Borana….

[Newmarket]

George Shand did a very good job with this youngster, won them in a row against good horses. 
 

Does anyone know how the horse ended up with Peter Jones? Amazingly when it changed stables, it never won a race for nearly a year, but of course we know its next win was a biggie, the NZ cup, although did have several placings before that. 
 

I assume horse was sold out of Shand stable, any info would be great, thanks

[Gammalite]

4 hours ago, Newmarket said:

George Shand did a very good job with this youngster, won them in a row against good horses. 
 

Does anyone know how the horse ended up with Peter Jones? Amazingly when it changed stables, it never won a race for nearly a year, but of course we know its next win was a biggie, the NZ cup, although did have several placings before that. 
 

I assume horse was sold out of Shand stable, any info would be great, thanks

Borana raced for John and Doreen Murray throughout his career . Purchased by them for $2000 and retired after 126 race starts for 20 wins and $380,000.

The 1984 NZ Cup had a Huge crash in it caused by George Shand , and 6 horses bit the dust. The winner of the race was Camelot who missed the disaster by millimetres. 

The great Australian horse Gammalite missed the crash as well, but off a ridiculous tough 30m handicap ran down the track with Borana.

George would of got a very LONG Suspension for that foul driving , so the horses transferred to Peter Jones and 2 weeks after the Cup ran 4th to the Old Peter Jones drive of Hands Down . Peter had won a Cup driving Hands Down as well of course.  Hands Down driven from then on , and for that Win by the Young junior driver Anthony Butt . for his granddad Derek.    (The Cup winner Camelot finishing 3rd in that FFA ) 

Gammalite was favourite in that same FFA won by Ant's on Hands Down,  but ran down the track again 🙄.

Bloody NZers always so hard to beat at Addington lol 😆 . Luckily Lightning Blue came along just 2 years later to show him (Gammalite)  How it's done properly 😁💰🏆👍 

[Newmarket]

Thanks

[the galah]

yes borana was certainly a good horse right from the start.

i think george shand won something like 17 races with him in the 2-4 age group races.Then he had a run of outs at the start of the following season,,which would have been in the open class ranks and then there was that unfortunate nz cup incident. It was very shortly after that, the owner decided to change trainers and gave the horse to p jones.I think naturally shand would have been very disappointed,that happens sometimes in racing.At the time,one of my relations had  had a horse trained by mr shand.When borana suffered an injury as a 2 year old after wiinning 6 races, shand nursed him back to racing.i recall being told he may have even slept near the horse to make sure he was ok for a start,not long after coming back,maybe from an op after the injury,although whether that true or not,it was just what someone told me once.I know Shand would go smooth the washdyke track with the thing they used to do that,every time he worked the horse when recovering from the injury.

i understand borana ,after serving a few seasons at stud,no longer was sougt after as a stallion and from memory i think his owner had passed away by then. The same married couple gammalite refeers to had owned him all the way through,but once the husband,mr murry passed away they could not find a home for borana and i understand mrs murray,unable to find a home for him, offered the horse back to the shands,but they declined. i don't know what happened to the horse after that,whether they found a home for him. someone thought  not,but i wouldn't guarantee that was the case.

that was at a time when harness racing was still enjoying the golden era and owning and training nice horses,expecially one so good as borana,would have had substanial impact on those involved and is often the case,there could be the ups and downs as well.

the start of boranas racing career came the following year from when mr shand reired the top trotter,pointer hanover that he trained.poiner hanover was an open class trotter who raced in a lot of the bigger races. He had an interesting race one night at addington against the champion trotter scitch tar. Scotsh tar was known to be highly strung and mr shand was known to have a very loud whistle. One particular night at addington he put his whistle to use ,it could be heard a long way away and scotch tar broke when racing alongside him.

mr shand did suffer a bad injury when he was getting older when he suffered interference in a race where from memory half a dozen horses fell.when people get older i would imagine that would knock you around a bit. from memory,he made a comeback and had eastwood jaunty. i think one of the things ghe enjoyed was not only winning,but pushing someone out 3 wide.

i could be wrong,but one of his sons i think still trains from the same property. He had a runner in yesterday. He had a nice horse,adventereux ,or something like that that used to run against the likes of right bower who was trained by ian cameron. i've noted that his wife does a lot of good work for the timaru club,especially trying to help with the family days.

 

Edited September 29 by the galah

[Withadream2]

A good friend of mine bred Borana. I’m not sure if he checks in on bitofayarn but I’ll message him & let him know about the thread. My understanding is that after the 1984 cup the Murrays told George they wanted another driver.  When he refused to let the owners choose someone else they swapped stables.  In my opinion they did the right thing. I don’t believe he would have won a cup with George Shand driving. 

[Withadream2]

Just been in touch with the breeder.  He said Borana was previously registered as a hack but is now deregistered. No doubt he would have passed on some time ago. 

[the galah]

2 hours ago, Withadream2 said:

A good friend of mine bred Borana. I’m not sure if he checks in on bitofayarn but I’ll message him & let him know about the thread. My understanding is that after the 1984 cup the Murrays told George they wanted another driver.  When he refused to let the owners choose someone else they swapped stables.  In my opinion they did the right thing. I don’t believe he would have won a cup with George Shand driving. 

sometimes owners have to make hard decisions.At the end of the day,they did what they thought was no doubt best and they ended up owning a nz cup winner. making decisions about things like that would have been difficult for all involved..

2 hours ago, Withadream2 said:

Just been in touch with the breeder.  He said Borana was previously registered as a hack but is now deregistered. No doubt he would have passed on some time ago. 

borana definetly stood at stud for a few seasons.He left a few winners but wasn't that popular and was only bred for a few seasons. When he finished that part of his life he was offered to shand by the part owner,as i understand it.He would have been in his late teens i think then and being a stallion it would not have been so easy to find a home for him.Hopefully they found a home for him after that . i did speak to someone one time about that,but i personally don't know about that.

[Withadream2]

10 hours ago, the galah said:

sometimes owners have to make hard decisions.At the end of the day,they did what they thought was no doubt best and they ended up owning a nz cup winner. making decisions about things like that would have been difficult for all involved..

I agree and he could have kept Borana in his stable if he had been more realistic about his driving abilities, especially in big races. 

[Newmarket]

Great comments The Galah, Withadream2 and Gamma…

That puts a different spin on changing stables, you would have thought Shand would have happily continue to train and let another driver on, who knows he could have trained a NZ cup winner. 
I only started following harness in early 80s and remember Borana, but forgot how dominant he was as a youngster only to see him battle a bit as an open class horse, then come out and bomb them cup day. 
Great memories 

[Withadream2]

14 hours ago, Newmarket said:

Great comments The Galah, Withadream2 and Gamma…

That puts a different spin on changing stables, you would have thought Shand would have happily continue to train and let another driver on, who knows he could have trained a NZ cup winner. 
I only started following harness in early 80s and remember Borana, but forgot how dominant he was as a youngster only to see him battle a bit as an open class horse, then come out and bomb them cup day. 
Great memories 

I guess back then most horsemen were trainer drivers and there were probably only one or two professional drivers full time not like today where trainers often specialise in training only.   I remember thinking Borana was a good place chance in the 1984 Cup as he was very unlucky in the previous years Auckland Cup running 4th to Royden Glen. 

[Withadream2]

One other point, I’m not sure if this is true or not but I seem to remember being told that the committee of the NZMTC at the time didn’t want Borana in the 1984 Cup because they were worried about Shands driving.                (In my previous post I meant 1985 Cup)

[Chief Stipe]

We had a 3yr old that beat Borana a couple of times - the Timaru Challenge Stakes comes to mind.  A horse called Dunhill.  I remember the Derby that year where Borana went to the lead from the start and Dunhill sat parked and tried to attack.  I'll never forget the comment afterwards that "you never attack Georgie Shand and expect him to hand up!".  Mighty Me won that Derby with Borana tiring to fourth.  Unfortunately we were evern further back!

[Blackie]

Borana ran third that year, leading up with Mighty Me in the trail. Lyndon Robert was fourth.

[Newmarket]

On 1/10/2025 at 8:52 AM, Chief Stipe said:

We had a 3yr old that beat Borana a couple of times - the Timaru Challenge Stakes comes to mind.  A horse called Dunhill.  I remember the Derby that year where Borana went to the lead from the start and Dunhill sat parked and tried to attack.  I'll never forget the comment afterwards that "you never attack Georgie Shand and expect him to hand up!".  Mighty Me won that Derby with Borana tiring to fourth.  Unfortunately we were evern further back!

I remember being at Addington for Mighty Me’s win….. plenty booing as he was returning to birdcage, from memory think it paid double figures, was beaten fav previous couple runs, although i am not 100% on this…

Dunhill was a pretty handy sort👍

[Chief Stipe]

On 2/10/2025 at 6:49 PM, Newmarket said:

I remember being at Addington for Mighty Me’s win….. plenty booing as he was returning to birdcage, from memory think it paid double figures, was beaten fav previous couple runs, although i am not 100% on this…

Dunhill was a pretty handy sort👍

I was there too.  Don't remember the booing.  We would have done better if we hadn't been parked.  But that bunch of 3yr olds were an even handy lot.

[Newmarket]

I may be wrong, but i thought when Mighty Me won Derby, it was an afternoon meeting at Addington, maybe on a Weds? Any reason why? I know for many years after the race was run on a Saturday 

[Blackie]

Dead right there Newmarket.

It was run on Ash Wednesday 16th Feb 1983. Below is the article from The Hall of Fame.

1983 NZ DERBY

The season's leading driver, Bob Cameron, took advantage of a dream run behind the pacemaker Borana to land Mighty Me home an upset winner of the $60,000 NZ Derby.

While Cameron and Mighty Me were receiving a run drivers dream of, warm favourite Lyndon Robert and his driver, Robert Dunn, were in all sorts of bother and eventually wound up fourth. Mighty Me, whose lead-up form had been disappointing, was given a mixed reception by the small crowd on his return to the birdcage, but this was not enough to dim the delight of owners Colin and Sylvia McLachlan and Bob Cameron.

For the season's premier three-year-old classic, the race could only be described as tame, with the nine contestants dawdling along for most of the journey and only sprinting home the last 800 metres. Mighty Me's winning time of 3:25.6 for the 2600 metres was a slow one considering the ideal conditions, though he paced his last 800 metres in slightly better than 58.8.

Purchased two years ago by Mrs McLachlan at the National Yearling Sales for only $2,300, the Out To Win-Believe Me (by Fallacy) gelding has now won $62,090, the result of seven wins and four placings from only 20 starts. 

Cameron described Mighty Me's run throughout as "perfect" and added he was travelling so well at the 800 metres, he was confident of getting some of the money. He did not have to cover an inch of extra ground as pacemaker Borana eased off the fence under pressure in the run home, and it was this that helped Mighty Me hold out the fast finishing Glamour Chief by half a neck. Glamour Chief was three back on the rails for most of the way and sprinted home well to push Mighty Me to a close decision, with less than a length to tough stayer Borana who made a game attempt to lead all the way. 

Up until the 400 metres, Robert Dunn had driven a copybook race on the favourite, easing him off the fence after 400 metres to enjoy a perfect trail on the outer behind Dunhill. But things went wrong approaching the 400 metres when Braedoon swept forward and trapped Lyndon Robert in a pocket - a pocket Dunn was unable to clear in spite of some desperate efforts. Lyndon Robert clipped the wheel of the tiring Dunhill approaching the straight entrance and broke, checking Steady Edition in the process and dropping back to last. Once balanced again, he came home strongly for fourth, but his chance was gone. Dunn was later suspended for careless driving. 

Credit: NZ Trotting Calendar
 

[mikeynz]

10 hours ago, Newmarket said:

I may be wrong, but i thought when Mighty Me won Derby, it was an afternoon meeting at Addington, maybe on a Weds? Any reason why? I know for many years after the race was run on a Saturday 

Derby in 82 and 83 was on a Wednesday in February, Hilarious Guest won in 82, i remember that day, there was a one dayer in Dunedin against Australia,  that was around the time all the hysteria with Greg Chappell but why the date change, didnt stay there long that's the sort of thing Auckland would do, still doing it too lol......Derby moved to Easter 84, starting off with the big smash.think that they had 3 races as part of a triple crown or something, not sure.

The guy that had Mighty Me, didn't he run a menswear shop or something,? He had those distinctive green colour's or something, a regular at Hutt and Forbury Park

Edited 3 hours ago by mikeynz

[the galah]

On 2/10/2025 at 6:49 PM, Newmarket said:

I remember being at Addington for Mighty Me’s win….. plenty booing as he was returning to birdcage, from memory think it paid double figures, was beaten fav previous couple runs, although i am not 100% on this…

Dunhill was a pretty handy sort👍

you don't hear people booing these days on a racetrack but thats probably because theres never that many there.

actually going back a few years, people did use to boo occasionally when a winner would come back to the birdcage or just after they passed the post. Most didn't take it too seriously. Actually,we had a horse win the main race at our local track about 20 years ago and what was noticeable after the commentator concluded his commentary, was the high level of noise from chatter and some loud  booing that could be heard.If i happen to watch that video,it always makes me smile as to the atmosphere and also as i wonder why some people would be upset about the win.But i think a bit of booing just added to the atmosphere and thats what people did  at sporting events more back then. 

i remember bob negus gettting the booing treatment one night when he won a race at addington. i wasn't there that night,but knew someone who was and it got a lot of press coverage. Apparently,he walked through the public stand bar area which was full and he got as major roasting from most in there.I'm not sure whether he was a poor driver or simply didn't try much,but every punter seemed to think he only tried to win very rarely on that horse and whether people liked it or not,i'm sure most punters weren't surprised about what happened.Actually i remember i had an uncle who told me his mate had a big treble finishing on scholar one day after a couple of roughies won the first couple of legs. Scholar in front half way down the back,travelling easy,thinking is this the day he wants to win,but no he poped in behind and seemd happy not to look for a run in the straight.actually i rmember not long after that,one boxing day,being at the races at ashburton. that was the day when the car parks were totally full and everywhere was packed on course. Well this day bob negus just happened to be walking past in the public car park and a punter walked past him and gave him a serve about not trying and the 2 got into an argument,with mr negus telling the fella he should be fighting in the falklands war,.funny the things you remeber. I do  remeber negus being regarded as a top trainer and even though not the punters friend as far as driving went,he actually of course won a nz cup with armalight. He sure did get the last laugh as far as driving that winner. 

actually thinking about thazt ashburton boxing day meeting. I remember going there about 20 years ago and the place was packed right past theend of the straight. It was like the boxing day trots at ashburton were where it was at socially and that was only 20 years ago. Young people werer there to party as well on that very hot afternoon.They raced the same day as westport ,with westport starting earlier. Well it was amazing to see the decline in attendance within a few years and they eventually canned the meeting.The decline in recent years has been really sad when you think back to not that long ago.

Edited 2 hours ago by the galah

[mikeynz]

23 minutes ago, the galah said:

you don't hear people booing these days on a racetrack but thats probably because theres never that many there.

actually going back a few years, people did use to boo occasionally when a winner would come back to the birdcage or just after they passed the post. Most didn't take it too seriously. Actually,we had a horse win the main race at our local track about 20 years ago and what was noticeable after the commentator concluded his commentary, was the high level of noise from chatter and some loud  booing that could be heard.If i happen to watch that video,it always makes me smile as to the atmosphere and also as i wonder why some people would be upset about the win.But i think a bit of booing just added to the atmosphere and thats what people did  at sporting events more back then. 

i remember bob negus gettting the booing treatment one night when he won a race at addington. i wasn't there that night,but knew someone who was and it got a lot of press coverage. Apparently,he walked through the public stand bar area which was full and he got as major roasting from most in there.I'm not sure whether he was a poor driver or simply didn't try much,but every punter seemed to think he only tried to win very rarely on that horse and whether people liked it or not,i'm sure most punters weren't surprised about what happened.Actually i remember i had an uncle who told me his mate had a big treble finishing on scholar one day after a couple of roughies won the first couple of legs. Scholar in front half way down the back,travelling easy,thinking is this the day he wants to win,but no he poped in behind and seemd happy not to look for a run in the straight.actually i rmember not long after that,one boxing day,being at the races at ashburton. that was the day when the car parks were totally full and everywhere was packed on course. Well this day bob negus just happened to be walking past in the public car park and a punter walked past him and gave him a serve about not trying and the 2 got into an argument,with mr negus telling the fella he should be fighting in the falklands war,.funny the things you remeber. I do  remeber negus being regarded as a top trainer and even though not the punters friend as far as driving went,he actually of course won a nz cup with armalight. He sure did get the last laugh as far as driving that winner. 

actually thinking about thazt ashburton boxing day meeting. I remember going there about 20 years ago and the place was packed right past theend of the straight. It was like the boxing day trots at ashburton were where it was at socially and that was only 20 years ago. Young people werer there to party as well on that very hot afternoon.They raced the same day as westport ,with westport starting earlier. Well it was amazing to see the decline in attendance within a few years and they eventually canned the meeting.The decline in recent years has been really sad when you think back to not that long ago.

Looked like a good crowd yesterday at Ashburton....et the Rugby, not many at the races, they are praising the crowds going to the NPC games, but as opposed to what it once was.......different times but you can't deny it is good for racing that while the crowds are smaller on course the off course crowds are probably OK, racing is a industry driven by betting, other sports crowds and TV rights.

[mikeynz]

The 83 Great Northern Derby is on you tube, check it if you want gee how much has the TV coverage improved but in those days races were mainly a one off, I suspect that  race might have been run during the Interdoms.

[Gammalite]

3 hours ago, mikeynz said:

The guy that had Mighty Me, didn't he run a menswear shop or something,? He had those distinctive green colour's or something, a regular at Hutt and Forbury Park

spot on Mikey .

Here's a great photo of him . beauty looking horse alright. and  in his bright green silks you said,  with CJ at the helm.