“Sonny Jim, if you are ever trapped in a room with a rifle and one bullet, being confronted by a hungry tiger who hasn’t eaten for a week and a New Zealander, shoot the New Zealander and take your chance with the tiger,” spluttered Bob Morgue, so called because he could spot a dead-un like nobody else.
It was advice given to a youngster at a time when Kiwis, renowned for chicanery, were treated with extreme caution.
Mind you locals could be devious but New Zealanders had an edge due to their restriction to all-tote betting which encouraged more desperation.
But in 1972 Syd Brown, a great racehorse trainer, came to Sydney. According to “Australian Horse Racing” Brown was foaled in 1925 making him around the century when he died recently.
Brown was elected to the New Zealand Hall Of Fame in 2014 but is in my Hall Of GOOD Blokes, far more difficult to achieve.
BAD comes into the category of Latrell Mitchell being beaten twice by Api Koroisau in the Rabbits – Tigers clash last Sunday. With 10 minutes to go I was aghast that South Sydney could go down after the performance of Keaon Koloamatangi, having never seen a greater performance by a Rabbit forward. Of course exceptional Campbell Graham came to the rescue with a hand in the no try of Balmain’s Lachlan Galvin that promised to seal the misery.
Yet the headlines were all Latrell.
But he was the last line of defence and didn’t impede the illusive Koroisau, who is tuned by Benji Marshall, another astute modern New Zealander.
From across the ditch V.P.(Mo) Bernard was a racehorse trainer of old school. He could turn a dromedary into a gazelle in a week to the degree the Australian Jockey Club refused his nomination. Bernard was not allowed to race horses in New South Wales. Still he gets diplomatic immunity from me because in Sydney he resided at the Doncaster Hotel, Kensington where we were stablemates.
However Brown unlike his countrymen in the era, over decades was dependable when it came to truth and knowledge about his team. And how good were they?
Perhaps his first topliner Redcraze reached new heights with Tommy Smith who followed a policy of “let your sheep out and I’ll round them up”. Some would say horse stealing. New Zealand was fair game. Smith figured his corn diet was the key to improving them. Others say super-vet Percy Sykes played a role.
Under Brown Redcraze beat the phenomenal Rising Fast in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington, no mean feat.
With Smith, Redcraze went on to 83 stars, at times humping huge handicaps, including 64.5kg when second in the 1956 Melbourne Cup. Jockey Arthur Ward who rode Redcraze and Tulloch reckoned Redcraze was superior.
Obviously losing Redcraze was a setback but Brown filled the void with Daryl’s Joy, Wood Court Inn, Classic Mission, Triton and Kista.
Only a $100 yearling, Daryl’s Joy scored in New Zealand before coming here to take Moonee Valley’s Cox Plate and VRC Derby at Flemington, leaving Australia with $95,000 in prize money, not bad at the time. In the United States Darryl’s Joy accumulated $288.315 from six successes.
Classic Mission, too, notched a Victoria Derby as well as the AJC Derby amid controversy. Classic Mission was said to have four-year-old teeth. After extensive inquires he was found to be a legitimate three-year-old.
A flashy chestnut, Triton was an outstanding sprinter with a couple of unforgettable duels with Gunsynd, beating him in an Epsom. The stallion also triumphed in a Stradbroke. It was an era when the best had to carry a personal grandstand against talented opposition with much less. Brown had to nurse Triton’s bad feet, which finally brought him down at stud.
Considering Brown, current New Zealanders, Chris Waller and Bjorn Baker are cut in the same mould, affable and superb equine practitioners.
Recently at the Clovelly Bowling Club where the Reschs is best, a patron asked me what is the most disagreeable aspect of current racing.
In the spirit of “good losers die broke” I answered that unwanted, long priced fancies beating the favoured elect. Long ago I claimed a world record for Waller in this category. Too many triers. When I now take a quadrella, I put most of is starters in for peace of mind rather than analytical form study. Last Saturday at Doomben I was alive coming to the last and had Waller’s Belle Detelle who ended favourite plus stablemates Liberty Park and Real Class, leaving the Waller rank outsider Imperialist ($61) out. UGLY?
Hand me the rifle, only one bullet.
Great article delivered in your wonderful unique manner. I’ve been at the track nearly as long as you but had forgotten about Mo Bernard. Mentioning great New Zealand trainers ( and characters) few people today would know much about Harold ( speed) Riley. A remarkable trainer of both pacers and thoroughbreds.
Another great post.
Thank You.