Trojan Wins At The Park (Sunday 26th June 2011)

By Bruce Stewart

On paper it was a major form reversal but Trojan's win at Alexandra Park on Friday in the New Zealand Herald Mobile pace didn't surprise co-trainer Geoff Knight.

Knight, who trains the five year old with wife Jude, said he always knew that the two races Trojan had at Invercargill and Forbury weren't going to be enough to tighten him up after being away from racing for twelve months.

The Julius Caesar gelding, which was on the verge of being sold for big money to Australia, suffered a horrific paddock injury, cutting his flexi tendon in two places.

"He was in a cage for six weeks made of deer gates. It was horrible to see because he loves his paddock so much. Even now he buckles over sometimes but he's as good as gold when he paces," said Geoff.

Trojan was having his third start at the Park on Friday. He'd finished seventh behind Sir Lincoln on the 10th June after "being driven like Cardigan Bay" and followed it up seven days later with a nineth when driven by Maurice McKendry.

"Maurice said after his second race that he would have got some of the money if he'd steared straight. We had a pole on the inside that night and he said the horse didn't like it so we took it off."

Trojan was taken back early by junior driver Matty Williamson and received a nice drag into the race from the 400 metres on the back of McKay. He was taken wide in the straight and ran home strongly to beat Fifteen Four by a length with a further three quarters of a length to McKay. The time was a respectable 2-41.1 for the 2200 metres with the last 800 metres run in 59.2.

"The plan was to ship Matty up to Auckland if the horse struck form. As it turned out he was up in Auckland with other junior drivers ready to fly out to the Gold Coast for a weeks holiday so that's how he go the drive."

Neither owner John Hamilton or the horse's trainers were on course to see the win. Hamilton was in China while the Knights were in Roxburgh supervising their winter racing team.

The Roxburgh couple are having a stellar season with 23 wins on the board and they lead the Southland trainers premiership.

It was Geoff Knight's second win at Alexandra Park. The first was with Gaines Minbar gelding Tapora Jack in 1987.

Trojan will stay on at Dave and Claire McGowan's and race next month before returning home for a freshener. If he continues to do well the Knights will look at racing him at Addington early in the new season.

Trojan winning at Ascot Park

H W Skinner (Wednesday 29th June 2011)

By Bruce Stewart

One of Southland's greatest horsemen Henry Skinner was farewelled on Monday at the Ascot Park Hotel.

The funeral was a fitting tribute and summary of Henry's life describing him as a real gentleman. There were plenty of photo's and video's to remind the 800 that attend what Henry Skinner was all about.

Henry Skinner began his racing career as a jocke, riding his first winner Loyal Lady as a 15 year old at Tapanui in 1948.

He had a distingished career in the saddle and other notable winners were the 1949 Invercargill Gold Cup on Gunther, the 1953 Homeby Steeplechase on Mandeville and the Great Western Steeplechase on The Denbigh in 1951 and 1952.

However weight caught up with Skinner forcing him to give up riding and for a time he drove buses for New Zealand Railway. He then began a three year stint at his father Arthur’s harness racing stable at Hedgehope. He drove his first winner Blue Jay in 1957.

Late in the 1950s he took up a position with George Cruickshank at Branxholme, combining farm work with training horses.

His first harness winner as a trainer was in a saddle race at Cromwell in 1961 when he partnered up with Smog.

In the early days the winners were steady but for a period Skinner worked at the freezing works while continuing to drive freelance. And after twelve seasons of driving he had notched up 100 winners.

Throughout the years there were many highlights in this career. In December 1973 at the Invercargill Christmas meeting he drove five winners from nine drives - Star Proof, Captain Jura, John Dale, Canny Glen and Barclose. The following month he repeated the feat on the same course winning on Starbound, Looking Over, Champion Rose, Canny Glen and Captain Jura. He also drove Parlez Vous to win a non-tote event.

Canny Glen which also won at Addington that season was the mainstay of the stable winning five races and advancing to a C7 assessement.

Perhaps Skinner's best horse was champion four year old pacer Forto Prontezza (Italian for courageous colt) .

By Sly Yankee, the entire won eight races that season including the New Zealand Messenger. He also held a world record when he won the Canterbury Free For All in 3-17.9 for the 2600 metres stand. He also paced a mile at Cambridge in 1-58.9.

The horse was raced by Christchurch brick and blocklayer Alan McNaught and wife Elva. Interestingly Canterbury horseman Robert Dunn broke in Forto Prontezza (stable name Tiger) when working for Kevin Ryder.

He qualified on the grass at Balfour and within 15 months had graduated to New Zealand Cup class.

The following season the stable once again dominated the Southland premiership with the likes of Forto Prontezza, Tar Foyle, Yankee Lad, Primate, Lucky Chance, Loyal Tuft and Robstar all winning races.

However stable star Forto Prontezza couldn't nab a big race as a five year old, running second to Bolton Byrd in the Auckland Cup, second to Balgove in the Wellington Cup and third behind Stanley Rio and Captain Harcourt in the New Zealand Cup.

As a trainer that season (1976/1977) Skinner recorded 19 wins and drove 21 winners but the down side was that the best his horses, Forto Prontezza, Tar Foyle and Yankee Lad were all exported to America after being purchased by Brian Meale.

The Skinner stable was at that point one of the biggest operations in Southland and the wins continued to flow. By April 1986 Henry Skinner reached a milestone at the Invercargill meeting, chalking up his 500th winning drive. The horse was Demetrius, a Dupreez gelding trained by Ken Kinzett.

There were over 200 more winners to come but skipping forward, Henry Skinner retired from driving in the 2001/2002 season on 717 winning drives. He continued training until the end of the 2007/2008 season and concluded his career having trained a total of 327 winners.

His last winning drive was at Wyndham in February 2001 on Sundon’s Prize; a horse he trained and part owned with his brother Maurice and sister in law Val.

During his training career he also trained for five seasons in partnership with Alan Devery. The partnership was one of the most potent around, training 77 winners from 409 starters for a UDR of .2670. Their best season was in 1988/1989 where 87 runners produced 25 wins and $321,607. in stakes for a UDR of .3525.

He trained and or drove a host of good horses including Sapling which raced 81 times for 22 wins 35 placings and $244,199 in stakes. The Young Charles entire won all of the major races at Alexandra Park - the Great Northern Derby, New Zealand Messenger and Auckland Cup. At Addington he collected the Pan Am Mile, Easter Cup and New Brighton and Canterbury Free For All. He also recorded plenty of fine seconds including the New Zealand Cup (beaten by Trusty Scot) and Interdominion Final (beaten by Rondel).

Honkin Vision trained by Devery and Skinner was perhaps Skinner's best modern day horse. He won sixteen races; fourteen of which were reined by Skinner.

He won eight races as a two year old including the Sires Stakes Final and Two Year Old Championship, banking $250,630. that season. As a three year old he won the Sire Stakes Final (the first horse to win a Sires Stake series as a two and three year old), Three year old Championship and Flying Stakes.

Another horse Skinner rated highly was Arveeae which won the $100,000 Fay, Richwhite Sires Stakes Final driven by him. Trained by Alan Devery the Lumber Dream three year old was a maiden when he won the final and Skinner was quoted as saying the gelding was one of the best horses he had driven – right up there with Forto Protezza and Sapling.

Sure Mart was a fine trotter which Skinner trained. She won four races at four and five before becoming a broodmare. She was then returned to the stable as a nine year old winning six more races. At ten she won The New Zealand Trotting Free for all at Addington.

Another smart pacer was No Return which won nine races and was a dominant three year old. He won the John Brandon Three Year Championship, Flying Stakes and was an unlucky second, beaten by a neck by Mark Roy, in the New Zealand Derby. He also won the Junior Free For All at Addington.

Prince Rashad, Hi Foyle, Lincmac, Glenburn Star (won six of his first seven starts) and Mary Isabel were other more than handy types that he either trained or drove while Rocket Ship won seven races and was placed five times from 29 starts.

Whanau was the last of Skinner's big raceday winners. She won ten including the three year old fillies double – the New Zealand Oaks and Nevele R Fillies Series Final.

Other honours bestowed on Henry Skinner were being named 1990 Southland Harness Racing Personality of the Year, and New Zealand Racing Person of the year, both in the same year.

He topped the Southland Drivers premiership at least 14 times and won the Southland Trainers Championship six times on his own account and twice more with Alan Devery.

I was lucky to interview Henry Skinner many times for the 4ZA Tracktalk programme and was also privileged on one occasion to wear his famous red and white colours, driving a chestnut horse by Majestic Chance in a personality race at Ascot Park.

That meant time at Branxholme stable under the watchful eye of the master, however despite his and my best efforts I couldn’t do the colours proud, finishing third.

Henry Skinner was a delightful man - a true gentleman. Southland Harness Racing has been greatly served by him and he leaves a rich legacy.

He will be remembered.

From Aparima to America (Sunday 26th June 2011)

By Bruce Stewart

Twenty seven year old Catherine Blanks was still at Aparima College when she was introduced to standardbreds.

Bill Jenkins, an old friend of her parents Isabelle and Noel Blanks, gave Catherine retired pacer Wheeler Dealer to ride as a hack. Wheeler Dealer was trained byClark Barron and later Alan Scobie, and after developing leg problems he was sent to Bert Wohlers at Riverton for some beach training. However he never fully recovered and was retired.

Blanks eventually met Wohlers and off sider Alex Jenkins and despite still being at school she used every spare moment of her time to head down to the Riverton stables to help out.

"I sort of got hooked. Bert and Alex started me off and I learned the basics from them." she said.

She's not sure why she's hooked on horses, as none of her family have ever been involved in either Thoroughbred or Standardbred racing.

"My mum doesn't like horses at all and she won't go near them. My Dad used to like them and when I got my riding horses he came out and sometimes rode them. It took me quite a few years to convince them to let me get a pony."

Once her school days were over Catherine headed to Massey University in Palmerston North and started a Bachelor of Applied Science majoring in Equine studies, in the hope of becoming a vet.

"It was a new course and didn't really relate to what I wanted to do so I left after the first year. While I was up there I'd helped out Andrew Stuart when he raced horses in the Manawatu. When I decided I wasn't going back to Uni I gave him a call and asked if he knew of anyone wanting a stable worker. He offered me a job so I moved to Christchurch."

She worked for Stuart for seven months and learned more about educating and breaking in young horses.

Midway through 2004 she got a job at Roydon Lodge under the watchful eye of Keith Gibson and Michelle Baird. Later she moved to Bromac Lodge.

"I was there for two years and loved it. I started when they were building the barn. There was just the manager Paul Browman and I. They were great people to work for and I learned a lot there."

She left Bromac Lodge in November 2007 taking on four part time jobs - night foaling at Nevele R, helping out at Spring Park for Neville Benny, yearling preparation for Brian West and bartending at Addington on race nights.

In April 2008 Catherine decided to head to America. She'd answered an advertisment in the Harness Racing Weekly from Kentucuky trainer Pete Foley who was looking for a groom.

"He kept ringing and emailing me asking when I was coming. He ended up paying to get me over there and for my visa so I thought I can't really turn that down."

Foley was born in Australia but has been in America for over 30 years.

"Every year he advertises in Australia and New Zealand for workers. We're harder working than the Americans so he always hires from down under."

It was while she was at the Foley stable that Blanks was put in charge of a nice trotting filly by Lindy Lane named Classic Lane.

"For the seven months I was looking after her she won about $250,000."

Classic Lane won the Buckette at Delaware which is the trotting version for fillies of the Little Brown Jug in 1-55.4. She also won the Pennsylvania Sires Stakes in Pocono in 1-54.4.

"She was three year old when I started looking after her. From what I'd heard she hadn't done too much as a two year old. She was big and lanky and had joint issues. She hadn't started racing when I got her so we had to qualify her. Pete never used to like driving her as she used to pull a lot. She was a funny old thing.
When she was cooling down after a race she hated bugs. I'm not usually a big fan of fillies as I prefer working with colts but when I went over there he gave me all his good fillies so I had to get used to that pretty quick."

Classic Lane

Foley also had success that season with Shanghai Lil and Blue Claw. The brother and sister won their respective $300,000 KYSS finals. Shanghai Lil scored in 1:51.2, the season’s mark for 2-year-old fillies on a mile track.

Shanghai Lil

After Classic Lane was sold Blanks decided it was time to see another part of America.

"Pete's daugther Kim and I moved to New Jersey. She was seeing a guy up there. I didn't have a job to go to for a start but ended up working for Linda Toscano. She had forty to fifty horses so there were quite a few grooms. She was one of the most successful female trainers in America."

To date Toscano has won 1240 races over 21 seasons with her best result coming in 2010. She won 115 races that year for stakes of $2,784,280.

She was a leading trainer in New York before moving full time to the Meadowlands in 1998 where she went on to become the most successful female trainer in Meadowlands history.

She has enjoyed great success with Giant Mermaid, a 1995 Dan Patch Award winner as the sport’s top trotting mare; and free-for-all pacer Jet Laag, who set a world record in 1999 at Delaware and earned more than $1 million in his career. Other top horses trained by Toscano include Breeders Crown champion Molly Can Do It, multiple stakes-winner Kenneth J, and Jugette heat winner Sprig Hanover.

Catherine's stint with Toscano was a short one as her working visa was fast running out but a lifeline to extend her stay in America came in February 2009.

"While I was up there (New Jersey) Bud and Kelli Hatfield the owners of Classic Lane were wondering what my plans were. Bud was an amateur driver and at that stage they were looking for a new trainer and they offered me the job. Originally it was only going to be until the end of the next season but they helped me get an immigration lawyer which cost $7,500. and we got an extension to my visa so I ended up doing two years with them."

Although she didn't officially have her trainers license at that point the Hatfields paired her up with a licenseholder.

"They put me up with an old friend of theirs Brent Davis who trained in Zanesville Ohio."

When she did get her license success came relatively quickly with a horse called Done Dreamin.

"It was at Scioto Downs in Ohio. It was only his second or third start for the season after having the winter off. I said to the driver just to take him around because we just wanted to get him tight for the billing races (Amateur Racing Series). He was sitting last all the way. Coming around the last turn he was still seventh and three wide. All of a sudden he just shot down the stretch and flew past all of them. I was over the moon."

Reflecting on her time in America Catherine highlighted some major differences in the way horses are managed and the way stable hands are paid compared to New Zealand.

"In New Zealand you've got trainers with fifty horses with two to three grooms rushing to get everything ready. Horses don't get the individual care like they do in America. The pay's a lot different as they work it out on a per horse basis. When I was working for Pete it was a hundred dollars per head (horse) so if you've got five horses it's five hundred per week. If you're in a big grand curcuit stable you can make good money when the horses are racing. You usually get between fifty and a hundred dollars when you take one to the races and they win. You also get paid a percentage of what your horse wins in a year. Pete (Foley) was paying one percent for Classic Lane. She made $250,000. in a season so I got $2,500. plus all the bonuses I got each time she won."

Back home in Riverton, Blanks is currently breaking in four Attorney General yearlings for Alex Jenkins and doing some work for her Waimatuku neighbour Bronwyn Anderson. But she plans to move to Christchurch in September.

Once again she will do the foal watch at Nevele R and also link up with Brian West from Studholme Bloodstock to help prepare yearlings for the 2012 sales.

"The first year I did yearlings for him he put all his fillies and colts through the ring but he's changed his focus. Now he's only putting his colts through and keeping his fillies to race. There might also be an option to break in his fillies after the sales. I'm also looking at getting my license. Alex has given me a half share in Generals Amy (Attorney General - Kojaks Girl) so I might need it."

Catherine Blanks with Generals Amy at Riverton

As for Wheeler Dealer - he's now working in Queenstown for a treking business while another aged gelding, 15 year old Abrolhos (Holmes Hanover - Little Miss Watch) or "speed" as he's known, continues to be hunted by Blanks.