 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Steven Reid, Baileys Dream & Todd Mitchell |
He did so with a remarkable effort in which he twice fought off the attempts of Advance Attack to lead. Advance Attack was on the back foot and tiring on the corner, passed by his stablemate Mighty Cullen. Baileys Dream kept rolling and extended his lead down the straight to win in the manner of something special.
"He beat Winforu in a workout at Pukekohe before he came down here," said driver Todd Mitchell. "I gave him two taps on the corner and he kicked again. He is the type of horse who can sustain his speed for a long time," he said.
Baileys Dream is a first-season son of the Woodland Stud-based stallion Dream Away, by Artsplace, and cost Robert Fumularo $40,000 as a yearling. Bought for him by leading trainer Steven Reid, Baileys Dream is a half-brother to Cup class mare Black Eyed Bailey. They are from the Smooth Fella mare Black Eyed Susan, who went five years without a foal between leaving OK Bailey in 1996 and Baileys Dream. She is also the dam of a yearling colt by Christian Cullen and was served last season by Pacific Rocket.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 12May04
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Phil & Bev Williamson |
The win came at the minor expense of Ado's Invasion, who had his chance and closed the margin to a neck, and the major expense of the globe-trotting veteran, Lyell Creek, who found the question of relentless speed too hard to answer. That is where Williamson had placed Allegro Agitato, in front and humming. She had blotted her copybook the week before when breaking and running eighth in a stand behind Major Decision. "She can lose it, and I think she just freaked out when she saw Aramid doing things wrong," he said.
The Sundon mare drew wide but was quick enough to cross them, while Lyell Creek was a shade off them. Driver Anthony Butt had him off the markers and sitting fifth on the outer after 400 metres. "I didn't really want Lyell Creek to come up when he did, but we got cracking them. She got up on the steel, and I could see him start to get a bit tired before the corner," he said. No surprise in that, Allegro Agitato ran the 2600m trip in 3:16.1, which was two seconds quicker than Sunny Action's NZ record for a mare of 3:18.1.
Remarkably, Allegro Agitato has won her nine races and $90,000 from just 20 starts, in 20 months. "But she was special right from the start. Even well before she raced she showed potential. She had class," he said. Williamson is still mindful of her dodgy little ways. "I just hope her head stays the right way round," he said, as he considered her trip to Alexandra Park for two races, the first this Friday night and the other, the Rowe Cup, a fortnight later. "She is a good stayer, but is pretty fast too. What I am really looking forward to with her is the Flying Mile at Ashburton in the spring. I am sure she could run some sort of time if she got the right draw on the front," he said.
Allegro Agitato is raced by Michael and Roni Lauren of Oamaru, who bred the mare, Michael's brother Dennis, Pip Gerard of Hamilton, and Williamson. Her dam is Chiola's Lass, the winner of 10 races, and NZ 3-Year-Old Trotter of the Year in the 1990/91 season.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 15Apr04
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Advance Attack (outer) & Marika fight out the finish |
The colt had no luck in the early settling of places, but had moved by the 800m and had joined Marika soon after. They cut away from the others in the straight, and it appeared Marika had the measure of Advance Attack 50 metres out.
Circumstances changed dramatically from there. Ricky May, the driver of Marika, lost his whip after it tangled with a back hopple. Then, just as Advance Attack levelled up near the line, Marika appeared to turn his head to the left, which may have been the slim difference there was between the pair at the end. "My horse is very genuine," said Purdon. "He is only little, but he has a big heart, just like his brother."
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 7Apr04
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Zuri winning the 2004 Trotting Derby |
After drawing one, he kept the lead and held off the trailing Apache Blue Jean by a length and a half. Hurricane Flyer ran a safe third after a similar trip on the outer behind Sun Watch. It was Zuri's 10th start and seventh win. He was beaten once at two by Diedre Don, and twice this season finished fourth behind aged horses.
The chestnut son of Grant Our Wishes has won his last five on the trot, and will soon go north for excellent opportunities against those of his own age later this month. Trained by Ken Ford, Zuri was driven by Mark Jones who said it was never hard for him. "He is a grand stayer." His dam Midnight Saga, by Yankee Jolter, has also left good performers Bede ans Aramid. She lost her foal by Sugarcane Hanover last season and died not long after. Waiting in the wings are a yearling and a weanling out of her, both by Armbro Invasion.
Credit: Harness Racing Weekly 7Apr04
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| Campbell McJorrow |
Domiciled in Otahuhu, Auckland, McJorrow was on-course at Addington to witness the victory, and within seconds of their horse's super performance he was on the phone to his loved one to share the delight with her. Sadly, celebrating Winforu's special moments in this unusual way is just something that the couple have had to live with in recent times, because Wych has been hospitalised ever since she suffered a severe stroke in July, 2001. After initially battling through other complications including pneumonia, Wych has impaired speech and still finds it extremely difficult to walk and is basically wheelchair-bound, so her trips to the racetrack are confined to local meetings at best. And this week she had the first of three scheduled operations to try and rectify a perforated bowel, totally unrelated to her stroke, so the victory by Winforu could not have come at a better time.
"Mary's stroke was so bad that initially it was wondered whether she would survive at all, and she spent a very long time in the Intensive Care Unit at Middlemore Hospital," McJorrow said. "But she came through that, and for the last twelve months she has had her own room at the Laura Ferguson rehabilitation Trust in Auckland, which is only about a kilometre away from Alexandra Park. She has seen three or four of his wins at the Park, and one of them at Cambridge, which she gets a great thrill out of. Obviously she is not able to travel to Christchurch, though. I tend to follow the horse around the country, amd Mary wants me to be there even if she can't," he said.
McJorrow (48) and Wych (56) have been together for 17 years. They met in Auckland when Wych went for a job interview at the company where McJorrow was the Managing Director; 'Cupid' fired a couple of arrows, and the rest, as the saying goes, is history. A trained auditor, Wych handled the secretarial side of McJorrow's businesses "brilliantly" prior to having to step aside when she suffered the stroke.
"I developed an interest in horses as a child, because I grew up in a two-story house in Ashburton and could look across the road and see them thundering around the racecourse," McJorrow said. "We had the Bebbingtons and the Lochheads as neighbours, so there was always plenty of opportunities to have rides in the sulky. Mary and I have raced a couple of horses, being involved in the likes of Bonanza Magic from Geoff Small's stable and Justa Toff, Just An Icon and Lover Boy with John Lischner and Ken Barron, but we always thought we would like to breed one or two. We were determined that they were going to be by In The Pocket. Mary wanted to do the pedigree research, and to her credit she spent weeks and weeks and put a lot of effort into finding a couple of suitable mares."
The couple borrowed Kamwood Byrd to breed Winforus, who was sold to America after a couple of placings here, and Beheliem to get Winforu. Feeling like proud, new parents they were there to see Winforu at the property of the mare's owners Steve and Ann Phillips the day he was born. "He was quite unlucky as a 2-year-old, because he got a really bad eye injury after getting caught in a fence and at one stage he had the vet attending to him three times a day. Then he went to Christchurch for the big juvenile events he got mud fever, not in one foot but in all four. It sort of set him back a bit, that is why I believe his win this season in the Great Northern Derby was good for him psychologically. Geoff says he is a lovely horse to have around the place and train, and I think he knows when he does well."
McJorrow has worked in the food industry ever since leaving university and has always been interested in desserts. Looking for 'the big smoke' he moved himself from Marlborough to Auckland and started up two companies that deal with food manufacturing, importing and exporting, and apart from distributing extensively nationwide these companies have now grown to the point where they export to 14 countries and import from five. The products are primarily dessert-related and frozen, and include the likes of pavlovas, gateaus, bavarios, cheesecakes, crepes and savoury burritos and tortillas.
Winforu's victory in the Flying Stakes was as 'sweet' as McJorrow's desserts, and he is hopeful of another bold showing in the NZ Derby. He will be there of course, and Mary will be cheering from her bedside at the other end of the country. "She has got her own television, and a few of the doctors and nurses were crowded around her bed the other night to watch the race. Apparently they all had a great time, because some of them had backed him as well. The staff at Laura Ferguson have been really great to us. Mary has got lots of framed photos on the walls and she loves the ribbons and rugs. Her pride and joy is the dress rug that Winforu got for his Great Northern Derby win - it is on her bed ever night. "The horse's latest outing really was a win for Mary," he said. "I hope that things like this can give her that will to live and that reason to get better, and show her that there is in fact a whole other world outside of hospital life."
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 31Mar04
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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Two decades ago, seeing Ian's orange and brown stars silks lead the field home first was a common occurance, and he hit a real purple patch of form when in the mid-1980's he won over 20 races per season a few times in a row. Double figures were achieved again four times during the early 1990s, but lately the pickings have been slim, although not a season has gone by where Cameron hasn't bagged at least a couple of wins.
The tally for 2003/04 is now sitting on four after Ginas Brightest took out the $18,000 NZ Trotters' Trust Trotting Oaks last week, and she did it the hard way. Slow away from her wide draw in the 1950 metre mobile event, Cameron had her up outside the leader Tracy's Dream with a lap to travel and poured the pressure on, eventually pulling away from that runner and then holding out the late charge of Kahola.
"I am enjoying the game more now than I ever have," Cameron said afterwards. "I'm working eight, and it is the best team I have had around me for years." Cameron outlined the importance, for them, of his wife having a full-time occupation in addition to harness racing, because with her being the head teacher at their local kindergarten it enables them to manage their involvement in the sport.
It is quite an involvement too, because apart from the racehorses, they have been breeding for the yearling sales for nearly a decade, putting "the odd one" through the ring, and this year have seven mares in foal. One of those is their latest winner's dam, Rangitawa Gina. "Gary Allen and I bred Ginas Brightest, but he wanted out of the breed so Jocelyn and I leased his half share and also bought the mare off him. Her first foal was Debbie Galleon, who has won two, and the next was a full-sister to Ginas Brightest that Glenys Buchanan qualified nicely and then on-sold (now with Jeff Whittaker). We have got an Armbro Invasion 2-year-old filly which broke in nice, and she is in foal to Monarchy."
By Britewell, Ginas Brightest's career started last year when she qualified as a 2-year-old at Rangiora in July. "I was working her with the older horses, and she was going alright, so I decided to give her a start and she ran third in a mobile at Addington behind Time Of Reckoning. She broke from a stand next start, so she went out for a good five months spell and only came in when we got back from the Coast after Christmas. "She is good-gaited, and so tough - a run like the other night doesn't worry her. It was nice to win a race like that too...we had a bit of luck for a change," he said.
Credit: John Robinson writing in HRWeekly 24Mar04
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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It was not until That's Life Lavra came out of the pack after turning in that Tidal Franco looked vulnerable. That's Life Lavra came in for the kill less than 100 metres out, and with the formidable Tony Herlihy weilding the brush, swept past Tidal Franco to win by half a neck. there was a gap to the others, headed by Asabella.
That's Life Lavra is a Life Sign filly from Expressive Moves, an unraced mare by Nihilator owned in Victoria by Andrew McNair. She was bought for $24,000 by Kypros and Mary Kotzikas and placed with Robert Cameron, where she stayed until joining Herlihy's team for Christmas racing at Auckland. "She raced good there and ran fourth in the Oaks, without being quite up to Dudinka's Star," said Herlihy. "But she has come a long way in just five starts and I am sure she will go on with it," he said. Herlihy gave himself a winning chance some way from the finish. "I was travelling better than the favourite on the turn," he said
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 18Feb04
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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Berger said that while Coburg is a stronger horse than she was last season, she was not quite up to Pullover Brown and Alta Serena, he says the good draw could make all the difference over the sprint. "But both her and Hot Shoe Shuffle have thrived since being down here. Hot Shoe Shuffle won't need to improve much to beat Coburg if the draw goes her way," he said. Neither work together, as Berger finds they get too competitive and go too hard if they do. "They are better on their own. I tend to take them along quietly and tighten up the bolts later on," he said.
Coburg had the run last week that Pullover Brown had slipped into until Fake The Moment broke. After they had skirted her, Pullover Brown was on the back of Coburg who was following the parked Hot Shoe Shuffle. She is the new drive of Peter Ferguson, who said after her first night win: "I am not scared of anything next week."
Those in the Coburg syndicate are Dr Ray Thomson, who is the majority shareholder, HRNZ Executive Member Ray O'Connor and his wife Christine, who are also in the syndicate that races Hot Shoe Shuffle, Jan and Sandy Yarndley, and Barry, Matthew, Evelyn and Jill Gordon. According to Barry, Ray Thomson inspected a number of the Yarndley fillies that were being offered at the PGG sales before settling on Coburg. "I think she cost us $30,000, but we were prepared to go higher," said Gordon. "Ray is very particular in what characteristics he looks for. He is very good. We will be looking again this year, but won't be buying for the sake of it," he said.
Of those beaten runners, none impressed more than Don't Tell Kate who cut many lengths off the leaders after being near last at the 400 metres.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 28Jan04
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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It's all been said before, but it needs to be said again - how much of a equine wonder is Lyell Creek? A champion, a freak, a marvel, great, phenomenal, amazing. They've all been trotted out to desperately describe the feats no other horse has done. Like this report, however, they don't adequately cover his stature as a world class icon.
The horse is 11 - though he could be going on seven. He has been to places most of us only see on the map. He has footed it with the best, and his reputation is legendary. After winning millions, he returned home, and if he wanted it, honourable retirement.
'Lyell' obviously had other ideas. He settled happily into stable life again at Premier Stables, and with the exception of one or two minor hic-cups, he has dominated the ranks of open class trotters in New Zealand. He ran a corker first-up for the season, when his ill-fated stablemate Sonofthedon won, then showed his intolerance of being bustled early with a mulish display on the grass at Motukarara. With others sharing the load in front on Cup Day, Lyell Creek was in his element and showed it with a stylish win over Sumthingaboutmaori.
Would he do the same 10 days later in the $100,000 Southern Trust Dominion Handicap, off 10 metres?
'Lyell' made his intensions known quickly, with such a speedy beginning that had him sixth or seventh, on the outer, after 300 metres. From there, driver Anthony Butt had the race at his mercy. He had Castleton's Mission two places behind him, he'd probably seen Allegro Agitato in a gallop, and he had the classy Australian Sumthingaboutmaori inside him, four deep. He only had to press the button at some time near the corner to turn 'Lyell' loose and set the crowd alight. It all came together swimmingly well, and while Castleton's Mission looked more like his old self with a solid charge from the back, Lyell Creek was on his way to another Dominion win.
"He is just so superior to the others," said Butt, who said his failure back at Motukarara was due to being 'off colour'. "He had a little break, and he's been so healthy since then," he said.
To match his own talent as a horseman, Butt has never been short of a great horse to keep him at the top of the top level. "Blossom Lady - she was the first, Happy Asset and Take A Moment, and now more of 'Lyell'. I mean, to win 16 Group 1 races like he has is unreal. Take A Moment is a great horse, but 'Lyell' is amazing. He's one of those horses you'll never see again."
For the record, it was Butt's sixth successive win in the Dominion Handicap, and it was brother Tim's sixth successive training win. Some record!
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in NZHR Weekly
YEAR: 2004
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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| The cover of the Weekly says it all ! |
Cup Day was a cocktail of triumph and tragedy for Ollie and Irene Haines at Addington on Tuesday. Minutes after watching Just An Excuse give Elsu a repeat beating in the Canterbury Draught New Zealand Cup, the Haines’s learned their good friend Graham Higgins had died in the stand nearby.
Higgins was a member of the Cambridge Harness Racing Club, President of the club from 1986 to 1989, and was part of the support team behind Just An Excuse. Ollie, visibly shaken by the death of his old friend, took some consolation on hearing that he'd died calling out ‘Go Mitch’.
It was all part of a turbulent ride the Haines’s have had since winning the New Zealand Cup with Just An Excuse last year when he was a warm favourite. Through one reason and another, Just An Excuse had fallen from favour, and Ollie sat on the sidelines as trainer Robert Mitchell used all his professional skills to put the jigsaw back in place.
The time he spent on the horse was unbelievable. “He has virtually lived with the horse for the past six weeks. “Back and forth to vets, tooth men and farriers. “I’m sure if he’d been in a big stable he wouldn’t be here now,” he said. There was a chewing problem that some attention to his teeth fixed. There was a jarring up problem to his club foot that some special cushioning to his sole fixed. And then there was the abortive mission to Ashburton, which nearly unfixed their whole campaign.
“We were gutted after Ashburton,” said Haines. “It didn’t seem fair; we wanted a rewind. “It wasn’t the fact we didn’t win there, but the fact he didn’t take any part in it.” But Haines didn’t lose faith in Mitchell, nor in the horse. He chided the media for doing so. “I don’t know why you fellas wrote him off,” he said.
Ironically, the Haines’s had been associated with the Butcher stable for 13 years, before Mitchell was given the horse after he’d been tried by Cambridge trainer, Brent Donnelly. The Haines’s had dozens of horses at the time, but five years ago Ollie stuck to a principle and culled more than 30. One of those he couldn’t quit was My Excuse, a Smooth Fella mare and her Live Or Die colt foal.
The foal was Just An Excuse and the culling was successful, because only My Excuse and a Camtastic-Another Excuse 3-year-old remains. Ollie still takes time to bless his Addington luck.
“I’ve only raced two horses here, and they’ve won five Group races.
Just An Excuse has won two Cups and the Superstars, and Smooth Performer won the Oaks and the DB Fillies Final,” he said. And while Todd calls Addington his second home, the Haines’s don’t mind the place either. They could, however, do without the emotion and high drama that came with their visit this time.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in the HR Weekly
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