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The 5 Greatest Pacers of NZ Trotting History 1980 - 2017?


Happy Sunrise

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On natural ability, Lord Module will always be my favourite. His 79 cup win was a beauty. We were family friends with the Devine's and were with them during the highs and lows of Lord Module's career.  His Alan Matson ffa victory still gives me goosebumps. Breathtaking. 

Adore Me was a super mare.

Armalight had no right to win her cup. Parked out for a long way, then rushed to the front and left them standing at exactly the same time you could expect her to being throwing in the towel. 

Bonnie's Chance won the year after Armalight. 

Went to Cup day with $30 with the knowledge I may only stay for one race. Put $20 to win on Commander Crockett and Doodie Townley in the first, a 2 mile trot. He won at 6's and I got $2 worth of the $200 odd dollar quinella after a protest. I was there for the day. Had Trilobal to win the second at $5's along with the quinella with aptly named Portfolio. Can't remember the third race but cleaned up on Double Cove and Richard Brosnan in the next at 9's. Charlie Hunters "Jenner" won the trot and I was a fan of that horse so cleaned up.. Stormy Morn was also in that race along with Thriller Dee. I also had a decent place bet on Brian Hill's "McShane". Had a bit to do with McShane named after McShane's Road that is nearby the Richmond Park racecourse in Nelson. McShane won an Inter-dominion heat. Brian had a cup class pacer around the same time called Single Lord. I could tell a story about one of his wins but I best keep that under my hat. I had made several trips back to my car to unload winnings.

Then came the Cup. I was only interested in one horse. Bonnie's Chance. She had run second to Armalight the year before. Double Cove had won for RB earlier in the day and I was a great believer in riding the luck / form of trainers / drivers. I had my biggest ever bet on Bonnie's Chance in the cup who turned the tables on Armalight by a big margin. Few interesting runners in the field. Hands Down, the superb trotter Scotch Tar and the wonderful mare Hilarious Guest.  When I look back, it's astonishing to think we had three magnificent mares, Bonnie's Chance, Armalight and Hilarious Guest all in the same race.

 

(08/08/2018@18:55)
NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club Inc    Tuesday  9th  November  1982 Results Enquiry
Race 6  New Zealand Cup (Gr1), $100,000, OC HANDICAP PACE, 3200m
  Weather: Fine     Track: Fast      Race History    
Plc Bk Horse Barrier Hcap Stakes Fav Time Margin Driver Trainer
1 1 Bonnie's Chance   fr 60,000.00 3/3 4-09.0   R J Brosnan R J Brosnan
2 9 Armalight   10m 21,000.00 1/2     R H Negus H B Smith
3 2 Quiet Win   fr 10,000.00 5/5     M R DeFilippi M R DeFilippi
4 3 Cyllarus   fr 6,000.00 9/9       A J Millow
5 4 El Regale   fr 3,000.00 7/7       G B Noble
6 5 Glen Moria   fr 0.00 10/10       J A Carmichael
7 6 Hilarious Guest   fr 0.00 4/4       M G Vermeulen
8 7 Scotch Tar (T)   fr 0.00 8/8       A W Dykman
9 10 Hands Down   10m 0.00 2/1       D G Jones MNZM
Disq 8 Ben   fr 0.00 6/6       B & J K Hughes
$100,000.00  


 

   
Note: Ben disqualified from 4th
Divs: $4.65. $1.60. $1.45. $2.50. Quinella $6.25.
Margins: 7 lengths, 1 1/2 lengths, 2 lengths
Times: Mile Rate: 2-05.2

 

Placed Horses:
     
Bonnie's Chance 1975 B m Majestic Chance - Bonnie Countess   (by Aksarben)
   Trainer: R J Brosnan, Kerrytown
   Owner: Mrs K A Grice & Mrs V B McGarry
   Breeder: Mrs V B McGarry
  
Armalight 1976 6 B m Timely Knight - Ar Miss   (by Armbro Del)
   Trainer: H B Smith
   Owner: H B Smith
   Breeder: V L Smith
  
Quiet Win 1975 7 B g Out To Win - Quiet Ways   (by Stormyway(USA))
   Trainer: M R DeFilippi
   Owner: A L Baird, F J Cournane, B A O'Meara, S K Somerville
   Breeder: S T Poulter
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(08/08/2018@19:01)
NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club Inc    Tuesday  10th  November  1981 Results Enquiry
Race 6  New Zealand Cup (Gr1), $100,000, OC HANDICAP PACE, 3200m
  Weather: Fine     Track: Fast      Race History    
Plc Bk Horse Barrier Hcap Stakes Fav Time Margin Driver Trainer
1 1 Armalight   fr 60,000.00 6/7 4-08.7   R H Negus H B Smith
2 2 Bonnie's Chance   fr 21,000.00 2/2     R J Brosnan  
3 11 Hands Down   10m 10,000.00 1/1     P N Jones  
4 3 Idolmite   fr 6,000.00 5/4        
5 12 Gammalite   10m 3,000.00 3/3        
6 4 Trio   fr 0.00 9/10        
7 5 Glen Moria   fr 0.00 8/6        
8 6 Watbro   fr 0.00 10/9        
9 7 John Tudor   fr 0.00 4/5        
10 8 El Regale   fr 0.00 7/8        
$100,000.00  
Scratchings
SCR 9 Lord Module                
SCR 10 Paul Command                


 

   
Divs: $27.55. $4.30. $1.55. $1.35. Quinella $52.00.
Margins: 7 lengths, neck, 3/4 length
Times: Mile Rate: 2-05.0

 

Placed Horses:
     
Armalight 1976 5 B m Timely Knight - Ar Miss   (by Armbro Del)
   Trainer: H B Smith, Weedons
   Owner: H B Smith
   Breeder: V L Smith
  
Bonnie's Chance 1975 B m Majestic Chance - Bonnie Countess   (by Aksarben)
   Breeder: Mrs V B McGarry
  
Hands Down 1975 B g Armbro Del - Snow Chick   (by Fallacy)
   Breeder: W H McAughtrie,Mrs M F McAughtrie
  
     
 

 

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(08/08/2018@19:07)
NZ Metropolitan Trotting Club Inc    Tuesday  6th  November  1979 Results Enquiry
Race 6  New Zealand Cup (Gr1), $85,000, OC HANDICAP PACE, 3200m
  Weather: Fine     Track: Fast      Race History    
Plc Bk Horse Barrier Hcap Stakes Fav Time Margin Driver Trainer
1 1 Lord Module   fr 52,000.00 1/2 4-09.0   C C Devine C C Devine
2 2 Rocky Tryax   fr 17,000.00 10/8     M R DeFilippi  
3 3 Trevira   fr 8,500.00 9/9     G W Hamilton (J)  
4 4 Bad Luck   fr 5,200.00 8/10     R M Cameron  
5 5 Del's Dream   fr 2,300.00 13/12        
6 13 Trusty Scot   10m 0.00 6/6        
7 6 Greg Robinson   fr 0.00 5/5        
8 7 Delightful Lady   fr 0.00 4/4        
9 8 Wee Win   fr 0.00 3/3        
10 9 Majestic Charger   fr 0.00 12/11        
11 14 Sapling   10m 0.00 2/1        
12 10 Sun Seeker(1973)   fr 0.00 11/13        
13 15 Rondel   10m 0.00 7/7        
$85,000.00  
Scratchings
SCR 11 Roydon Scott                
SCR 12 Locarno                


 

   
Divs: $3.55. $1.70. $7.25. $7.45. Quinella $81.85.
Margins: 4 1/2 lengths, 1 1/2 lengths, 1/2neck
Times: Mile Rate: 2-05.2

 

Placed Horses:
     
Lord Module 1974 B h Lordship - Module   (by Bachelor Hanover)
   Trainer: C C Devine, Templeton
   Owner: C C Devine
   Breeder: Mrs S M Porter,P L Porter
  
Rocky Tryax 1972 7 B h Lumber Dream - Southern Spot   (by Hal Tryax)
   Owner: B A Heseltine
   Breeder: B A Heseltine
  
Trevira 1973 6 B g Scottish Command - Vonnell   (by Van Hanover)
   Owner: Mrs M V Hamilton & Mrs J R Marshall
   Breeder: Mrs M V Hamilton,Mrs J R Marshall
  
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On 6/08/2018 at 2:04 PM, Happy Sunrise said:

My top 5 would be Lazarus, Christain Cullen, Courage Under Fire, Terror To Love and Chokin.

No offence Happy but CUF. He might have won umteen races on the trot as a youngster but he beat nothing ,and I mean NOTHING. (apart from Shakamaker.)

He wouldnt be in my top ten let alone 5.

It depends on what criteria  we apply on a personal level.

My 5 would be

Lazarus. First pick straight up. He did it here ,he did it there. He beat the best of his era consistently and in fast times. Full stop.

Yule Star. Worked his way up the grades to the top. One tough son of a Bitch, and still one of my favs.

Armalight.  Still think the best mare , world class pacer at her top.

Christian Cullen.  Unbelievable ability ,speed and stamina, and a shame we couldnt see him race longer. He might have set the bar very high indeed.

Elsu.  This was a toss up as Luxury Liner missed out. A pocket rocket with stamina to burn. The best little horse I ever watched.

As we all know its all personal.

 

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55 minutes ago, globederby12 said:

No offence Happy but CUF. He might have won umteen races on the trot as a youngster but he beat nothing ,and I mean NOTHING. (apart from Shakamaker.)

He wouldnt be in my top ten let alone 5.

It depends on what criteria  we apply on a personal level.

My 5 would be

Lazarus. First pick straight up. He did it here ,he did it there. He beat the best of his era consistently and in fast times. Full stop.

Yule Star. Worked his way up the grades to the top. One tough son of a Bitch, and still one of my favs.

Armalight.  Still think the best mare , world class pacer at her top.

Christian Cullen.  Unbelievable ability ,speed and stamina, and a shame we couldnt see him race longer. He might have set the bar very high indeed.

Elsu.  This was a toss up as Luxury Liner missed out. A pocket rocket with stamina to burn. The best little horse I ever watched.

As we all know its all personal.

 

None taken.

I threw him in there as he had quite a following. One of the few to capture the imagination.

Couldn't think of another 2 or 3 year old that did. Do age group pacers even belong on the list?

 

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41 minutes ago, Double R said:

How would Blossom Lady be rated amongst the top mares during this time?

Cheers.

Robert.

Blossom Lady raced after this group.  She was a cup horse which the other group didn't do I believe. So she would have to be higher up the scale.

 

All quality mares, Bionic chance had an electrifying sprint like few others but what made this group special for me was they took each other on and took turns beating each other. Made for great racing and people had their own favourite out of the group which made the races something to look forward to.

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7 minutes ago, Flagship uberalles said:

Great mare Robert, 40 odd wins here and Australia, remember her winning off 90m handicap at manawatu, probably the least talked about of our great horses

Gee she was tough. Remember a few big aus races, she tough runs, but sill won. Probably still the best pacer that ants had? 

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