RaceCafe..#1...Tipsters Thread.... Share Your Fancies For Fun...Lets See Who The Best Tipsters Here Are.
coro fan

Found at Waimate Racecourse - blast from the past!

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Thats a trip down memory lane, went to the races there once, nice track, i think it was a July winter meeting, i think they had a steeplechase or hurdle race there, can't remember who won it, but one in the race was a handy flat horse and turned out to be a handy jumper, stand to be corrected , think his name was cappiemore, he may have even raced at Wellington in the saint ledger, was a long time ago, my memory not as sharp as it once was.

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1 hour ago, Shad said:

Thats a trip down memory lane, went to the races there once, nice track, i think it was a July winter meeting, i think they had a steeplechase or hurdle race there, can't remember who won it, but one in the race was a handy flat horse and turned out to be a handy jumper, stand to be corrected , think his name was cappiemore, he may have even raced at Wellington in the saint ledger, was a long time ago, my memory not as sharp as it once was.

Cappiemore never started at Waimate I don't think(in fact I am certain) but you are right he was a very handy horse and a very hardy horse as well.  He was one of few in NZ history to win an open handicap an open hurdle and an open steeplechase in one season.  His biggest problems with jumping were he hated wet tracks and he was trained at Atarau on the West Coast and the travel in the winter was hard work with the passes.  I did a hell of a lot of travelling with him and you are right he did start in the St Leger of1982 - pulled his head off(he was very free going) and faded out in a race won by Secured Deposit.  He won 18 races alltogether.

Those starter lists have a few notable parents as well as jockeys - Judy Hawes(Collett) the mother of Natasha, Jason and Alesha, Jim Collett the father of Sam of course, Peter McKay the father of Jacob and Shaun. Snooky Cowan the father of Kate, Danny Frye the father of Ashley and Paul Richards the father of Jamie.

All achievers themselves as riders and all gone on to produce notable offspring in the game.

Surprised KW Morton was not down for a mount - probably suspended for some misdemenour at the time

I note the legendary Maurice Carl Thornley down for a couple of neddies.

  

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Not a bad line up of jockeys for a low key meeting. 

Toss in cwj , g Davidson etc, riding ranks were far stronger that today. It seems we have far more apprentices nowadays, only thing, many give up early on, but back in the 80s they tended to continue on.

Good memories , I remember as a teenager, wagging school with a few others catching bus to Ashburton races early 80s, I think Clansman might have won the John grigg that day. 

Four of us got into a bit of trouble after , we left our school bags on the bus, driver rang our parents , we were in the poo.

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13 hours ago, TOM(the other Molloy) said:

Cappiemore never started at Waimate I don't think(in fact I am certain) but you are right he was a very handy horse and a very hardy horse as well.  He was one of few in NZ history to win an open handicap an open hurdle and an open steeplechase in one season.  His biggest problems with jumping were he hated wet tracks and he was trained at Atarau on the West Coast and the travel in the winter was hard work with the passes.  I did a hell of a lot of travelling with him and you are right he did start in the St Leger of1982 - pulled his head off(he was very free going) and faded out in a race won by Secured Deposit.  He won 18 races alltogether.

Those starter lists have a few notable parents as well as jockeys - Judy Hawes(Collett) the mother of Natasha, Jason and Alesha, Jim Collett the father of Sam of course, Peter McKay the father of Jacob and Shaun. Snooky Cowan the father of Kate, Danny Frye the father of Ashley and Paul Richards the father of Jamie.

All achievers themselves as riders and all gone on to produce notable offspring in the game.

Surprised KW Morton was not down for a mount - probably suspended for some misdemenour at the time

I note the legendary Maurice Carl Thornley down for a couple of neddies.

  

I did get that one wrong re him starting at waimate, he certainly had a good record, he may have also won a greymouth cup, but lost it in an inquiry to a horse call our secret weapon, i can recall his trainer a short fella, always wore a cap, What a smart type he was 18 race on the flat and over jumps a huge achievement, those roads trips must have been a highlight in your life, with plenty of exciting times.One could only dream to be associated with a horse of that caliber.

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4 minutes ago, Shad said:

I did get that one wrong re him starting at waimate, he certainly had a good record, he may have also won a greymouth cup, but lost it in an inquiry to a horse call our secret weapon, i can recall his trainer a short fella, always wore a cap, What a smart type he was 18 race on the flat and over jumps a huge achievement, those roads trips must have been a highlight in your life, with plenty of exciting times.One could only dream to be associated with a horse of that caliber.

He was tough but he had to be - that little fella(my Uncle Kevin Doolan) asked a lot of him and he usually delivered.  He was pretty versatile and tried hard but as I say he absolutely hated wet tracks and being from the Coast he often arrived home after a race in superb nick only to have a month before his next one.  Kevin Doolan was a bit unorthodox in some of his methods and often asked the horse to do things others might have balked at(like running him in an open 1600m at Riccarton four days after winning  hurdle race at Rangiora for instance.  He had broken the track record at Rangiora - still stands and will forevermore and got beat a length or so in the 1600m in (I think) 1.35) 

And yes he did win and have taken off him a Greymouth Cup(Our Secret Weapon being the benefactor).   The late Ray Hewinson rode him. Michael Pitman is not the first one to get the s*#ts with the GJC - the old boy said 'I will kick the mud off my boots and I won't be back' - they spent the next ten years trying to entice him to return to no avail.

It was a long long time ago however.  I think he was about the only half decent one Thoreau ever left.  One or two decent jumpers but that was that. 

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Thoreau was the sire of my first winner as a public trainer - off topic and of no consequence to anyone else - but I will always have a soft spot for little Hooray Henry,  who won a 2000m maiden fresh up ridden by Lorna Cook.

Lorna was apprenticed to Dave Kerr;  I couldn't get a rider for him,  so Dave said,  use Lorna,  she probably won't fall off..she didn't, and the pair won next time out at Riccarton as well.

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31 minutes ago, TOM(the other Molloy) said:

He was tough but he had to be - that little fella(my Uncle Kevin Doolan) asked a lot of him and he usually delivered.  He was pretty versatile and tried hard but as I say he absolutely hated wet tracks and being from the Coast he often arrived home after a race in superb nick only to have a month before his next one.  Kevin Doolan was a bit unorthodox in some of his methods and often asked the horse to do things others might have balked at(like running him in an open 1600m at Riccarton four days after winning  hurdle race at Rangiora for instance.  He had broken the track record at Rangiora - still stands and will forevermore and got beat a length or so in the 1600m in (I think) 1.35) 

And yes he did win and have taken off him a Greymouth Cup(Our Secret Weapon being the benefactor).   The late Ray Hewinson rode him. Michael Pitman is not the first one to get the s*#ts with the GJC - the old boy said 'I will kick the mud off my boots and I won't be back' - they spent the next ten years trying to entice him to return to no avail.

It was a long long time ago however.  I think he was about the only half decent one Thoreau ever left.  One or two decent jumpers but that was that. 

General consensus at the time, he shouldn't have lost the race, a very tough call, he certainly was a tough buggar, always good to remember these horses, because there will never be another like him from that area, don't think the dam left to much else, mixed herbs her name, by kurdistan from memory. i wonder if waimate will ever race back on their course again.

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I was at Waimate for the Waimate Cup the day Caparo and kopara, or names much like that, both raced in it. The commentator, may have been Rob Fielder, was very precise with his pronunciation. May have been that same day and perhaps that race that he called totally the wrong horse running second, got the colours wrong. I recall that because I backed the horse that did run second and I knew my colours in those days. I also got a winner paying close to $100 there one day, Heart of the Desert. At least when I look back I remember it being $100, probably $20.

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2 hours ago, Pam Robson said:

Thoreau was the sire of my first winner as a public trainer - off topic and of no consequence to anyone else - but I will always have a soft spot for little Hooray Henry,  who won a 2000m maiden fresh up ridden by Lorna Cook.

Lorna was apprenticed to Dave Kerr;  I couldn't get a rider for him,  so Dave said,  use Lorna,  she probably won't fall off..she didn't, and the pair won next time out at Riccarton as well.

A very capeable rider who went to Aussie i think from memory.

I think about the same time or maybe just after Damian Browne and Jamie Bates.

We always used to have a party after Ashburton races at our place and i pretty sure,although memory could be failing,one day these 3 won 6 of the 8 race card between them with Lorna riding 2 for Eddie Brooks,Brownie 2 for Jim Melton and think Batesy may have won 1 for Kent Fleming and 1 for Peter Williams.Was great day for locals.

Our house was rocking that night.

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3 hours ago, Shad said:

General consensus at the time, he shouldn't have lost the race, a very tough call, he certainly was a tough buggar, always good to remember these horses, because there will never be another like him from that area, don't think the dam left to much else, mixed herbs her name, by kurdistan from memory. i wonder if waimate will ever race back on their course again.

Whether he should have lost it or not it is history(33 years ago) and both horse and owner/trainer are now passed on.  His mother was apparently a tiny mare and generally left small foals though he was a big horse probably 16.5 hands. I saw his full sister once and she would have been 14 hands high and not one little bit like him.  One of the advantages he did have was as much tucker as he would eat shoved into him.  I know it is a long time ago and things have changed but he also never saw a Vet.  My uncle, a bloody good farmer, relied on his own skills to gauge the horse's state of health.  The Vet came only twice - to geld him and to put him down.  He did go to another stable to get his jumping ticket(though he had been taught on the farm) and his first hurdle race and wasn't the air blue when the bill arrived with 'pre race vitamins' detailed.  No sense of humour my Uncle!

The horse was as likely to be poking around the scrub being used to chase black cows as on a race course.  He was a competitive prick and the breeding bulls in particular used to hate him.

His mother's(mixed Herbs correct and by Kurdistan as you say) family was reasonably successful - Old Thymer being a notable who won an NZ Cup.

Ah nostalgia!

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Great storys from the past, always enjoy them, and good to share them with other cafers who probably would not have known the horse, Certainly he was one of my favorites, i do tend to live in the past, but they were great years, and some very smart horses of that era. Thanks for sharing them.

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7 hours ago, Shad said:

General consensus at the time, he shouldn't have lost the race, a very tough call, he certainly was a tough buggar, always good to remember these horses, because there will never be another like him from that area, don't think the dam left to much else, mixed herbs her name, by kurdistan from memory. i wonder if waimate will ever race back on their course again.

Shad they fully intend to race there again - the facilities have been replaced slowly but surely after the big wind that took the grandstand out in 2013. The club kept their date by racing at Oamaru but they never got the same support from the public. When they race in Waimate the whole town turns out to watch!

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8 minutes ago, coro fan said:

Shad they fully intend to race there again - the facilities have been replaced slowly but surely after the big wind that took the grandstand out in 2013. The club kept their date by racing at Oamaru but they never got the same support from the public. When they race in Waimate the whole town turns out to watch!

Very handy track to have available in July when all around are struggling. They did used to race twice a year, Waimate RC in January and Waimate Hunt Club in July until they merged with just the one date many years ago.

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A few years ago and 3ZB would have a racing question around 1 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon. A voucher prize of 10 dollars from Taylor & Waters, later Moreton's Menswear come to mind. Columbus and Ware? I did win a few but those undies are well past it now.

Anyway, the question on one particular Saturday was which horse racing that day had the most wins? The answer: Cappiemore.

I note Jamie Bates mentioned above. Is it correct that he ended his riding days in Australia very recently on a winning note and is intending to train horses instead? I believe he married his partner, ex-jockey Laura Parker, sometime a wee while ago.

Cappiemore and Atarau deserve their moments of glory but if we travel just a little forward in time and a teeny bit up the road to Ikamatua, we find the home of the Hamptons and Bart's Best. Another hardy customer and A M Cowan who is listed on a couple of the Starter's Cards pictured will have very happy memories of this West-Coaster.

 

 

 

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44 minutes ago, Jape said:

A few years ago and 3ZB would have a racing question around 1 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon. A voucher prize of 10 dollars from Taylor & Waters, later Moreton's Menswear come to mind. Columbus and Ware? I did win a few but those undies are well past it now.

Anyway, the question on one particular Saturday was which horse racing that day had the most wins? The answer: Cappiemore.

I note Jamie Bates mentioned above. Is it correct that he ended his riding days in Australia very recently on a winning note and is intending to train horses instead? I believe he married his partner, ex-jockey Laura Parker, sometime a wee while ago.

Cappiemore and Atarau deserve their moments of glory but if we travel just a little forward in time and a teeny bit up the road to Ikamatua, we find the home of the Hamptons and Bart's Best. Another hardy customer and A M Cowan who is listed on a couple of the Starter's Cards pictured will have very happy memories of this West-Coaster.

 

 

 

A lot of bloody good horses came out of Ikamatua and a lot of credit goes to the brilliant training track on the property of Bill Kennedy(who trained plenty of them himself).  Unfortunately now turned into cow paddocks but Roger Hampton, the O'Malleys, Kevin Doolan and the Kennedy's themselves all produced plenty of winners from there.  It was a six furlong plough and grass track and only ceased usage a year or so ago when the O'Malleys gave up training themselves (when Peter went dairy farming).

While Cappiemore was from 'Atarau' Kevin Doolan's farm was only a couple of miles down the road from Kennedy's which in turn was only a couple of miles from Ikamatua

Re the winningest horse in NZ at the time Cappiemore was in a ding dong battle with Ocean Guard another from those great southern families and trained by Rex Cochrane.  Every time Cappiemore would get one ahead Ocean Guard would catch up (or vice versa).  I think Ocean Guard won a National Hurdles - he was a bit more adept in bad ground that was Cappiemore.  They raced one another on several occasions.  Pretty much even results. Ocean Guard might have ended up with 20 wins maybe versus Cappiemore's 18(it would have been more I am sure but a crook batch of feed badly affected him and when he dropped his rider in a hurdle race at Riccarton on his comeback Kevin Doolan pulled the pin) .

He wasn't the classiest horse ever but you knew when he went to the races on a decent track you would get his very very best effort.  Won a highweight at Riccarton one day under 69 when the minimum was 57.  the Old Boy could hardly carry the saddle with all the lead.

 

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Course running around in the early years of Cappiemore's & Ocean Guard's careers was a fair nag called Grey Way who managed to win 51 or 52 so that puts the those horse's achievements into perspective.  They were merely good - he was in another class altogether.

What a great great horse he was.  Still reckon that Easter Handicap he won is one of my all time favourite racing memories.  Raced a cast of stars the wrong way around and simply would not be beat.

Back on that Kevin Doolan he actually gave Chris Johnson his first South Island win(well sort of).  Chris was apprenticed to the Hammersley's at Woodville and came to Nelson.  Rode a horse called Union Chief for the Doolans, won but got relegated for interference.  Rode him again the second day but got galloped on so badly he had to be put down.  Another great South Island racing chapter(CWJ) commenced.

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If i make the cut for your March Box at Ellerslie, i will concede your where no 1in the SI, otherwise if I miss the cut i will say you wouldn,t rate in the top 20,in fact i would put the late Ray Hewinson and Bill Berry ahead of you,

Your choice,but if i do make the cut and those attractive ladies are not present, then you are a fair dinkum tosser

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1 hour ago, poundforpound said:

I’ve got all the birds sorted, a very fine range indeed will be available should you make the cut, although given your vertical limitations you’ll be more inclined to peruse the area between their knees and fun bags.

I do have one minor issue, Ellerslie does tables of ten, and I’ve found ten friends already, seven of whom I’d want to violate, three of whom would be more in the “Cambridge” trainer’s style.

I thought a 7:3 ratio would mean I didn’t look entirely like a poor man’s Hugh Hefner or a garden variety sex offender ( although clearly I am precisely that ).

Anyway I digress, my point is that I’m as full free lunch in Biafra, and unless Ellerslie can sell me another half ticket for you you’ll just have to find a box to stand on and watch me work my magic from wherever the poor people like you are quarantined these days.

I’ve taken the liberty of sponsoring the race my runner is in ( yes, very confident indeed, if the track’s good ) so I guess I’ll get a microphone thrust into my hand at some stage, in which case I’ll have the unbridled delight of presenting a trophy to my one true love, me,   and I’ll get to make two speeches, one as donor, the other as the recipient, I can shake my own hand, and then launch into a thundering diatribe of soaring rhetoric laced with profanities and obscenities until such time as the Police or security intervene, if they can catch me that is as I’ll sprint up the straight reminding the entire fucking world how great I am and how useless everyone else is.

If I get detained at the Central Police station ( it’s happened before ) can I ask you to step in and do to my seven beautys what I generously did to your then girlfriend that day at Ross Simpson’s place ?

Thanks Midshit.

 

Brillant bit of humor,but i mean,it has taken me 25 minutes to get Karen{my wife] off the floor suffering from a laughing spasm and have just done that and she has been in the toilet for another 10 minutes, presumably changing her pants.

I will get my own box for the day and as always happens i will end up with the 7 girls from your box,as they will be a bored and depressed as any person that has to suffer your hospitality and tips from your good self,you can keep the other 3 for reasons for reasons that will be clear to Cafers 

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