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2001 CADUCEUS CLUB OF CANTY NZ STANDARDBRED BREEDERS STAKES

Colin De Filippi had been thinking about it all week. Thinking about how he was going to turn the tables on Flight South. After all, he and his wife Julie had lined Kym's Girl up in the NZ Premier Mares Championship knowing she was at the top of her game; they didn't expect to win, but they did not expect her to get beaten the way she did either. Fully respecting that Kym's Girl only deserved second prize that night, De Filippi wanted a different result in the Caduceus Club of Canterbury NZ Standardbred Breeders Stakes.

The first part of the plan fell into place when Kym's Girl drew two and Flight South five, but he kept quiet about how he was going to play it on the night and even those closest to him did not know. In the end, history will show it to be just another classic 'CJ' drive. Flash Tactics and Ricky May speared away from their 'ace' draw so quickly that it gave De Filippi and Kym's Girl all three options...Take a trail, sit parked and wait for cover, or push forward. When nothing came around De Filippi opted for the latter, probably smiling that he had not needed to use too much petrol getting there. From in front the race was theirs for the controlling, and when De Filippi took a sneaky peek around with 800 metres to run he could see he had Flight South right where he wanted her - last. A furlong later Flight South was inching forward ominously with cover like she had done the previous week, but De Filippi still had a handful of his own mare and wasn't going to be outsprinted this time. He asked Kym's Girl to go rounding the home bend and they stole the show; last half in 56.6, quarter in 27.4, I'll take this one thanks. "The race was always going to come down to a battle of tactics, especially when it dropped down to a nine horse field," De Filippi said afterwards.

It was Bill Denton, the stable's most respected employee, that planted the seed in his son-in-law's mind about taking Kym's Girl to the front, because he had driven the mare that way in lead-up work and said she had felt good being there. "She had been tried that way in races before without much success, but she is stronger this season and we have been trying to teach her to find the line," De Filippi said.

Apart from co-training the fourth mare in history to win back-to-back Breeders Stakes, joining Lento (1995,1996), Blossom Lady (1991,1992,1993)and Bonnie's Chance (1982,1983,1984), De Filippi also had the satisfaction of proving a point about his mare's ability after finishing second the previous week. "I heard someone say this year's Breeders Stakes field was weaker than past years, but when you have got an Auckland Cup winner, a Hannon Memorial winner and a previous winner of the event it can't be all that weak. Kym's Girl would definitely rate up with the best mares I have driven; horses like Idolmite, Quiet Touch and Adio Routine," he said.

Kym's Girl was entrusted to the De Filippi stable by her owners David Miller, Bill Marra and Graeme Trist. She developed unsoundness in a hoof following her game run for third in last years' NZ Cup, and it was thought that having access to a pool would help her training and she has responded well to it. Kym's Girl will start once more before the Easter Cup, after which she will have a spell and be aimed again at the NZ Cup.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 21Mar01

2001 PGG YEARLING SALES SERIES 3YO FILLIES PACE

Had you been around West Melton trainer Geoff Dunn in the hour or so before the $90,000 PGG Yearling Sales Series Fillies Pace, he might have given you the nudge for race roughie My Party Doll. On her C8 assessment, Like An Atom looked fairly safe, although there had been a health scare which appeared to be behind her after a mobile win at Cambridge eight days earlier.

My Party Doll was one of a bunch of well-bred maidens with a pedigree to swim for, but on the face of it in mainly with hope and luck. That was pretty much the thoughts of most punters who sent her out the 10th choice in a field of 13, but Dunn wasn't one of them. "When I came onto the course, I told my brother Robert that I thought she would win. He must have thought I was a real wally," he said. Whether Robert thought he was a wally or not, Geoff was the one planning the celebrations afterwards, saying it was the first time he had been able to race the filly without her being in season. "And she had worked huge on Wednesday, running a furlong in 12.6," he said.

Dunn has a catelogue of reasons why My Party Doll had not won a race in her six previous starts, because she has always trained at the level of a good horse. "As a 2-year-old, she blitzed a field in a trial at Addington, and at her first-start at the races she was a dead-cert beaten. She had won four of her five trials this time in before getting to the races and ran a cracking second first-up. She didn't go as good as I expected after that, but in three of those runs she was in season," he said.

Driven with great patience by stable driver Gerard O'Reilly, My Party Doll came into the attack with Kamwood Gal and Mischievous Minx and finally outstayed the northern Holmes Hanover fillies. The shareholders in My Party Doll are Bob and Jenny Sandford who paid $24,000 for the filly, from the family of Cup class pacers Chief Command and Indecision, and gave Dunn a half-share to train her. "I made a decision to go this way because 'til Bob and Jenny came along I had had a lot of middle of the road horses," he said.

Dunn knows he is lucky to have them and the bounce is returned because the Sandfords are Labrador-loyal and have often proclaimed the under-rated talents of Dunn and O'Reilly. As well as breeding as they continue to do, the Sandfords are enthusiastic buyers of yearlings and they pitch most of their bids at the middle to high commercial stock. An example is the $34,000 they spent to buy Agios Nikolaos, which has now returned them more than $40,000, although he was outworried by the much improved Mehrtens in the previous race. "I still think he will be the best horse I have had," said Dunn of Agios Nikolaos. "He is still growing and will get there eventually."

By his own admission, Dunn has battled in the rung under the top echelon of trainers, being with them one memorable season when he was fourth on the premiership with 27 wins. It didn't do him any good. "You know, I never got a new client. That was not a good sign." The Sandfords were with him soon after and now the partnership accounts for more than half the horses Dunn trains. He says: "I would be doing something else now if it wasn't for Bob."

Dunn was a late starter getting a job in the industry, and he was 20 before he was on the payroll with his brother. Before that he had a smorgasbord of employment opportunities that he says "you wouldn't want to know about." At that time, the thought of seven days a week, as many hours as you liked, didn't sit too well with him. Until Mighty Molecule came along and won eight, his best winners were his "middle roaders" such as Sir Striker, Miss Franco, Hydro Lad and Last Dream. My Party Doll is now in a class of her own, and is taking Dunn with her. The Sandfords have seen to that.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 21Feb01

Peter O'Rourke,Robert Reid & Bob McArdle

2001 NEVELE R SUPERSTARS 4YO CHAMPIONSHIP

In the past, the Nevele R Superstars 4-Year-Old Championship has been won by some great horses. This year's edition may not have contained any names of the calibre of a Roydon Glen, a New Age Man or a Christian Cullen, but it took a truly superstar performance by Alert Motoring to win the event.

Alert Motoring scrambled away from his 10-metre handicap when the tapes were released, taking what seemed an age to settle into stride. When he finally did, he had added at least another 50 metres to the task. Back home in Clevedon, trainer Barry Purdon all-but wrote him off; on course part-owner Robert Reid shook his head and thought his horse couldn't do it; in the sulky, driver Tony Herlihy tried not to think about it. "Ricky May and Camero were a long way in front of us when we finally settled," Herlihy commented afterwards, signifying the enormity of Alert Motoring's performance.

Having gradually made up their lost ground and settled three-back on the outer, Herlihy and Alert Motoring unleashed with 700m to run and whistled up outside leader Final Ridge. They mastered him and forged clear soon after straightening for home, then had enough gritty determination to hold out the fast finish of an unlucky Camero. "The fact that he was having his first standing start was a worry tonight, but he had been alright at home," Herlihy continued. "It is all there though. He has got the potential to go a long way - always has. There is just a few things to iron out, as you can see."

Purdon was equally ready to lay praise on Alert Motoring, but as his trainer he also deserves a lot of the kudos for bringing the New York Motoring gelding back from relative obscurity to now loom as a major force amongst this season's 4-year-olds. After capturing his 2-year-old debut in July last year, Alert Motoring went on to win his five 3-year-old starts before a serious lung infection caused his connections to send him to the spelling paddock for the rest of the season. "I remember one of his wins at Cambridge where he recorded 1:58.9 fo a mile - he could have done anything that night," Purdon said. "He has always had a bit of class to him, this horse, I was keen to start him in the Derbies before he got crook. Alert Motoring has got a nice attitude, and is a nice horse to work with. He is back home again now, and his main targets this season will be the big 4-year-old races after Christmas."

Alert Motoring is raced by th Robert Reid Syndicate, comprising of Robert, Janice, Peter, Raymond and Tony Reid, and Susan Douglas. Robert Reid has enjoyed great success in the Superstars Championship, having been a part-owner also of previous winners Christopher Vance (1990) and Mark Roy (1993).


Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 12Sep01

HAMAL INDUSTRIES/ RALPH THOMPSON SHAW & THOMPSON NZ TROTTING CHAMPIONSHIP

Major Decision, trained at Rangiora by part-owner Joe Clementson was first past the post in the Hamal Industries/ Ralph Thompson Shaw & Thompson NZ Trotting Championship but was subsequently disqualified after returning a positive swab.

As a result of this the race was awarded to the second horse across the line, Take A Moment (Anthony Butt), with Hutzpah (Colin De Filippi) being promoted to second and Jay Bee Ar (Tony Herlihy) third.

Credit: Colin Steele

2001 AIR NEW ZEALAND TROTTING FREE-FOR-ALL

Last Sunset was devastating in winning the $50,000 Air New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All by a head from Waihemo Hanger in 3:14.4, nipping nearly a second off Basil Deans's 3:15.3 he ran in the NZ Trotting Championship at Addington in 1984, and from all accounts he is not quite trotting to the satisfaction of trainer Tony Herlihy.

In light of this information and considering the enormous effort of Waihemo Hanger, the others will need to be on full alert to head him off.

Tim Butt won't know for sure until Friday night if he has Take A Moment as fit and well as he would like. What he does know is that he will need to be 100% fit if he is to beat Last Sunset in the Clark Boyce Lawyers $100,000 Dominion Handicap at Addington. In neither of his Cup Carnival runs has Take A Moment been right on his game. It wasn't obvious on Cup Day when he won off a 20m handicap, but it was on Show Day as he laboured home in the free-for-all.

Is there a problem with Take A Moment? Yes, there is. Not major, nothing in fact that might not be repaired and warrant-of-fitnessed in good time for the race. Take A Moment had a corn removed from his near-side foot last Wednesday, the day after his win over Special Force and Major decision.

Credit: mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 21Nov01

2001 FIRESTONE FIREHAWK TZ100 FREE-FOR-ALL

Angela Jane? First. Young Rufus? First also. Jack Cade? He won. Dependable? Yep, him too.

The hardest time to win a race at Addington is on Cup Day, but Mark Purdon made it look easy when he saluted the judge four times with members of his team. Excluding the Cup, Canterbury's adopted son was the star of the show. And while hard to single out any one performance it was the run of Young Rufus in the $25,000 Firestone Firehawk TZ100 Pace that left most people shaking their heads in disbelief.

Never seeing the fence at any stage during his race, Young Rufus was three-wide with-out cover throughout and even had the cheek to change gear and skip clear turning for home. This minor free-for-all on Cup Day has often been a stepping stone to stardom for some great pacers, and in recent years the likes of Iraklis and Yulestar have both won it and then come out the following season and won the New Zealand Cup.

Knowing only too well that Young Rufus was getting mentioned in the same sentence as some Town Hall company, Purdon had no hesitation saying that he expected him to go on to bigger and brighter things. "He is a great horse. You can just put him in the race at any stage. There is a bit of class about him," he said.

On the programme for Young Rufus this season are the major 4-year-old events, and next year's Inter-Dominions. It is only 12 months since this horse got beaten narrowly in the Sires' Stakes Final by Franco Heir, and just look at him now. "His main problem as a 3-year-old was steering problems," Purdon said. "I put a pole on his off-side and he used to run away from it, so we had to take it off. It is back on again now, without a pricker, and because he has matured a bit he seems fine with it."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 15Nov01

2001 NOBILO FREE-FOR-ALL

As a NZ Cup contender, Pic Me Pockets was always on the list but nowhere near the top. After all, some 22 open class horses and last year's Auckland Cup winner Flight South are chasing those 15 spots on Cup Day, and prior to last Friday's meeting at Addington Pic Me Pockets still needed two wins to join them. He only needs one now.

The In The Pocket 6-year-old beat home a star -studded field in the $25,000 Nobilo Pace - albeit after enjoying the trail - and showed what he was capable of against the big boys. It was a welcome return to form for the same horse that won last year's Messenger and Franklin Cup.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 17Oct01

2001 AVON CITY FORD NEW BRIGHTON CUP

It was not a pretty win by Makati Galahad in the Avon City Ford New Brighton Cup. He got home in the end, rising to the occasion just when Annie's Boy appeared to be doing enough to slip past. The rallying call was typical of the horse who has been beaten only twice in 12 starts from Fred Fletcher's team at Addington; he has won the others.

For most of the race, and all but the first 600 metres or so, Makati Galahad led. Once there, it seemed as if it was a matter of what the winning margin would be, few thought it would be a tight call, with only half a head in it. "He doesn't take a lot out of himself," said driver John Hay. "He never feels very good, but he has certainly got more respect. He is such a great stayer, yet he came home in 56.4 the other night. The two miles of the Cup will suit," he said. Hay says the time will soon come when he will have to drive him in behind. "The only reason we haven't is because it is working well with him the way it is," he said.

Hay has driven in three New Zealand Cups, and been placed in two of them, finishing second with Just Royce to Il Vicolo and third with Franco Enforce behind Christian Cullen. His unplaced drive was Debbie's Boy.

Fletcher has a simple programme in mind for Makatai Galahad as the Cup gradually comes into focus. "He will race wherever there are suitable races for him, if the money's up he will run," he said. "It will be nice to get a couple of standing starts into him. He loves Addington, so we will keep coming back. The owner has never been to Addington to see him race, but I pick he will make it up for the cup," he said


Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 12Sep01

2001 NEVELE R FILLIES FINAL

"From the gutter to the throne."

The racetrack Joan of Arc in Sparks A Flyin, now the heroine of nine wins from 12 starts including the $100,000 Nevele R Fillies Final, and once the despair of trainer Cran Dalgety whose words these are. Once again, the filly of peasant stock showed that pedigree is little more than a paper passport with a command performance against the best fillies of her age.

Although beaten the week before in the Oaks by Shania Patron, there was more confidence in the camp with just a week between the races that she would turn the tables. "She was a bit sharper for this one," said driver Mark Jones. "There is not many that come from behind her and beat her. In a fight, she is too good," he said. Jones went out with the intention Sparks A Flyin would put these qualities on the line. She was never headed after a gentle first 600m before taking over at the 1400m and then running the race he planned. Kamwood Gal held second after a nice trail behind the winner, while A Little More Magic made strong headway to close on the pair quite noticeably.

Looking back, Dalgety can honestly say Sparks A Flyin was a trainer's nightmare. Anyone less professional would have said goodbye and good something to her long ago. Under duress, and with many a mild curse, Dalgety endured her irascibility and put aside personal embarrassment and indignity. He recalls taking her to a trial at Rangiora when she not only decided not to race but refused to leave the track. The only way she left was after Dalgety removed the cart and harness. Next time away from home, she didn't want to join the others on the mobile gate, so Dalgety ran 50 metres, holding her head, just to help her out. She ran and qualified, but Dalgety said he didn't get excited because he had some recovery of his own to do.

What made him so loyal to such a rascal?

"When Jim and Susan (Wakefield) bought her, it was mainly because we liked her. She was something of an underdog, and she only cost $11,000. But she was a handful to break-in, and in the end she just had to leave the property. She would try to run out of the gate, and if there was something to do wrong, she would do it. At this stage, we decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and Steve Hale took her away for a couple of months. He gave her one on one, and worked her round the roads in a big gig. This was a big turning point for her. It was an experiment rather than a yes or a no. Although she was anti everyone, she came back ninety-five percent better. What I liked about her was that even if you disiplined her hard, she would never sulk. She'd come back to you. Defeat wasn't part of her," he said.

The next learning curve in the life of hard knocks came when he sent Sparks A Flyin to a North Canterbury farm for a spell as a late 2-year-old. "She was with cows, and being treated like one. She got a lot of benefit from that, too," he said. There has been no stopping the progress Sparks A Flyin has made this season, moreso over the past six months.

"It was not until she had won her third race that I thought she was something better than average. That's when I stood to attention. I could see she was a horse that kept coming back for more. But there is nothing extra for her. Everything has to be simple. We now know what she wants," he said. In terms of training achievements go, Dalgety rates this at the top. "The odds were against us. From where we were, to where we are, is definitely remarkable," he said.

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 16May01

2001 PGG YEARLING SALES 2YO SERIES OPEN

Everyone has a favourite horse. Mark Purdon's will always be Il Vicolo, the brilliant son of Vance Hanover which helped put him on the map when he launched his training career in the 1995/96 season.

Beaten only three times at two and never at three, Il Vicolo won 31 races in total and his back-to-back New Zealand Cup victories in 1995 and 1996 sit highest on the shelf of Purdon's fondest memories. And now that he is winning races with Il Vicolo's progeny, it is the next best thing. Purdon guided Jack Cade to an all-the-way victory in the PGG Yearling Sales Series Open, an event Il Vicolo himself won seven years earlier.

The win has pushed Jack Cade's dad into second on the list of leading sires of juveniles (by dollars won) for the season, which is no mean feat considering this is his first crop. Jack Cade (three wins), Tricky Vic (two) and Lord Vicolo (one) have been the main contributors, vindicating Purdon's faith that he would make it as a stallion. He and principal owner John Seaton specifically went to the Sales last year with the intention of bringing two or three home, and there was something about Jack Cade that stood out. "I liked him on type, and there was a lot of quality about him," Purdon recalled. "Il Vicolo did not have many in the sales, but they were all nice types and I think his average reflected that."

Jack Cade stamped himself as top 2-year-old material right from the word so this season, winning first up at Alexandra Park in a sensational 1:57.5 mile rate over 1700 metres. He has only been out of the money once in six starts since, when an unlucky fifth in the Welcome Stakes, and although not offering excuses Purdon says the gelding hasn't been a hundred percent lately. "He has had an on-going respiratory infection since about February," he said. "It is not a common one, and he has had a cough and a slight nasal discharge. Bill Bishop has been treating him and we are getting on top of it now. He has been a bit brighter in the coat lately."

Just last week Purdon and Seaton sold Il Vicolo to Woodlands Stud. There has been a great deal of interest in the stallion after his first season results, and Purdon says letting him go was one of the hardest decisions he ever had to make. "He had a lot of sentimental value to me. During his first two seasons at stud I used to bring him home and jog him through the winter. It was just a bit of a change for him. He was always a lazy trackworker but he loved it, and he loved being back in the same box that he had when he was racing. We didn't get him back last year because we were just too busy with the horses; I was quite looking forward to having him around again this year."

It is ironic that Purdon signed on the dotted line only a matter of hours before a son of Il Vicolo he trains won the richest 2-year-old event of the season, but he says that is just the way it goes. "There was never o lot of money in owning a stallion in his early days; when you are striving to get numbers on the ground you have to do deals here and there. "But winning the race again with one of his progeny is a great feeling, and I am pleased for the new owners too because it is a nice start for them."

Purdon has not retained any breeding rights to Il Vicolo, saying he is busy enough with the racing team as it is. He has only got one broodmare - Super Smooth, the dam of Scuse Me - but there is a possibility she could visit the Vance Hanover stallion when the time comes next season. Apart from two Il Vicolo fillies bought from the same sale as Jack Cade, Purdon has a yearling gelding by the sire that is showing promise and he also bought another one privately this season.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 09May01