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Bit Of A Yarn

Oldest Harness Horse to race in Post-War NZ ?


Walt

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I know Easton Light and Idle Scot raced and won aged 13. I remember a trotter going around at Forbury in 1980 called Bob Crane (Hogans Hero's). He was 14 and managed a 2nd at that age.

I'm pretty sure there have been 15 year old's but can't recall names? 

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17 minutes ago, KimButt said:

I wish Take A Moment was still around 🙈😂

haha..I'm pretty sure Brodie meant Take After Me Kim.....not the great Take A Moment that Tim and Ants had a field day with. You would have been right there taking it all in. What a buzz that must have been. He raced until he was 10

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Absolutely. All tongue n cheek ☺️ 

Take After Me been a super horse for the Scott family. Super people as well. 
 

Take A Moment was definitely a stable and family favourite. Amazing horse who probably didn’t get the credit he deserved because he was at the same time as Lyell Creek. 

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22 minutes ago, KimButt said:

Absolutely. All tongue n cheek ☺️ 

Take After Me been a super horse for the Scott family. Super people as well. 
 

Take A Moment was definitely a stable and family favourite. Amazing horse who probably didn’t get the credit he deserved because he was at the same time as Lyell Creek. 

I always felt that as great as Take A Moment was, he always raced in the shadow of Lyell. What chance of getting two trotting superstars at the same time?

The Scott family are very well regarded as you know Kim. They've had their heartbreaks so it's great to see Bob carrying two of their horses forward in Don't Tell Jenny and Ready Set Jet. Both won nicely first up recently. Long may that continue. 

I enjoy the way Bob drives. Similar to the way Davey drove but without the chewing gum :) 

Both as cool as a cucumber 

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12 minutes ago, mikeynz said:

Chief Walk, maybe.

I don't remember him to do recall Mighty Lee and Waitaki Gamble who he raced against. 

When I look at his record it's remarkable. He raced in 9 seasons. Had a three year break as an 11 year old in 1973 and then came back as a 14 year old in 1976 when he had two more runs for zip. Maurice Holmes drove him in at least one of his runs. 87 starts for 4 wins and stake money of $2875

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There was a Trotter in Auckland that raced until they forced it to retire about 5 to 10 years ago and it did win in its final season of racing at 14 or 15.i remember the horse racing in my memory but cannot think of its name or the woman who owned and trained it.i think Todd Mitchell drove it if that Helps!

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4 hours ago, Forbury said:

There was a Trotter in Auckland that raced until they forced it to retire about 5 to 10 years ago and it did win in its final season of racing at 14 or 15.i remember the horse racing in my memory but cannot think of its name or the woman who owned and trained it.i think Todd Mitchell drove it if that Helps!

you may be talking about perigo. He had his last race 10 years ago.

He raced at 15,although these days that would only be 14 due to them changing the horses birthdays.

I don't think there is any limit to how old a horse can race in nz, so i don't think he was forced to retire.

I just looked it up. He had 4 trainers.Started off with a mrs b wisnewski then A grayling then p.g.young and finally k smith.

None of those people are licensed trainers anymore. Looks like they all gave up after they trained perogo.

K smith used to run him in races where claimers could start in. 

actually his record is quite interesting to look at.

Even M kerr drove him to win a couple of times when trained by k smith.

he raced at meetings held by clubs like northland,morrinsville,bay of plenty,kumeu,franklin,thames,manakau. Some of those clubs no longer exist.

How participation numbers and other things have changed in the north island in the last 10-20 years .

Edited by the galah
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Lol Not sure why I put Take A Moment, mustve been on the turps?

Over in oz many of the pacers still going around are geriatrics and even as old as 15!
In NZ our horses for some reason have a much shorter racing career?

It is hard to fathom how so many in Oz being of pensioner age can be competitive with the much younger ones!

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14 hours ago, Walt said:

I always felt that as great as Take A Moment was, he always raced in the shadow of Lyell. What chance of getting two trotting superstars at the same time?

They must of Won quite a few 'Dominion' Handicaps in a row between them . 

14 hours ago, KimButt said:

Take A Moment was definitely a stable and family favourite. Amazing horse who probably didn’t get the credit he deserved because he was at the same time as Lyell Creek. 

And We got to see the great horse in Brisbane . What a Win it was!!!  in the Interdominion Final. 

And a NZ Trifecta. !! Mountain Gold 2nd,  was raced by a very nice friend of mine in Jim Smith from Takanini for a while , before he was sold for Big Price to Barry P. Special Force ran 3rd at Albion . Wow !! 😊   way back 2001 . seems like.... just  the other day.

Yulestar Won the Pacers Final for New Zealand too . (with the Tim and Ants Butt team running 3rd) Pocket Me I think it was called. 

2001-trTake-A-Moment.jpg.7ea463e9580f149dd243625d1c152ed2.jpg

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53 minutes ago, Gammalite said:

They must of Won quite a few 'Dominion' Handicaps in a row between them . 

And We got to see the great horse in Brisbane . What a Win it was!!!  in the Interdominion Final. 

And a NZ Trifecta. !! Mountain Gold 2nd,  was raced by a very nice friend of mine in Jim Smith from Takanini for a while , before he was sold for Big Price to Barry P. Special Force ran 3rd at Albion . Wow !! 😊   way back 2001 . seems like.... just  the other day.

Yulestar Won the Pacers Final for New Zealand too . (with the Tim and Ants Butt team running 3rd) Pocket Me I think it was called. 

2001-trTake-A-Moment.jpg.7ea463e9580f149dd243625d1c152ed2.jpg

You rub shoulders with good people Gammalite.

Jim Smith is a good man I've only met briefly a few times at the Park decades ago but those I know rated him highly. He was an asset to Trackside but unfortunately for Jim, he talks too much common sense and made the mistake of being a straight shooter happy to advocate for all in the game and point out things that could easily be improved. That's not what Trackside wanted. They want yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir with their presenters. ..so out with colourful Jim and in with the cure for insomnia who has been there ever since. 

As for the "Mountain" horses...Mountain Gold, Mountain Peaks, Mount Pride, Mount Cargill, Mountain High, Mountain of Glory etc etc . What a breed. 

The pacers final you quoted highlighted again how good Yulestar was. Pocket Me was a very nice horse also. 

 

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2 hours ago, Walt said:

You rub shoulders with good people Gammalite.

Jim Smith is a good man I've only met briefly a few times at the Park decades ago but those I know rated him highly. He was an asset to Trackside but unfortunately for Jim, he talks too much common sense and made the mistake of being a straight shooter happy to advocate for all in the game and point out things that could easily be improved. That's not what Trackside wanted. They want yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir with their presenters. ..so out with colourful Jim and in with the cure for insomnia who has been there ever since. 

 

 

2 hours ago, Walt said:

 

Walt..You have 'your Jim Smith wires crossed'.

The Jim Smith you refer to was The Racing Broadcaster,with Radio Pacific prior to his career with Trackside.

The Jim Smith Gammalite refers to was long time Harness Trainer from Takanini,who bred & raced Mountain Gold for 10 wins.

Then sold to a Syndicate & trained by Barry Purdon.First two starts for new connections,won both City Of Sails Group 2 & Rowe Cup Group 1.

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6 minutes ago, Taupiri Wonder said:

 

Walt..You have 'your Jim Smith wires crossed'.

The Jim Smith you refer to was The Racing Broadcaster,with Radio Pacific prior to his career with Trackside.

The Jim Smith Gammalite refers to was long time Harness Trainer from Takanini,who bred & raced Mountain Gold for 10 wins.

Then sold to a Syndicate & trained by Barry Purdon.First two starts for new connections,won both City Of Sails Group 2 & Rowe Cup Group 1.

My bad T.W :) 

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8 hours ago, the galah said:

you may be talking about perigo. He had his last race 10 years ago.

He raced at 15,although these days that would only be 14 due to them changing the horses birthdays.

I don't think there is any limit to how old a horse can race in nz, so i don't think he was forced to retire.

I just looked it up. He had 4 trainers.Started off with a mrs b wisnewski then A grayling then p.g.young and finally k smith.

None of those people are licensed trainers anymore. Looks like they all gave up after they trained perogo.

K smith used to run him in races where claimers could start in. 

actually his record is quite interesting to look at.

Even M kerr drove him to win a couple of times when trained by k smith.

 

Yes,PERIGO did have a somewhat unusual racing history.

Raced by his breeders from 4yo until 11yo days and recording 10 Wins.

Then *Claimed by Kevin Smith.First start unplaced,but **Re-Claimed by original owners Dawson Brothers & returned to Peter Young Stable.

Raced for two more seasons for them & recorded 3 more wins.

As a 13yo in 2011 Season ***Claimed for second time by Kevin Smith & Tim Vince and quickly reeled off 4 more wins.

As a 14yo won for Smith / Vince at Cambridge & Alex Park.

Retired after one unplaced run as 15yo  amassing 19 wins in total.

Kevin Smith was both Trainer & Racing Manager for Auckland Trotting Club during this period,before he moved into role as HRNZ Chief Handicapper.

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3 hours ago, Taupiri Wonder said:

 

Walt..You have 'your Jim Smith wires crossed'.

The Jim Smith you refer to was The Racing Broadcaster,with Radio Pacific prior to his career with Trackside.

The Jim Smith Gammalite refers to was long time Harness Trainer from Takanini,who bred & raced Mountain Gold for 10 wins.

Then sold to a Syndicate & trained by Barry Purdon.First two starts for new connections,won both City Of Sails Group 2 & Rowe Cup Group 1.

I remember the jim smith who was a trackside presenter was a very good presenter who often used to tip jim smith the trainers horses. He seemed to take pleasure out of his name being the winning trainers name. I remember it being amusing.

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18 minutes ago, the galah said:

I remember the jim smith who was a trackside presenter was a very good presenter 

This Jim Smith also had another page in the rich tapestry of racing highlights:

He part owned (with 3 others) the high class thoroughbred Surfers Paradise,trained by Dave O'Sullivan to win the 1990 NZ Derby & 1991 Cox Plate.

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12 hours ago, the galah said:

you may be talking about perigo. He had his last race 10 years ago.

He raced at 15,although these days that would only be 14 due to them changing the horses birthdays.

I don't think there is any limit to how old a horse can race in nz, so i don't think he was forced to retire.

I just looked it up. He had 4 trainers.Started off with a mrs b wisnewski then A grayling then p.g.young and finally k smith.

None of those people are licensed trainers anymore. Looks like they all gave up after they trained perogo.

K smith used to run him in races where claimers could start in. 

actually his record is quite interesting to look at.

Even M kerr drove him to win a couple of times when trained by k smith.

he raced at meetings held by clubs like northland,morrinsville,bay of plenty,kumeu,franklin,thames,manakau. Some of those clubs no longer exist.

How participation numbers and other things have changed in the north island in the last 10-20 years .

No definitely not that.i do Remember that it was claimed and then she claimed it back.the horse was definitely 13-15 but I could be wrong 

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Not sure
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