practice, practice and more practice," the Weedons horseman said, explaining how he turned Sundon's Luck around. I just kept changing things, and trying new things. Putting two poles on him has helped because that has got his steering perfect. But it is just a fluke that we got him right in time for all the big trots, so we are lucky in that respect."

Townley doesn't hide the fact that he thinks a lot of his latest winner. "He is very good," he said. "He has got better in every start since his first win, and on Saturday he went round the field on his own and led for more than the last lap. You don't see many do that. Solar Fire was a brilliant filly, but Sundon's Luck is different again because he is more of a stayer. That doesn't mean he hasn't got speed though, because that day at Ashburton he would have trotted his mile in well under two minutes once he finally got going. He has got a big motor. I have timed him to run his last quarter at Rangiora trials in 27 and a bit - and he never tires. What more could you ask for in a horse?"

The latest news that Townley has for Sundon's Luck's owners is to make travel arrangements. "Yes, we will have a go for the big money now. He will go to Auckland for the Trotters Championship and the Rosso Antico later this month, and then all going well we will head to Australia for the Holmfield, the Victorian Derby and the New South Wales Derby. I am still not ready to bring him off the unruly and line him up off the front yet. But the day I do, look out, because they won't see which way they went."


Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 04Apr02

2002 PGG YEARLING SALES SERIES 3YO FILLIES

If you think Hot Shoe Suffle is good now, just wait until she grows into her massive frame. That is the warning from Hot Shoe Suffle's co-trainer Mike Berger, who believes the best is still to from the towering 16.3-hand filly. "She was big at two, so I hoped she would fill out this season but she hasn't; she has been growing up, not out," Berger said. "I think she could develop into an awesome mare at four and five. And when she does finally fill out - look out!"

Strong words indeed, but Berger had every reason to be bullish about Hot Shoe Shuffle after her performance in the $106,700 PGG Yearling Sales Series Fillies Pace. Aided by a masterful drive by regular pilot David Butcher, Hot Shoe Shuffle shifted out of the trail starting the last lap and secured the one-one behind fellow Falcon Seelster filly Angela Jane, who had circled the field three wide. From there they always had the drop on their biggest danger. To her credit Angela Jane forced the issued around the top bend and momentarily skipped a length or two clear, but she couldn't hold out Hot Shoe Shuffle's finishing punch near the line.

The victory was Hot Shoe Shuffle's eighth from 16 starts, and together with four seconds she has now netted her owners over $180,000. This is a super return on the $13,000 that the Hot Shoe Shuffle Breeding Syndicate parted with to buy her from the sales, and her record is even more impressive considering that Friday night was the first time in her career that she had drawn inside seven.

Winning the PGG Sales Series Pace was also some consolation for missing two big fillies' races at the Auckland Cup Carnival, the Ladyship Stakes and the Great Northern Oaks. "I found her one day with some grazing on a back leg, so she must have kicked through a fence or something," Berger said. "She was in work at the time, and it took ages for the bruising to come down. Most owners might have wanted to start in those races regardless, but her's were quite happy to bypass them. "They are a great syndicate to train for. It made my job a lot easier. It's hard enough getting a nice horse, let alone pushing her into races she is not ready for."

Two races that remain on Hot Shoe Shuffle's programme for the season are the Wayne Francis Memorial Oaks on May 3 and the Nevele R Fillies Final a week later. "She will go home and have a wee break now, and then we might tackle another heat of the Nevele R Series.

"One of he owners lives in Brisbane so there is a possibility she could go to Australia later in the season - it is only an option at this stage though. Being a lightly-framed filly it is easy to over-work her, it's just a matter of getting your timing right. Her best attribute would be her tremendous will to win. Even at home when she is jogging she has just got to get in front of any other horses that are with her."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 20Feb02

2001 AVON CITY FORD MOBILE

Barry Purdon had one eye on the road and one ear on the radio as he drove into Addington Raceway last Friday afternoon. With the second wave of his stable's Show Day runners in tow, Purdon was just arriving when Lord Vicolo contested the $25,000 Avon City Ford Mobile. To him his 3-year-old's victory sounded good, but it looked even better.

As expected, Tricky Vic sped out from the ace and led, with Lord Vicolo following him through from his second-line draw to settle in the trail. Punters who patted themselves on the back for their 'brilliant' pre-race deduction were soon biting their fingernails though, because at the 1800m point Croker pressed to the lead before he too handed up, to Galleons Treasure, leaving Lord Vicolo snookered four-deep. Driver Tony Herlihy managed to work off the tight spot passing the 1000m pole, but nothing carted Lord Vicolo into the race all the way down the back straight and come the home turn it was time to move. With big strides he powered down the stretch, picking up the leaders in grand style as he hit the line a half-neck in front. Lord Vicolo's time for the 2600m mobile event was a super 3:12.5. "I wish you wouldn't make me so nervous like that," quipped Purdon to Herlihy as he greeted them back at the stabling area.

It was a continuation of some superb for for the striking black son of Il Vicolo, who narrowly failed to capture the Sires' Stakes Final three days earlier after winning his previous three outings. "Brains," Purdon said, casting an adoring eye over his gelding as he helped to ungear him, the one-word sentence typifying every-thing he liked about Lord Vicolo. "He has always been a nice horse. He was the best yearling I had a couple of years ago; he could run a half in 60 around my track - and that is good. But he got a real bad cold late that season and never really got over it."

Finishing fourth on debut in December last year, Lord Vicolo won next-up at Alexandra Park before his 2-year-old season came to an abrupt halt after he finished fourth to Jack Cade at Cambridge. "He stood on a shoe and tripped up during a workout so we had to stop with him. It has been a blessing in disguise though because during his spell he grew a lot and really blossomed," Purdon said.

Having won two trials prior to resuming this season, Lord Vicolo was expected to resume on a bold note at Cambridge in September where he finished fourth in Elect To Live's 1:55.5 mile. "I was a little bit disappointed with that run, but Tony came back in and said that he hit the wheels of his cart and panicked. So now he races in the same cart that Pic Me Pockets and Mountain Gold use, a Challenger quick hitch sulky - but on the longest setting. He has got an enormous stride," Purdon said. Lord Vicolo's sire was the same in this respect. Il Vicolo used a sulky that had to be made especially for him which was about three inches longer.

"I will take him home now and give him a freshen-up before the Great Northern Derby," Purdon said. "Australia is a possibility later on , at this stage we will look at everything. On what he has done today I would expect him to go a long way."

Lord Vicolo is raced by Purdon and Kevin Riseley, who owns a chain of panelbeating shops in Melbourne. Riseley managed to fly across for the gelding's race on Cup Day, but work commitments dragged him home again before Show day's event.


Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 21Nov01

Robbie Holmes & Facta Non Verba

2001 SBS BANKING LIKE IT SHOULD BE/ HELLER SMALLGOODS FREE-FOR-ALL

Mike Berger will never forget last week. On a positive note he won races with Black Maire at Alexandra Park and Facta Non Verba at Addington, but sadly he also lost his father Geoff who died after a long battle with cancer. "He had been quite ill so it was expected, but it still hits you a bit when it happens," Berger said.

Geoff,76, had been a regular around his son's stable since he retired and moved from South Auckland to Morrinsville almost a decade ago. "He quickly made himself 'head boy'," Berger recalled fondly. "He loved the horses non-stop, and as soon as the fields came out he would be booking his seat on the truck no matter where the meeting was. Facta Non Verba was his all-time favourite, and I think the old fella was pushing him over the line when he won at Addington the other night."

Facta Non Verba's victory in the SBS/ Heller Smallgoods Fre-For-All turned around a luckless fortnight that the pacer had had in Christchurch. After looking sensational at the Cup Trials he never got much of a go in the big one when settling on the rails, then in Show Day's Free-For-All it was much of the same when he settled three then four deep.

Berger says that all the credit for this latest win has to go to Robbie and Carla Holmes, who Facta Non Verba was stabled with, and his employee Charles Te Tomo. "Charles really looked after him, and it was such a shame that he missed out on the horse's moment of glory. He had stayed with Facta Non Verba since he had gone south, but when we were getting busy back home and I needed him to come back he did so without a second thought. Charles is absolutely dedicated, and he is the sort of guy I'd trust with my life," Berger said.

Facta Non Verba has had two campaigns in Australia since July last year, winning six of his 13 starts across the Tasman, and Berger says that over Winter this is where the pacer's future lies. "His latest trip wasn't hugely successful, but we actually gained a lot out of it because a vet named Peter Hill talked us into trying a specific shoe on him and it has worked wonders. It is a three-quarter shoe with a bar across, which is a bit of an old-fashioned idea, but it doesn't put any pressure on his heel at all. I am just so pleased for Facta Non Verba because he is such a great personality; when you walk into the barn every morning he will call out to you. In this business you are not supposed to have favourites, but having been through as much as we have with this horse it is hard not to be attached to him," Berger said.

Robbie Holmes said driving Facta Non Verba to victory in the Free-For-All was the highlight of his career. "He is a front-runner. He went so well in the Cup trial in the lead and I wanted to get there at some stage tonight," he said. Berger said Holmes would be 'thanked' for looking after Facta Non Verba by being offered the drive on him in the upcoming Franklin and Auckland Cups.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 28Nov01

Keith Gibson presents the trophy

2001 ROYDON LODGE STUD NZ 2YO TROTTING STAKES

Jo Anne was swift and sure-footed and greatly superior to 11 others in the Roydon Lodge Stud NZ 2yo Trotting Stakes. She was trotting poetry from start to finish and won by half a length short of ten in 2:29.1 for the mobile 1950m.

Northerner Tony H who surprisingly defeated her a fortnight earlier by half a length was never a factor this time after taking too long to start trotting.

Driver Ken Barron was glowing in his praise. "Initially, I compared her with Gees Pride, but she is really a step above that. She has a beautiful gait and has got speed, too. I have not driven one as good at this age before," he said.

Jo Anne is trained at Templeton by Mark Smolenski for Allan, Lorraine and Anya Georgeson. She is by Sundon from Janetta's Pride, a Gee Whiz II mare owned by Keith and Bevan Grice and more recently the dam of a yearling filly by Britewell, a weanling filly by Sundon, and she was served by Sundon last season.

Credit: Harness Racing Weekly 23May01

Dependable beating stablmate All Action Son

2001 CHRISTCHURCH CASINO NZ TROTTING STAKES

Dependable might have been the name of the horse that won the Christchurch Casino NZ Trotting Stakes, but it was 'Mr Dependable' sitting in the sulky behind him.

These days, harness racing has to work awfully hard for every last betting dollar it can get out of the public's pockets, so people like Mark Purdon are what the industry needs and they do it proud; punters know that by backing a Purdon runner they not only get a run for their money, more often than not they are in the money. And that is important.

For those living on the inside of the fishbowl, Purdon's results set the standard for everyone else to aspire to. Since beginning training in the 1995/96 season he has put his name on almost every Group Race trophy there is, but surprisingly, the NZ Trotting Stakes wasn't one of them. Purdon changed that on Saturday night.

Using Dependable's gate speed to hold the lead from their ideal draw, Purdon kept his trotter pinging along like a well-oiled machine and they never looked in danger of defeat. Dependable's time of 3:21.8 was well outside Flame Up's New Zealand record for the distance, but it was fast enough to give Purdon his first victory on 'home' soil since relocating from the North Island. The victory was also notch number 79 in the belt that will win him his second consecutive trainer's premiership, and it wrapped up the 3YO Trotter of the Year title for Dependable.

"He is a lovely horse, and he is very quiet in his work," Purdon says. "I am really enjoying working with him, because when you do things to try and help him he tries to help himself too. We had a couple of wee problems to sort out when he first arrived up in Auckland. To get him to trot better that way round we replaced his bar shoes in behind with pacing shoes that had weight on the outside," he said.

Talking of weight, the strapping son of Sundon looked even bigger and stronger on Saturday and his trainer/driver agreed, believing he was carrying more condition than ever before. Understandably, Purdon is excited about Dependable's potential. "Apart from Pride Of Petite, I have never had a trotter that works as good as him at home. He will go to the spelling paddock for a couple of months now. There are other big 3-year-old races in Australia but they are not until July, which can bugger up your season a bit." Some of the aims Purdon has for Dependable next season include teaching him to relax in the field, because he has done a lot of racing from in front to this point, and giving him experience from standing starts.


Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 19Apr01

2001 HIH INSURANCE NZ WELCOME STAKES

The old firm is back with another speed merchant; Negus and De Filippi. Another smart brown colt, not quite another Courage Under Fire, but the talk is something not far short of it.

While he may have lacked the swashbuckling brilliance of Courage Under Fire when he won the race three years ago, there was a clinical touch to the manner in which Sly Flyin despatched the field in the NZ Welcome Stakes. De Filippi is yet to say go: and by not doing so this may have flattered the efforts of All Hart and Franco Trubrooke who ran second and third.

Sly Flyin is not an easy horse to drive; and he is no easier to train. If he had his own way, he wouldn't train at all. He is a notoriously poor track-worker. "He wouldn't beat a maidener at home," said Negus. "That is why we have to take him to the trials each week, so he will do the work," he said. But the problems don't end there. He has the annoying habit of pulling a plate just about every time he gets off the float, and he did this when he arrived on the track before the race - and again when he got home. "I had to get Brian Wilson, the blacksmith, to re-plate him, and it's a worry when you have to do this just before the start," said Negus.

Once Negus has finished with him, the next one to worry about him is De Filippi. Said Negus: "There is always a fifty percent chance of him galloping in the score-up. He was just lucky the horse outside him galloped and gave him a bit more room on the gate. He gets a bit claustrophobic and over that first four hundred metres after the start he is still a risk. It is just that he wants to get on with it. He is more hyperactive than nervous," he said.

Sly Flyin was left a little wide early on, soon had cover on the outer, but De Filippi didn't stay there long. He was in front a round out, slowed the pace, and didn't ask for anything special to win the race in comfort. "Once in front, he is a hard horse to get past," he said. A colt by Sands A Flyin from a Soky's Atom mare, and raced by principal Negus client Greg Brodie, Sly Flyin may be gelded after the Sires' Stakes Final next month. Negus is near enough to deciding on this before he is put aside.

While there is speculation about the quality and potential of Sly Flyin, and the tendency to compare him with Courade Under Fire, Negus has his own opinion. "Courage Under Fire was a champion, and this one is a really, really good horse. He can run a half in 55, whereas Courage could do it in 54. I honestly think he is less than five lengths behind Courage Under Fire at the same stage. Sly Flyin is going to be a very good free-for-aller. But I might be wrong; he might do more."


Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 19Apr01

2001 GEORGE CALVERT CLEANING EASTER CUP

There were plenty of reasons why Nicky Chilcott couldn't win the Easter Cup. Firstly, he representative was Disprove, a mere C6 pacer up against ten others who, between them, had won every major Cup that exists on the Australasian calendar. Secondly, Disprove had endured a horror trip south, being stranded on the wharf at Wellington after leaving Bulls at 4:30am on Wednesday morning, two days out from the race, and not arriving in Christchurch until 7:30pm that night. And lastly, Nicky didn't have anywhere near the same big-race experience as the Purdons, the Butts and the De Filippis; the biggest event she had ever won was the $25,000 Country Cups Championship with Disprove at Alexandra Park just a week earlier.

Nicky was a bit out of her league, wasn't she?

Definitely not. History will show that in the 2001 Easter Cup Disprove defied all the odds, giving her trainer the biggest thrill of her life. Despite an uncharacteristic break at the start, he and his under-rated driver David Butcher managed to secure the one-one over the last lap after moving around the field starting the last mile. From there they pounced and left everybody else to it, winning the two-mile event in a pedestrian 4:10.7 which was embarrassing for the sit-sprinters behind them.

"I will treasure this for ever," Nicky said afterwards, still sporting a glazed look of disbelief on her face. No-one probably deserved the victory more than her though, because while every trainer works hard to get their horses to the post, Nicky works twice as hard. "It is a tough industry to get ahead in whether you are male or female, but being a woman you sort of have to prove yourself that much more," she said. "It has it's positives and negatives though. Egos do come into it - some guys don't want their horses trained by a female - but then again there's the owners that prefer their horses having a woman's touch."

And there is the "huge hours" that seem to go hand in hand with the job. Nicky rises at 5:00am every morning, seven days a week, and at the end of the day when she has checked the horses, mucked out the boxes and done some bookwork, it's rarely before 11:00pm when she puts herself to bed again. This is a heck of a lot of dedication, especially from someone who has had to pick herself up and start again after breaking her back in a horrific race smash. "Some people only see the glamour side of harness racing," she says. "But it's hard, and there is not a lot of money in it. If I had have been working for the money I would have been out of the game a long time ago. No, I am in it for the love of the game. I am very passionate about my horses and I love them."

Nicky says she got the right break at the right time when first starting out, because a couple of friends wanted to race a horse and that is all the encouragement she needed. Waharoa put her on the map - she trained him for the last six of his 10 victories - and he was followed by Shredder, who won all but one of his 11 races in Nicky's tangerine and white silks. Yet to complete her fourth full season, Nicky has notched up 78 victories already, 22 of them in this term alone - all at an excellent UDR rating of .3876.

Placing variety at the top of her priority list, she strives to give her horses as much of it as possible, going from swimming one day to trackwork the next, roadwork on another occasion and even a ride under saddle at the end of the week. Nicky spends a lot of time at Raglan Beach, one hour's drive from where her horses are stabled out the back of the Cambridge Raceway, and they seem to thrive on it. So much so, that she has quickly gained a 'Warren Stapleton-like reputation for rejuvenating broken-down horses. "You are lucky in some respects, because when you get horses from other trainers you have got nothing to lose. It's very satisfying winning races with them though."

Nicky says there are so many people to thank for making her Easter Cup victory possible, including her long list of helpers, Disprove's owners Lou Newman and Tony Jack for their faith in her and their horse, Colin and Julie De Filippi for their hospitality, and David Butcher for yet another masterful drive. "I love driving, and drive most of mine, but some horses just suit certain drivers better and Disprove is one of those.

"Where a lot of horses I get are broken down or sore I have had none of these problems with him, touch wood, it has mainly been a head thing. It hasn't been easy.


Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 11Apr01

2001 NEWSTALK ZB 3YO FLYING STAKES

Colin Baynes reckons he had half the Knapdale neighbour-hood at his place last Friday night. They crowded round his television set to watch Country Ways contest the Newstalk ZB 3YO Flying Stakes, and by nine o'clock they had plenty to cheer about after the Camtastic gelding downed the guns in his first Addington test.

Country Ways has got another test this Saturday night - the Smokefree NZ Derby - but this time his proud owner and trainer will be there in person to see him race. "I have never had a runner in the Derby we don't normally push our younger horses," Barnes says. "But I suppose if you are not in, you can't win."

This philosophical attitude stems from the fact the Baynes has, finally, got a 3-year-old good enough to be 'in' a race like the Derby. Clancy, Debbie's Boy, Gentle Miss and Sapper, who won the Supremacy Stakes, have all been good 3-year-olds that Baynes has owned and trained, but in fact the southern region has not been that happy a hunting ground for him. "We have had our views on how good Country Ways is all along, and on Friday he went out there and showed us what he could do with the absence of bad luck."

Baynes was referring to his pacer's two previous outings, at Invercargill and Winton, where he had finished second and fourth respectively. "It is not that he'd had bad luck, just that he had not had much good luck on those occasions," he said. "He was not disgraced the day he finished second, because he did a lot of work to loop the field and he was pushed around on a track which is not very big. He got beaten by a horse that had a better trip on the day and I was quite happy with his performance. "Then he finished fourth in the Supremacy Stakes last week, when they sprinted home in something like 56 seconds off the front. As Colin (De Filippi) put it, even if you make a yard on the leaders under those conditions you are doing well." This brought an end to the five-race winning streak Country Ways had achieved in the space of three months, and Baynes was actually pleased about it. "He'd had so little experience before winning those races. Even the best get beaten, so the sooner we got that out of the road the better."

Swaying Baynes and his training partner Robin Swain's decision to send Country Ways north was a phone call from the Club, mentioning that they were short on numbers. So Baynes himself rang Colin De Filippi, a man he had known for a long time and always respected, and asked if he would mind looking after a boarder for a couple of weeks. "Robin and I have got a team of our own to work; you can't run all over the country and still look after the ones at home," he said, adding that his talented pacer's condition and fitness is due entirely to Swain's care of and attention to the horse.

"Country Ways left here at 8.30am Tuesday morning and arrived at Colin and Julie's at 4.30pm that afternoon. We didn't know how he would go being away from home for the first time, but Colin rang us on Thursday saying he had settled in well and we were tickled pink." Regardless of the result this Saturday night, Country Ways will be turned out for a spell afterwards.

Victory in the NZ Derby would be another feather in the cap of his owner though, a man who has given more than his fair share to the sport. Now 79 and still "sound of wind and limb," Baynes spent 17 years on the Conference between the late 1970s and early 1990s and thoroughly enjoyed the administration side of harness racing. He doesn't miss a meeting close to home, and still gets in the cart to jog the team too. In short, he loves the game, and he admits it proudly. "I can remember back in the early thirties, rushing home from Brydone Primary School as fast as I could (in bare feet) to spread the newspaper out on the kitchen table and find out about the match racing between Harold Logan and Walla Walla. Harold Logan was New Zealand's champion at the time, and Walla Walla was the Aystralian champion. I was anxious to learn the result; Walla Walla won the first one, and Harold Logan won the next two."

As for Country Ways' chance in this weeks Derby, Baynes is remaining philosophical about that too. "The horse can't read the paper, so he doesn't know what he is up against - he goes out there and does what he has to. "He's a tough wee fella, and he is getting better every day."

FOOTNOTE: Country Ways is named after a tourist shop on the corner of Gloucester and Colombo Streets in Christchurch, which is owned by Baynes and managed by his daughter Donna.



Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 11Apr01