CLICK HERE TO GO BACK

RACING HISTORY

INTERDOMINIONS

2006 INTERDOMINION SERIES

The carnival was held in Hobart. The Pacers Final was won by Blacks A Fake and the Trotters Final by Delft.

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

Crag Edmonds accepting the Oaks Trophy

It's not often Craig Edmonds takes three to a meeting. He hadn't done so for 18 years prior to last Friday night when he loaded Harriet Hughes, Ella Powell and Earl of Mot onto the float and drove to Addington. The fact that all three horses were out of Eilish Mac is quite remarkable, and Edmonds walked away with almost the perfect result when Harriet Hughes notched up victory number five and Ella Powell took out the $35,000 Group 2 NZ Trotters Trust Trotting Oaks.

Ella Powell produced an incredible effort when coming from well back with a powerful finish to win the Oaks in record time, crediting Edmonds with his biggest career win in the process. "It's good to get a victory at any time, but to win two on a Premier Night - well, that takes beating," a noticeably hoarse Edmonds said afterwards. Ella's a lot heavier than Harriet, and takes a bit of work. She hasn't got a lot of speed, but sticks on good."

On lease from breeder Ivan McNicholl, Ella Powell is raced by Edmond's wife Donna, their daughter Jenna and Donna's sister Makere Tahurangi. Both McNicholl and Tahurangi were supposed to be there on the night, but fog in Wellington stranded their planes and they missed out on seeing the victory. Edmonds is seriously considering lining the Earl filly up in the NZ Trotting Derby this Friday night, so if she steps out again it's hoped that the rest of her fan-club will be on-course to witness it.

"I trained horses for Ivan for years when I used to be in Wellington," Edmonds said. "But then about nineteen years ago I took up a job with Air New Zealand, because the kids were little and I wanted something with a bit of security. We transferred to Christchurch, and then the chance to get a wee bit of land came up so we bought Steve Little's old place. One of the main reasons I train is to give Aimee opportunities."

Aimee is the couple's youngest of three daughters, at 19. She started driving last season and won one of her four appearances, and this term she's displayed maturity way beyond her years on the track and saluted the judge five more times. Known as 'babe' around the Edmonds family's Motukarara stable, Ella Powell is normally "my" horse says Aimee. As much as the teenager enjoyed watching the big occasion last Friday night, it wasn't hard to tell that she would have loved being out there herself even more.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 29Mar06

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

Out in front & lonely...Western Dream

Quite simply, Western Dream's 13 rivals were just not in the same league as her. With the exception of Tosti Girl, few have even come close at any stage of the season, and in the absence of her greatest rival Western Dream once again reminded us about how got she really is with a crushing victory in the $100,000 Group 1 Wayne Francis Memorial NZ Oaks.

Starting from the outside of the second row, Western Dream gave them all a start, looped the field, sat parked, and ran away to win by an ever-increasing five and a half lengths. It was a far more dominant display than the Badlands Hanover filly's Nevele R Series Final win a week earlier, which trainer/ driver Tony Herlihy got an inkling about from the moment he started to warm her up. "Even in the prelim she felt like she had improved from the week before," Herlihy said. "Mark (Purdon) had said she had been jumping out of her skin at his place, and like all good athletes she had really tightened up."

Western Dream headed home with Herlihy after her victory, as there are more goals in store for the remainder of the season yet. "We are going to go across for the Victorian Oaks and the Breeders' Crown," he continued. "It has been the plan right along to just take it from race to race, but she seems to have come through her trip south really great so we may as well go when you are racing for that sort of money."

Money isn't something that Western Dream has ever had any difficulty earning, because after Friday's victory she has now won 13 and tallied a whopping $325,480 in stakes for her breeder/owners Vin and Daphne Devery. Like the programming decisions that concern the filly, Herlihy and the Deverys have also shared the training duties throughout Western Dream's career as well, Devery having his name alongside hers in the racebook five times and Herlihy the other 12.

Their association goes back many years, and one of the first horses Herlihy ever drove for the couple was Western Dream's dam Dreamy Atom, steering her to victory in the last of her six wins, the 1994/95 NZ Sires' Stakes Fillies Championship. "I am just really grateful that Vin and Daph decided to place her with me," Herlihy said, humbly. "It's great to have horses like her in the stable, and when they kick on from the ability they showed as a young horse like she has." So is Western Dream anything like her mother? "No, not really," Herlihy answered. "Dreamy Atom was a smaller, stockier mare, whereas Western Dream is not. She was actually quite rangy as a 2-year-old, but she has strengthened up now though."

Following her sojourn across the Tasman, Western Dream will be spelled and return sometime around Christmas. Like every year when there is a standout 3-year-old filly, it will then be a question of how well she will come back the following season. "She is the type that will stay as good," Herlihy said. "Sometimes you know if good youngsters aren't going to get much better, but she has always had the scope to suggest that she will improve a lot. And I have always thought she has got a lot of stamina. I know the overall time the other night wasn't flash, but I think her effort proves that to a degree."


Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 24May06

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

The Weekly celebrates the Williamson's win

The relatively quick rise to prominence by Nathan Williamson has a summit of some importance just ahead - such as driving his parents' star trotter Jasmyn's Gift in the Dominion Handicap at Addington. Nathan has been driving for a little over 12 months, yet alredy has shown a steady head for handsome results: 279 drives, for 23 wins and 33 minor placings.

This really does nothing more than make his father Phil acknowledge the fact his son is shaping pretty well. "I hate to say it but I predictee before he started out that he would make the grade, not that I thought he would get to this stage so soon. I had seen enough of him at gymkhanas and workouts to think he was a natural as far as driving was concerned. If he was anyone else's kid, you'd say he was pretty talented," he said.

He could easily have passed that compliment to his son after winning the Ordeal Trotting Cup at Addington last Thursday, in which Nathan used sound judgement to make his move round the field in the middle stages and, as a result, completed it with an easy run to the finish.

"It is a confidence thing as well," said Phil, who trains the mare and races her with his wife, Bev. "I'm sure there are other young people out there with similar ability, but they will not get the opportunities to show it."

Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 20Sep06

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

Mary admires the trophy while Cambell replies

Campbell McJorrow had a heck of a time convincing his partner Mary Wych to travel south with him so that they could both be on-course to cheer on Winforu in last Friday night's $30,000 Fitness Canterbury 'Classic' at Addington.

Now in her late 50's, Wych has been in hospital care and wheelchair-bound ever since she suffered a stroke five years ago. So even going along to 'local' racemeetings in Auckland and Cambridge requires a great deal of effort; getting on as plane and flying to another city seemed like too much of a task.

But McJorrow stuck to his guns, Wych finally relented, and after what unfolded last week she is coming back - on November 14 to be exact, where she'll be perched proudly ringside to watch Winforu take on the country's best pacers in the NZ Cup. "Mary really didn't want to go south this week," McJorrow reiterated. "But I just had this 'sixth sense'. And knowing what Geoff's comments were leading into the event, I thought this was going to be Winforu's best chance of getting some form again, even though he had drawn the second line."

Geoff is Winforu's trainer Geoff Small, and McJorrow says the Patumahoe horseman was adamant about making a statement on Friday night - as far as the horse was concerned, and as far as the Cup itself was concerned too. "There is no joy in going back and getting boxed in, so the plan was to push forward if we got the chance," he continued. "It was kind of nice how he managed to cross over to the lead right in front of the grandstand where we were watching him from, too. Winforu's a bit bigger and stronger now, and in a way, he was almost due for a win after being unlucky lately."

And what a victory it was. The In The Pocket entire never took his foot off the accelerator once he reached the front, and after speeding home in 27.8 and 29.3 he stopped the clock at a blistering 2:20.5. Not only was it a fantastic performance under the icy cool conditions, because twice he had to battle head-first into a strong easterly wind, but Winforu's time also equalled the national record for an aged male pacer and was the first NZ record this season.

"Mary's certainly got a good set of lungs on her," McJorrow smiled, re-living the final moments of Winforu's victory. "But she just gets such a thrill out of any of his wins, especially since she bred him herself and has followed him all the way through.

"Knowing that the winner of last week's race automatically got into the Cup was always very much in our minds, so it's great that now we don't have to worry. He's better fresh, and we were hoping for the easiest run into the Cup as possible; we didn't really want to go to Kaikoura. His only other race before then will be Ashburton now."

So what does being in this year's Cup mean to the couple? "It's a huge thrill," he said. "Being in Australia to watch him in last year's Inter-Dominions was great, but I accept the fact that the NZ Cup is the 'Holy Grail' of harness racing in this country. And it's any horse owner's dream, especially when you've bred him yourself. You've only got to look at how many horses are bred and raced, and what a small percentage of them actually make it into the Cup. I know Geoff's always wanted to win the race - and I know Winforu's no Elsu either. But if you are in it, you can win it.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 11Oct06

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

The training team - Tony & Michelle

Sly Flyin's comeback this season has been nothing short of amazing, and last Friday he added another chapter to the fairytale when he brilliantly won the NZ Free-For-All at Addington.

The grand old campaigner was never in the race after starting from the second row, and even trainer/driver Tony Herlihy conceded that "things looked hopeless" early on. By the time they had swung for home, nothing had changed - Sly Flyin was surronded by a wall of horses and chewing steel, throwing his head in the air. "I thought at the top of the straight that we only needed a gap," Herlihy said. "That's why I had pulled the blinds and his plugs by then; I knew if some space came that it probably wouldn't last very long, so I wanted to have him all revved up and ready to go."

Waiting for his moment to come, Herlihy somehow managed to squeeze Sly Flyin through a narrowing gap inside White Arrow and then let him rip...on a surface deadened by constant rain, the way he ate up the deficit and caught the leaders in less than a furlong was truly remarkable. "I suppose his sprint is his biggest asset, and like a lot of horses he is probably a fraction better coming from behind," Herlihy continued. "But we have never really had the chance to drive him any other way because he is off long marks most of the time. He is a pretty all-round horse though, and he wouldn't give it away easy if he was bowling along in front either."

The Sands A Flyin gelding has now headed back across the Tasman searching for retribution in the Miracle Mile - a race he was primed to win last year before disaster struck. He had won the Newcastle Mile in a sizzling 1:53.6, but just days out from the Miracle Mile his trainer received the heart-wrenching news. "He was staying at Vic Frost's, and Vic rung me on the Monday saying he wasn't happy with him at all. It wasn't his legs this time - they had always looked ugly anyway - it was his near-side hoof that was sore. We got it x-rayed and discovered a growth that was pushing against the pedal bone, so he was flown to Brisbane and ha it removed."

Sly Flyin remained in Australia for about six weeks, then had another three or four months off when he got home; everybody knew it was 'make or break' time afterwards though - Herlihy would try the gelding once more and if he didn't stand up, his career was over. Strangely enough, the 'new' Sly Flyin is as sound as he has ever been. And for that Herlihy continually praises the work by Michelle Wallis at the beach, where Sly Flyin's been stationed for most of the last 18 months.

"With all the spells he has had due to injuries, he actually hasn't had a lot of racing. And he has still got the mind of a young horse. He is very energetic, and always thrives on work and wants to be out there. We bought him up and trialled him two or three times during the winter, but then when there were no races for him we backed off again. In hindsight that was the making of his preparation - because even though he hadn't raced for eleven months, he had been in work close to six. I'm just so pleased for Michelle, because winning the Free-For-All was such a big thrill for her, and all of us. If we can keep him sound, he could be around for another year or two yet."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 22Nov06

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

If ever a horse deserved to win a big race, it's Some Direction. And last Friday night she got her moment in the spotlight when powering home to beat Inspire in the $30,000 Group 3 Gianni's Pita Bread Canterbury Park Trotting Cup.

Part-owner, co-trainer and driver Justin Smith had Some Direction beautifully placed on the outer early, so well positioned in fact that he didn't even need to ask her to move until the field approached the final bend. Once he set her alight Some Direction swept around the field and trucked home better than anything, winning the 3200 metre event in a creditable 4:11.7.

The victory put an end to the run of 'big event almosts' that her and her connections have had to contend with lately, because she has run fourth in each of the last three Group 1 races she has tackled - March's Trotters Championship (to Allegro Agitato), last year's Dominion Handicap (Pompallier) and the NZ Trotting Free-For-All (Allegro Agitato) a week earlier.

It seems like Some Direction has been around for ages - and literally, she has; the Sundon mare gained her first win at Waskdyke in February 2001, over five and a half years ago! In all she has made 120 starts, and has now won 20 of them. Considering that last Friday's win was her first major one, her stakes tally of over $216,000 in amazing in itself, but if anything it just highlights how consistent she's been throughout her career. For the record, those 120 outings have also yielded 17 seconds, 13 thirds, 24 fourths, 11 fifths and 11 sixths...only 16 times has she not taken home a cheque.

"Yeah, she goes pretty good most weeks," said Smith afterwards, in his typically understated manner. She's got speed and she can stay - she hasn't really got any faults. She would be impossible to replace." Now nine, Some Direction still looks and is performing like a horse half her age, and there is no talk of retiring her just yet. "When she won her last race last season, it was one of her best performances ever; that helped decide it," Smith said.

Some Direction's been victorious at Addington 11 times, Ashburton (four), Washdyke (twice), and Rangiora, Oamaru and Forbury Park (once). As that suggests, she is not a horse that the Smiths go very far with. "She's never been a good traveller, even on short trips," he said. "And she's no quite as good the Auckland way round either. There's always another race for her here at home."

Some Direction's next main target will be the Cup Meeting at Addington, where Smith says that backing up three days apart won't worry her one bit. In the touch she's in, it would be no surprise to see her grab an even higher accolade...



Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 18Oct06

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

In the feature event at Addington on Friday, the Group Two NRM Trotting Stakes for two-year-olds, it was merely a training run for race favourite Fear Factor.

Returning a winning dividend of $1.30, Fear Factor showed her dominance in the first 200m when bolting straight to the lead from barrier four.

It was then an armchair drive for Blair Orange as he dictated the terms and eased the Sundon filly home under a hold in the home straight.

Ulter Boy capitalised on his trail trip, running home for second three-lengths behind the favourite and Sun Lad finished solidly down the outer for third placing.

Fear Factor has now won three races from four starts, two of which have been Group Two features for $46,000 in stakes.

She is now a clear contender in the race for Two-Year-Old Trotting Filly of the Year, with the defection of her closest rival Constar.

Constar was scratched from Friday's race due to a viral complaint.

Credit: Harness Racing New Zealand

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

Report For Duty is too strong for Tuherbs & Power Of Tara

Report For Duty stamped himself as a horse of real class when he won the Wyatt & Wilson Print 4YO Superstars Championship at Addington last Friday night.

Report For Duty made such a swift beginning from his 10m handicap that he was looming up outside the leader Tuherbs within a furlong, but trainer/driver Pat O'Reilly wasn't stopping there. He continued to push on with purpose, eventually crossing to the marker pegs passing the 1900m point.

All of a sudden, O'Reilly's pre-race plan had fallen into place - even earlier than anticipated..."I wanted to run the last mile as quick as we could," he said. "It didn't matter whether he got left parked or what, I was going at the mile. And I wasn't going to hand up to anybody." O'Reilly's tactics stemmed from knowing his pacer is such a great stayer, and faith that if he put the son of Washington VC up on the pace, he wouldn't quit on him. As it was he was left a sitting duck to a horse like Tuherbs poised in behind, but in the end his nearest rival just couldn't get past him.

You can put this down to two things - Report For Duty's scorching final sectionals of 27.8 and 28.9, generated from a horse who has an incredible will to win. O'Reilly did little more than give his pacer small taps with the right rein and whip down the straight, and if anything he was pulling away from them again at the post.

Report For Duty has now made seven appearances for six wins and a second, his only 'glitch' eventuating at Motukarara back in March when he was "knocked down" at the top of the straight before picking himself up to run Lladro to a length. There's over $53,000 in the bin for owner Jock Austin now too - not a bad effort for a horse that never got a bid when he went through the Sale ring, eventually changing hands a month later for $6000. Austin spends his days on Koh Samui, a small island near Taiwan where O'Reilly says he "doesn't do much" after making a successful living out of land development. "I have known him for 25 years, ever since I grazed sheep for him. He was a sheep-truck driver back then, and a real hard case; he worked hard too though. Jock's a great owner, but above all he is a great loser. He never gripes about anything, even if things go wrong," O'Reilly said.

The partnership's been a very lucrative one over the years, but there's every possibility that their latest winner will rise to levels not reached before. And who knows...12 months down the track, Austin might just have to make a trip backto NZ to see his horse line up in the biggest event of them all, because O'Reilly feels he has got a Cup horse on his hands.

"Maybe even two," he enthused, referring to Shea Stadium as well. "He has gone huge tonight, sitting outside Pay Me Christian during the twenty-seven quarter down the back and coming again to run third. They're both as dumb as each other. And Report For Duty' got a lot of growing up to do yet - I reckon he'll be better still in another year."

O'Reilly's two pacing stars are going to slip out of the limelight and have a quiet couple of weeks until Cup time now, and he's already got another target in mind for his latest winner. "I wouldn't mind sending him to Auckland later on," he said. "Just for the Messengerthough, not the mile. He does work better that way around at home."

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 11Oct06

FEATURE RACE COMMENT

Changeover (outer) masters Gotta Go Cullen

I've lost count how many times Geoff Small ventures to Addington and tears off a major race. He was at it again last Friday night, and this time he walked away with two of the major spoils when Changeover won the $30,000 ICE Bloodstock Rising Stars 3YO Championship and then Winforu took out the $30,000 Fitness Canterbury Classic.

There's a good reason why Small's representatives are always worth following whenever he ventures away from hometown Patumahoe though - he doesn't believe in just making up the numbers or giving his owners unnecessary expenses; if a horse comes down to Christchurch, it is a serious chance. And so it proved again.

Changeover was sensational, coming from three-deep along the markers to run down a horses like Gotta Go Cullen. It's true that the latter was 'softened up' somewhat by Days Of Courage siting outside him, and Changeover had everything go his way, but he still must have paced his last half in under 55 seconds to do so and that's lightning quick!

"He is a heck of a nice horse, so it didn't really surprise me," Small said of the performance. "The only worry I had was that it was his first-up run, but he seems to have come through it okay. It did pan out for him though, he followed the speed good and kept at it. That is his real long suit."

Raced by the Auckland Trotting Club's Trot 2006 Syndicate, Changeover was resuming after a four-month spell on Friday but he was pretty ready for it. So was driver David Butcher, who got stopped on numerous occasions during the racemeeting at Cambridge the night before. "Everywhere I walked people were coming up to me and saying,'so, what are you going to do with Changeover?'," Butcher smiled. "That is the joy of having so many owners in the one horse though, they are having a lot of fun. He was always going to be a bit better with time. Because he was quite a big horse at two, but he did a good job all the same," Butcher said.

Changeover had been off the place twice in readiness for his resumption this season, and his trainer was happy enough. "His two trials up here were really good, and then he went down to Christchurch about eight days before the race. I flew down on Monday to work him at Addington, and he felt like he was ticking along quite nicely," Small said. "We opted not to go to Aussie at the end of last season because we thought he just needed more maturity. And he is really suited to Addington because it's a big track, it's where he can show off his staying prowess. At this stage of his career that is where he races best."

Changeover will reside in Canterbury for the meantime, with his main target being the Sires' Stakes Series and the next heat on October 20. Small said he's 'allowed' for another heat at the same course in case he doesn't qualify during the first one he tackles, and after the Sires' Stakes Final on Cup Day his next big mission is the Sales Series race back in Auckland towards the end of the year.

Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 11Oct06