RIP Jim Smith

[eljay 1,720]

Well known and respected Northern trainer Jim Smith passed away this morning.

RIP Jim

[teletubby 1]

sad news ... he had some really good horses a few decades ago..had a few that use to win race in a row..think one was called,shannon squire..stand to be corrected...he was as good a driver as he was trainer and on a par with roy purdon in his day..rip

[teletubby 1]

ps, what ever happened to his son billy..have not heard of him for years...

[hobo46 0]

Jim was a very interesting driver as well as a trainer....A good guy

[Simon Holmes 1]

He had some great straight out trotters. I heard just recently that he was unwell. RIP Jim. Belinda Holmes.

[eljay 1,720]

Belinda, if my memory serves me correct, probably his best squaregaiter would have been Mountain Gold which won 20 races. In it's latter years racing it was trained both by Barry and Mark Purdon.

[Alf Riston 1,559]

Sad news - condolences to his family.

2 of Jim's square gaiters that I can remember from my very young years were Robyn Evander (may have placed in a Rowe Cup and a very handy wee mare) and Jack's Evander.

[eljay 1,720]

Sad news - condolences to his family.

2 of Jim's square gaiters that I can remember from my very young years were Robyn Evander (may have placed in a Rowe Cup and a very handy wee mare) and Jack's Evander.

Yes Alf - in fact Robyn Evander won a Rowe Cup (1975) a race he also won in 1967 with Mountain Pride and Jim drove both of them.

I believe Jim also won a Wellington Pacing Cup but name of horse escapes me. Grateful if anyone can help.

[Alf Riston 1,559]

One of his best pacers would have been Captain Lee - have been racking my brain trying to remember the name of this horse and it finally emerged from the 'sludge'.

This would have been post Wellington Cup times eljay so not too sure if I can dredge that one up.

[Alf Riston 1,559]

Yes Alf - in fact Robyn Evander won a Rowe Cup (1975) a race he also won in 1967 with Mountain Pride and Jim drove both of them.

I believe Jim also won a Wellington Pacing Cup but name of horse escapes me. Grateful if anyone can help.

Thanks Eljay - I was sure that she had performed well in a Rowe Cup but wasn't 100% on exact details.

Now that you mention the win, I think she may have been at very long odds when she won it?

I think I watched that race from the starting point.

Names like Cee Ar, Jillinda, Dupreez are some that spring to mind as possibly being in the field that year?

Cheers

Phil

[tasman man 742]

One of his best pacers would have been Captain Lee - have been racking my brain trying to remember the name of this horse and it finally emerged from the 'sludge'.

This would have been post Wellington Cup times eljay so not too sure if I can dredge that one up.

.....best efforts were as a 3 yr old , finishing second in both main Derbies....to Inky Lord and Westburn Grant.

The NZ Derby was worth $280k !!!!! that year.

I think he was out of Lee Nandina who won several races for JSmith in a long career.

There were other useful trotters , poss Rocky Mountain or similar "mountain" names.

Colours ???......white sleeves , def green braces , possibly another colour brace there as well.

[redasurc 0]

.....best efforts were as a 3 yr old , finishing second in both main Derbies....to Inky Lord and Westburn Grant.

The NZ Derby was worth $280k !!!!! that year.

I think he was out of Lee Nandina who won several races for JSmith in a long career.

There were other useful trotters , poss Rocky Mountain or similar "mountain" names.

Colours ???......white sleeves , def green braces , possibly another colour brace there as well.

Red ?

[Alf Riston 1,559]

I think it was Green Jacket, White sleeves, Red Braces (maybe red & white braces?)

George Wallis who I think had Joe and Count me In had very similar colours and may have even adopted the same set after Jim Smith retired ???

[eljay 1,720]

I think it was Green Jacket, White sleeves, Red Braces (maybe red & white braces?)

George Wallis who I think had Joe and Count me In had very similar colours and may have even adopted the same set after Jim Smith retired ???

Colours as you say - just the red braces.

Can't quite dredge up George's colours but were different from Jim's. George still has a stablehands licence but does not train any horses these days - he is the father of Stipe, Scott Wallis, who himself was a junior driver late 90's/early 2000's and drove 65 winners.

[yajyaj 0]

Think he trained a not bad old campaigner called Kipper Dee, got a few bucks off him

[Mountaingold 0]

Jim was a master trainer of any standardbred. He had a great deal of patience and always got the best out of his horses. He will never be forgotten as one of harness racings better horseman.RIP Jim.

[spotspot 0]

The colours of Jim Smith were taken over by son Dave Smith the blacksmith who raced Mountain Woman.RIP Jim

[Mountaingold 0]

Yes that is correct.... although Jim also had another set of colours that have never been seen and may hopefully get to the track one day ... Emerald green, white braces and red sleeves. This is a slight alteration on the old ones..

[Charlie E 1]

I worked for Jim for a couple of years and he put me on my first winner Noble Ring owned by John Devlin . The whole family his wife Billy , Dave , Bill and Trish who is married to John Green were awesome and always looked after me . Jim I will never forget , just a great man 

[Pure Steel 1,303]

4 hours ago, Charlie E said:

I worked for Jim for a couple of years and he put me on my first winner Noble Ring owned by John Devlin . The whole family his wife Billy , Dave , Bill and Trish who is married to John Green were awesome and always looked after me . Jim I will never forget , just a great man 

you might have worked with Robert Holmes then. He got a win on Tactile Bay and Confidential I think. I Loved tripping around NI with Jim  , he was especially fond of his own trotters like old Alpine Peaks and James Last . they weren't; anything special but gave him great happiness' sending them around.   Dave Smith part owned Wetagain winning the NZ Futurity classic at Rotorua, a lovely bloke and still shoeing even to this day still does I think Charlie  . He must of done Thousands ? wow. ..Bill was in Aussie winning time to time . remember a big Al Pacino win and then a crash his next start one summer . John Devlin the great man he was, part owned Sir Vance , and we did some great trips around Australia with that horse. Would of been great to win one of those Derbies but he was 2nd in the Vic and SA Derbies to flamboyant Vinny Knight in both, with his stable of stars. great times.

[Alf Riston 1,559]

On 2/16/2012 at 9:00 AM, eljay said:

2 of Jim's square gaiters that I can remember from my very young years were Robyn Evander (may have placed in a Rowe Cup and a very handy wee mare) and Jack's Evander.

I remember seeing Jacks Evander and Robyn Evander one night at the 2200m start at the Park.

Someone must have hidden the brushes that day, they were both sporting decent winter coats and had a fair smattering of mud on them from a few paddock rolls.