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| Kiosk Opening - 29th June 2010 |
3 Aug 2010 |
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The long awaited information kiosk was opened at Hamilton International Airport on 29th June 2010.
A video of the opening can be viewed at www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/multimedia/video
Guests & inductees present included Pippa Mahood - Deputy Mayor of Hamilton, Sir Patrick Hogan, David Peake and Ann Browne (widow of Ken Browne).
Our kiosk was earlier displayed at the 2010 National Fielddays at Mystery Creek.
We thank Chris Doak - CEO of Hamilton Airport and Barry Quayle - CEO of National Fielddays for their support. |
| New Inductees announced at 2010 Gala Dinner |
6 Mar 2010 |
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By Aidan Rodley
On Friday 5th March 2010 the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inducted its 10 new inductees at a black tie dinner at Ellerslie before an audience of 400 people.
The new inductees are:
Ray Verner - Auckland
Racing's Reluctant Maestro
Took up training reluctantly to help his aging father.
Became a Master Trainer, renowned for his conditioning of horses & named NZ Racing Personality of the Year in 1978.
Trained top stayers like Good Lord (two Wellington Cups, Sydney Cup); sprinters like Blue Blood and Gold Hope; and weight-for-age horses like Prince Majestic and The Gentry.
Integral part of a training dynasty spanning more than 70 years that continues to this day.
John Wheeler – New Plymouth
Ambassador Extraordinary
More successful in Australia than any other New Zealand trainer of modern times.
Trained three near-champions – Poetic Prince, Rough Habit and Veandercross (in Australia) and won major Australian races (including a dozen Group Ones) with all three.
Dominated Australia's jumping scene for years (winning seven Great Eastern Steeplechases at Oakbank); and won Nakayama Grand Jump in Tokyo with St Steven.
A leading trainer at home and a great ambassador for his country.
Linda Jones M.B.E.- Cambridge
Blazing the Trail
Led the 1970s fight for the right of women to be jockeys.
Media sensation in her first riding season, 1978-79; was equal-second in NZ Jockey's Premiership when a race fall halted her season.
Her success and celebrity status took pressure off young women who were to follow.
First female jockey in the world to ride a recognised Derby winner; to ride winners at Ellerslie and Trentham, and against male jockeys at a registered Australian meeting.
David Peake - Auckland
The Ultimate Professional
First appeared on winning jockeys' list 1962-63; retired 40 years later as the winner of 2,085 races in New Zealand, the third biggest-winning jockey in New Zealand history.
Won six NZ Jockey Premierships, rode most winners of any jockey in the 1970s (794) and held the course record for winners at Ellerslie (392) until topped by Lance O'Sullivan.
Especially renowned as a rider of stayers; rode track work regularly over many years, always hard, fit and professional.
Grenville Hughes - Auckland
Mr Charismatic
Twenty years after he retired from race riding, Grenville was a guest on Radio Pacific. The switchboard was jammed with calls all afternoon.
Other jockeys bettered Grenville's lifetime tally of 1,278 wins, but none equalled his popularity with the public. Grenville had charisma.
A master stylist and judge of pace, he excelled in weight-for-age races and is especially remembered for his partnership with chestnut champion Mainbrace, on whom he won 23 races from 24 rides.
Grey Way - Washdyke
The Washdyke Wonder
164 starts, 51 wins, 27 seconds, 21 thirds, NZ$235,020, A$8,400
First win at Rangiora October 1972, his last win was on the same racecourse eight years later. His 50 wins in New Zealand, often against outstanding opposition, beat Black Duke's previous NZ record of 46.
Won from 1200 to 2000m but probably best at 1600m, at which distance he scored great wins in the ARC Easter Handicap and the WRC George Adams.
Defaulter- Christchurch
The Overlooked Champion
28 starts, 22 wins, one second, one third, 11,890 pounds
Outstanding performer at the end of the 1930s; won last seven at two years and 10 straight as 3YO, a first-up defeat at three interrupting a sequence of 18.
Beat the best in Australia as well as New Zealand, winning five weight-for-age races in Sydney against vintage opposition and at distances from seven furlongs to two and a quarter miles.
Retired to stud, he was a successful sire.
Horlicks- Matamata
International Achiever
40 starts, 17 wins (six at Group One), 10 seconds, 2 thirds. NZ$3,411,682, A$625,000
Won 16 in Australia and New Zealand, including New Zealand's first two million-dollar races and the L.K.S. MacKinnon Stakes in Melbourne.
But career highlight undoubtedly the grey mare's defeat of strong international field in the Japan Cup, in which she ran the 2400m in world record time.
Later successful broodmare, Melbourne Cup winner Brew being her best progeny.
Eulogy- Wanganui
Broodmare Par Excellence
Imported to New Zealand 1915, bred 13 winners of 70 races.
Her four best foals (Commendation, Esteem, Epitaph and Homage) between them won 10 three-year-old classics and 10 prestigious two-year-old races.
Eulogy's eight daughters bred some of the best racehorses of the era. The family has bred on, later descendants including champions Show Gate, Il Tempo, Kingdom Bay and Bonecrusher. Miss Potential ushered the family into the new millennium.
Bonecrusher- Auckland
He never quit
44 starts, 18 wins (nine Group One, six of these in Australia), five seconds, 12 thirds; NZ$674,225, A$1,679,495.
Champion NZ 3YO, home wins including NZ Derby and Air New Zealand Stakes, followed by stunning Sydney wins in Tancred Stakes and AJC Derby.
Following spring won a memorable Cox Plate duel with Waverley Star.
Beat At Talaq in Australian Cup, again displaying huge will to win.
Won another Air New Zealand Stakes at five, despite injury problems.
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| An Update to Elusive City Nomination |
5 Mar 2010 |
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By Aidan Rodley
Thoroughbred racing identity Peter Walker has sweetened the deal on an Elusive City service to be auctioned at tonight's Racing Hall of Fame dinner.
Haunui Farm have donated a service to its stallion Elusive City valued at $8000 plus GST.
Elusive City's yearling sold up to $260,000 at this month's yearling sales at Karaka with his progeny topping both the select and festival sales at $250,000 and $110,000 respectively.
Elusive City was the European champion first-season sire in 2008 and his progeny includes Gr I winner Elusive Wave. Among his current flagbearers are Brave Kid, unbeaten in five starts in Hong Kong, smart three-year-old Spirit Of Unicorn and exciting sprinting prospect Dasoudi.
Proceeds of the auction will go to the Racing Hall of Fame.
However, Walker has now offered the use of a broodmare for anyone wanting to bid on the auction who doesn't own a mare themselves.
Walker will give the successful bidder the choice of one of six of his broodmares as a vehicle for the service, though the auction winner is still free to use their own mare.
In addition, Haunui Farm has offered $3000 of free agistment for the winner of the auction.
Ten greats of the New Zealand turf will be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame at the Ellerslie Convention Centre tonight.
Already 27 racehorses and personalities have gained entry into the Hall Of Fame, among them breeding icon Sir Patrick Hogan, jockey greats Bill Broughton, Bill and Bob Skelton and Lance O'Sullivan, and training greats Dave O'Sullivan, Colin Jillings and Ken Browne. The champion racehorses already in the Racing Hall Of Fame include Sunline, Phar Lap, Tulloch and Rising Fast.
The principal sponsor of this year's Racing Hall of Fame event is New Zealand Bloodstock, while other key sponsors are Trelawney Stud, Marie Leicester and Paul Kenny, Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, Dunstan Feeds, Trac, Canterbury Jockey Club, Auckland Racing Club, Majestic Horse Floats, The Informant and Coupland's Bakeries.
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| South Island well represented in NZRHF Inductee Ranks |
3 Mar 2010 |
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by Aidan Rodley
The South Island can rightfully claim its place as the birth-place of New Zealand racing.
It has a proud heritage and in its heydey cities such as Nelson and Christchurch were the heartbeat of the New Zealand turf.
That was reflected with the first two induction ceremonies for the Racing Hall of Fame when the likes Sir George Clifford, George Gatenby Stead, Henry Redwood, Dick Mason, Bill Hazlett and the Skelton brothers, Bill and Bob, were inducted.
Canterbury galloper Gloaming was an inaugural inductee in 2006, while the South Island has claims on champion gallopers Phar Lap and Carbine, also inducted the same year.
Christchurch journalist and racing historian David McCarthy said the South Island played an integral role in racing's pioneering days in New Zealand, though the achievements of several key figures in those days had faded over time.
``Canterbury tended to dominate racing of the time. The breeding was all based here,'' he said.
``Considerations of past eras is sometimes a weak area with the Hall of Fame. Just because there's no one there to question their suitability shouldn't exclude them from going in.''
Asked to nominate some worthy South Island-based potential inductees, McCarthy reels off a list seven, though with emphasis on two historical identities, one a champion trainer and the other a champion jockey who won a Classic race in England.
``There's two strong candidates from past eras. Edward Cutts trained for Sir George Clifford and he had a tremendous record. He trained 150 Group winners and was a seminal figure.
``And Les Hewitt, who was known as Todd. He was the first jockey to ride short in the stirrups in New Zealand. He won the 1913 1000 Guineas in England and set records for winning rides at the New Zealand Cup, Ellerslie and Sydney carnivals when they were the three biggest metropolitan events of the season.''
McCarthy also argues the case for Jim Ellis, the first jockey to ride 1000 winners in New Zealand, Melbourne Cup-winning galloper Delray, multiple Derby-winning galloper Noctuiform, New Zealand's first dual horse of the year Show Gate, and the Washdyke Wonder ``Grey Way''.
``He was a warhorse,'' McCarthy said of Grey Way.
``As long as the track was firm, he would always give his best. He was a horse with a very short sprint so he had to run on the pace but some of the horses he beat were topliners. We had a great crop of milers at the time and he was probably the best of them. He'd be a worthy inductee.''
On Show Gate, McCarthy said: ``A lot of South Islanders would love to see Show Gate in. There's an emotional attachment between South Island racing people and Show Gate which never fades.''
The third induction ceremony will be held at Ellerslie on Friday when 10 New Zealand racing greats will have their names added to the existing 27 in the Racing Hall of Fame.
Among those inducted in the first two ceremonies are champion gallopers Sunline and Tulloch, trainers Dave O'Sullivan, Colin Jillings and Ken Browne, and jockeys Lance O'Sullivan and Bill Broughton.
The principal sponsor of this year's Racing Hall of Fame event is New Zealand Bloodstock, while other key sponsors are Trelawney Stud, Marie Leicester and Paul Kenny, Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, Dunstan Feeds, TRAC, Canterbury Jockey Club, Auckland Racing Club, Majestic Horse Floats, The Informant and Coupland's Bakeries.
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| Our new Exhibition Kiosk displayed at 3rd Induction Event |
3 Mar 2010 |
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By Aidan Rodley
The Racing Hall of Fame will present its exhibition display kiosk to the public for the first time at the conclusion of the induction ceremony.
The kiosk contains all the inductee video stories as well as other interesting racing and breeding history and was designed and developed to museum standard by international curator Jenny Cave and designer Gary Collins.
Racing Hall of Fame director Chris Luoni said the design brief for the kiosk was three-fold.
``It was to acknowledge and celebrate the hard work, achievements, personal stories and personalities of the Racing Hall of Fame Inductees and the racing industry of New Zealand, to construct a distinctive, alluring, memorable and professional quality experience for visitors via engaging visual and interactive exhibits of video archives, Hall of Fame inductee DVDs, artefacts and memorabilia and supplementary materials, and to develop a concept design for a portable kiosk to be set up at race meetings or sales, as well as for a permanent exhibition that can be moved to an alternate location, if required, at a later date. This will include the text, captions, objects and design solutions for an inaugural exhibition.''
One kiosk will be permanently based at Hamilton International Airport which has more than 500,000 passengers each year, and the second kiosk will displayed at chosen events around New Zealand.
Ten greats of the New Zealand turf will be inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame at Ellerslie on Friday night.
Already 27 racehorses and personalities have gained entry into the Hall Of Fame, with 14 inducted in the inaugural ceremony in 2006 and 13 inducted last year.
Among the racing identities already in the Racing Hall Of Fame are breeding icon Sir Patrick Hogan, jockey greats Bill Broughton, Bill and Bob Skelton and Lance O'Sullivan, and training greats Dave O'Sullivan, Colin Jillings and Ken Browne.
The champion racehorses already in the Racing Hall Of Fame include Sunline, Phar Lap, Tulloch and Rising Fast.
Racing Hall Of Fame chairman Gerald Fell promised the ceremony would be ``a very special night celebrating New Zealand racing history.''
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| Induction Dinner - Friday 5th March 2010 |
1 Mar 2010 |
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| There will be a good audience in attendence at our 3rd induction dinner. With 4 days to go there are 375 confirmed attendees. As numbers will be cut off shortly and if you are interested in attending please contact Joanne Davis for your tickets at 07-8295900. |
| Giving the Hall A Voice - Peter Elliott & Steve Johnson |
19 Feb 2010 |
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By Aidan Rodley
That Peter Elliott still hankers for the old days of racing perhaps makes him a perfect fit as the voice of the Racing Hall of Fame presentation videos.
Famous for his roles in television series - such as Gloss and Shortland Street - and theatre productions as well as a popular presenter of television documentaries, Elliott has voiced all 37 of the presentation videos accompanying the induction of every racing identity into the Racing Hall of Fame, doing his bit to preserve racing's proud heritage.
He completed the voice-overs last week for the 10 new inductees to the Racing Hall of Fame which will be announced at the induction dinner at Ellerslie racecourse on March 5, the night before the $2.2 million New Zealand Derby at the same track.
Elliott said he was sworn to secrecy and would not be conned into revealing any of the new names but did drop a hint.
``There are a couple of non-surprises. There are three names there that to me were a surprise that they hadn't been previously inducted,'' he said.
Elliott is no stranger to racing. His father was a one-time stipendiary steward.
``I used to go to the races a lot with Dad, probably started in the 60s and 70s. Dad was a pretty serious racing aficionado and it was something we used to do together,'' Elliott said.
``He'd take his binoculars and sit in the stands and watch the horses so I've always had a slight interest. I'd lost interest as time went by but I've got a TAB account and still occasionally have a bet with my daughters, a $1 each-way flutter here and there for fun.''
In his youth Elliott worked with a South Island photo finish crew and said he had retained an interest ``on the peripheries all my life''.
Elliott said that involvement had given him a sense of connection as he prepared for the voice-overs for the Racing Hall Of Fame video presentations.
``It began as just another voice-over gig but I really enjoy it. I love the stories and Steve Johnson who puts it all together is just fantastic. He knows the pedigrees and the industry back to front and he makes the stories really come to life.''
Elliott said he had noticed a concerted approach to improve the image of the racing industry from the days when the TAB outlets and racetracks had a ``slightly dingy allure about them'' but he believed that some of the appeal of racing was lost with the change and the onset of racing as more of a television sport.
``There was a dark side, a seedy side to it but there was also a bright fun side on the racedays with all the ladies in their finery and the men in their suits.
``You get that on the big days like Auckland Cup day but it has lost some of its grip, some of the magic that was there.
``There's nothing like standing at the start or by the finishing post as they thunder past with a lap to run and you hear the jockeys yelling and swearing and there's this huge surge of adrenalin and power from the horses.
``You experience that and you think this really is the sport of kings. You lose that by watching television because you're removed from that experience.
``I would really like to see people return to the sport I feel because it's become a better event as opposed to a sport.
``There's a huge level of skill preparing gallopers, steeplechasers and trotters and if you are on track you get to see people and animals performing at their peak. It's not just about them paying $2.40 to win and $1.60 to place.''
Elliott said he was keeping busy with his freelance work, acting and directing in the theatre scene and he was in talks about fronting a new television series on fishing.
Elliott was brought in to voice the Racing Hall of Fame clips through production expert Steve Johnson.
``I asked him to do the narration because he's a great story teller. He has the right tone and delivery that enhances some wonderful New Zealand racing history,'' said Johnson, who runs Lodeka Productions.
Johnson has produced and edited all 37 Racing Hall of Fame video presentations as well as helping with the research, and takes pride in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of each clip.
He said the main challenges were ensuring each item had its own individuality and that he was able to source sufficient footage, which for some of the pioneering inductees wasn't so easy.
``I've been involved since the beginning and it's been great. There are some fantastic stories,'' he said.
``It's given me a great understanding of New Zealand racing, an insight into some great champions. The more I get involved in it, the more I've appreciated just what they've done.
``I am very proud of all the inductee stories that have been produced. The professional challenge for me has been to convey the wonderful racing achievements of the inductees and I just hope I have been able to do them justice.
``I have to admit it gives me goose bumps hearing it all coming together - Peter's voice, the race commentaries and the music, and knowing we've captured another piece of New Zealand racing history that future generations will be able to appreciate.''
The principal sponsor of this year's Racing Hall of Fame event is New Zealand Bloodstock, while other key sponsors are Trelawney Stud, Marie Leicester and Paul Kenny, Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, Dunstan Feeds, TRAC, Canterbury Jockey Club, Auckland Racing Club, Majestic Horse Floats, The Informant, and Coupland's Bakeries.
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| New Sponsor - Elusive City Syndicate |
18 Feb 2010 |
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A service to Haunui Stud stallion Elusive City will be auctioned at the Racing Hall of Fame dinner at Ellerslie on March 5 and has been generously donated by the Elusive City syndicate.
Standing last season at $8,000 plus GST, Elusive City's yearling sold up to $260,000 at this month's yearling sales at Karaka with his progeny topping both the Select and Festival sales at $250,000 and $110,000 respectively.
Elusive City was the European champion first-season sire in 2008 and his progeny includes Gr I winner Elusive Wave.
Among his current flagbearers are Brave Kid, unbeaten in five starts in Hong Kong, smart three-year-old Spirit Of Unicorn and exciting sprinting prospect Dasoudi.
In addition Peter Walker is offering the free use of a quality broodmare for this service and Haunui Farm is offering an agistment packake to the value of $3,000.
Ten greats of the New Zealand turf will be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame on March 5, the eve of the $2.2 million New Zealand Derby, also at Ellerslie.
Already 27 racehorses and personalities have gained entry into the Hall Of Fame, with 14 inducted in the inaugural ceremony in 2006 and 13 in 2008.
Among the racing identities already in the Racing Hall Of Fame are breeding icon Sir Patrick Hogan, jockey greats Bill Broughton, Bill and Bob Skelton and Lance O'Sullivan, and training greats Dave O'Sullivan, Colin Jillings and Ken Browne.
The champion racehorses already in the Racing Hall Of Fame include Sunline, Phar Lap, Kindergarten, Tulloch and Rising Fast.
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| Our first Australian based Sponsor - Winning Edge Presentations |
9 Feb 2010 |
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| We are pleased to announce our first based Australian sponsor - Winning Edge Presentations of Melbourne which will sponsor our kiosks for a 3 year term. We thank their MD Alistair Ewart for this sponsorship and look forward to a rewarding association. |
| New Director - Chris Doak |
9 Feb 2010 |
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Chris Doak - Chief Executive of Hamilton International Airport and co-proprietor of Canterbury Park Farm has been appointed a director of the NZ Racing Hall of Fame.
Chris is responsible for regional tourism in the Waikato area and will bring strong strategic and business development skills to our organisation.
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| Lance O'Sullivan - an inaugural NZRHF Inductee |
28 Jan 2010 |
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Lance O'Sullivan regards his entry into the Racing Hall of Fame as a special honour.
But the jockey great wants the Hall of Fame to retain its aura of prestige and not lower its standards by letting too many notable - but not elite level - achievers in.
``It was a real honour to be one of the first in there,'' says O'Sullivan, who along with his father, training great Dave O'Sullivan, was among the inaugural inductees in to the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2006.
``For me, what I'd hate to see is that just anyone gets in. I'd rather they restrict the entry numbers so only the best of the best get in. It's understandable the first time they did it that they put so many in because to a degree they're playing catch up but I'd like to see maybe only four or five go in from here on in.
``I'll be interested to see who gets in this time around but for me I'd think a trainer or jockey should have to have won a premiership at least to get in. If we go putting too many in, it's in danger of losing its eliteness. I'd like to see them keep it as elite as the Australian and American Halls of Fame.''
Racing Hall of Fame officials will induct 10 new members at a lavish dinner ceremony at Ellerslie racecourse on March 5, the day before the $2.2 million New Zealand Derby at the same track.
Thirteen greats of the New Zealand turf have been inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame at each of the past two ceremonies and officials have said fewer thoroughbred racing icons would be inducted in future ceremonies to retain the lofty standard of inductees.
O'Sullivan, 46, retired from riding in 2003 with a record 2358 New Zealand winners with another 121 achieved offshore in places as diverse as Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Singapore and Turkey.
O'Sullivan retired with 12 New Zealand premierships to his credit, having broken Bill Broughton's long-standing record of 11 premierships.
He stood out as a complete professional but always retained a bright and chirpy persona which made him a favourite of the media and the racing public alike.
O'Sullivan won 50 Gr I races, including the 1989 Japan Cup on Horlicks and the 1991 Cox Plate on Surfers Paradise.
Soon after retiring from the saddle, he took over as trainer at the O'Sullivan family's Wexford Stables on his brother Paul's departure to train in Hong Kong and it wasn't long before he saddled Pentane to win the Gr I Auckland Cup.
Though he has since retired from training, leaving his former junior training partner Andrew Scott in charge at Wexford, O'Sullivan still turns up to ride trackwork at least three mornings a week and he has an interest in more than 20 racehorses in the stable, most ending up sold offshore to clients of Paul's in Hong Kong.
Among the young horses he part-owns is a trial-winning full brother to last weekend's Gr I Telegraph Handicap winner Vonusti, named Strapping.
He and his wife Bridgette are building a new home on a property they own between Karapiro and Matamata, where they run the Red Barn function centre.
O'Sullivan says the facility comfortably seats 150 guests and presently has 17 weddings booked in.
The property includes the site of the former Pairere School, now recognised as a historical place and O'Sullivan says he finds plenty there to keep him busy such as building stone walls from rocks off the farm and planting trees there.
Last month he found a waterfall on the property, the first time he knew one was there in the two years they have owned it.
The principal sponsor of this year's Racing Hall of Fame event is New Zealand Bloodstock, while other key sponsors are Trelawney Stud, Marie Leicester and Paul Kenny, Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, Dunstan Feeds, TRAC, Canterbury Jockey Club, Auckland Racing Club, Couplands Bakeries,The Informant and Majestic Horse Floats.
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| Luke Radich - Involvement in NZRHF as Member of Selection Committee |
14 Jan 2010 |
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By Aidan Rodley
Weighing up the merits of internationally successful exported New Zealand horses and horsemen against those whose careers have been primarily domestic-based is one of the main challenges for the Racing Hall of Fame selection committee, says racing personality Luke Radich.
Radich last year joined the selection committee which met to decide who would be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame at this year's dinner and ceremony at Ellerslie on March 5, 2010.
Well-known for his studious research into all things racing, Radich had voiced his disagreement regarding previous inductees in his role as a panellist on Trackside's NZ Retro programme.
However, he jumped at the chance to join the selection committee, describing it as a "privilege and a pleasant surprise to be asked".
While careful not to give away the names of the 10 new inductees, Radich said racing was a lot more global than it used to be and determining whether a star New Zealand-raised jockey or trainer or New Zealand-bred galloper who has plied their trade offshore should be considered more worthy than a contemporary whose career was chiefly restricted to their homeland was an issue the selection committee would have to ponder more and more in the future.
"With people the main issue is taking a balance with jockeys and trainers who have achieved in New Zealand as opposed to those who grew up and began their careers here but then went overseas," Radich said.
"Shane Dye and Jimmy Cassidy spring to mind or right back in time to someone like Maurice McCarten, and that's always going to be one of the difficulties comparing them to people like Rex Cochrane or Bill Sanders. How do you compare their achievements of training big numbers of winners in New Zealand as opposed to someone who jets off overseas and achieves on a world stage?
"In the past jockeys and trainers had the ambition of having a successful career in New Zealand, whereas nowadays it's common-place now for New Zealand to be seen as a stepping stone to the world. In James McDonald's acceptance speech [for jockey of the year] at the most recent Mercedes Awards, he spoke about how much he would love to ride in Hong Kong.
"Maurice McCarten grew up in Hawera and went over to Australia and became a premiership-winning jockey and the greatest trainer of his generation. He was inducted into the Australian Racing Hall of Fame but he's not someone people tend to talk about here."
Now practising law in Blenheim, Radich said he supported ex-pat Kiwi trainers and jockeys gaining recognition for their international achievements with induction into the Racing Hall Of Fame but he was less convinced on the issue of New Zealand-bred gallopers which never raced here.
However, as a precedent had been set through the induction of Phar Lap and Tulloch, two New Zealand-bred exports which never raced here, he favoured an "all-in" approach which would see the likes of Starcraft, Might And Power, Octagonal and Vengeance Of Rain all future contenders for induction.
"On horses it's a lot more difficult because so many of our horses are sold overseas as yearlings. While they are New Zealand-bred, we don't have a close association with them," he said.
"Everyone claims Phar Lap as a New Zealand horse but consider a horse like Vengeance Of Rain. If he had achieved what he achieved internationally - winning the Dubai Sheema Classic and becoming Hong Kong horse of the year - but had been trained in New Zealand, he would probably already be in the Hall Of Fame but because he wasn't it will be a long time, if ever, before he gets inducted.
"My general inclination is we have to take a world view because these days, to use a cliche, it's a global racing village."
From the two previous induction ceremonies, 27 racehorses and personalities were honoured with entry into the Racing Hall Of Fame, including the likes of champion gallopers Sunline, Phar Lap, Tulloch and Rising Fast, and legendary racing figures such as Sir Patrick Hogan, Bill Broughton, Bill and Bob Skelton, Lance O'Sullivan, Dave O'Sullivan and Ken Browne .
The selection committee has agreed on 10 new inductees which will be announced at Ellerslie racecourse on March 5, the night before the $2.2 million New Zealand Derby at the same venue.
The principal sponsor of this year's event is New Zealand Bloodstock, while other key sponsors are Trelawney Stud, Marie Leicester and Paul Kenny, Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, Dunstan Feeds, TRAC, Canterbury Jockey Club, Auckland Racing Club and Majestic Horse Floats.
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| Phar Lap death explanation revealed |
13 Dec 2009 |
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It's a mystery which has baffled experts for more than 75 years. But Tokoroa trainer John Mason has finally lifted the lid on what really caused Phar Lap's death. He revealed all to NZRHF contributor Aidan Rodley.
John Mason is a likeable bloke. He's black and white, a straight shooter. But he has been keeping a secret. A huge secret.
Twenty-seven years ago, Mason had taken Tallifer to Australia with the aim of running him in the Melbourne Cup.
But the smart stayer failed to settle in at the public Epsom training facilities.
Mason was at his wit's end trying to remedy the problem when he was approached by a Melbourne trainer offering him stabling at his private property. For Mason, it was an offer too good to refuse.
The trainer was Tommy Woodcock, then 76, but still as much as an Australian icon as cricket's Dennis Lillee or Rod Marsh, who were doing their best to forget the infamous underarm incident in the same city the previous year.
Woodcock's fame was a result of his association with the champion galloper Phar Lap.As the horse's strapper and inseparable companion, Woodcock was part of the Phar Lap phenomenon which raised the spirits of a nation in the depression of the early 1930s.
The New Zealand-bred galloper, affectionately known as Big Red, won 37 of his 51 races and the adulation of an adoring public. He survived a shooting attempt and three days later won the 1930 Melbourne Cup.
Sent to America, Phar Lap won the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico, in a track record time, before heading to California.
There, on April 5, 1932, Phar Lap haemorraged to death, many believing the horse was deliberately poisoned.
Others speculated that he had eaten grass made toxic through spraying, while contemporary theories include that arsenic in a tonic regularly given to Phar Lap had reached fatal levels or that he died of acute bacterial gastroenteritis.
Having just taken North America by storm, the Australian champion was expected to sweep all before him in the United States and there were plenty of bookmakers nervous about the prospect of heavy losses on him.
Having been shot at already in Australia, it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility that there were some in American who wanted him dead too.
Either way, Phar Lap's death has remained a mystery and the source of fodder for conspiracy theorists.
Phar Lap's story has inspired books and movies and he was inducted into both the Australian and New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fames.
There was already a link between John Mason and Phar Lap, albeit a distant one.
Mason's great uncle was RJ (Dick) Mason, a New Zealand turf great who in 2006 was an inaugural inductee into the Racing Hall Of Fame.
Dick Mason's training achievements up to his death in 1932 were legendary.
He dominated New Zealand's best races and was a pioneer for New Zealand trainers making successful trans-Tasman raids on Australia's best races. He prepared a true Kiwi champion galloper in Gloaming, a winner of 57 of his 67 starts, many at the highest level in Australia.
But as well as mentoring great horses, Mason was responsible for the tutelage of Harry Telford, who served his apprenticeship in New Zealand before setting up his own stables in Sydney, where he would become the trainer of the great Phar Lap.
It was during Tallifer's time in Melbourne in the spring of 1982 that Woodcock would confide in Mason with a story he had never told anyone in the 49 years since Phar Lap's death.
Mason didn't ask about it; Woodcock merely chose him as the person to tell.
"I don't know why he told me," Mason says.
``Telford and RJ Mason had a connection and we were probably broaching on the subject when he decided this is the guy I'm going to tell."
Woodcock told Mason that he believed the real reason Phar Lap had died was that he had eaten a fatal amount of fresh lucerne during the float trip from Mexico to California.
Phar Lap had not eaten green feed for the previous two weeks and the lucerne had a dire reaction, causing the horse to fall sick and die.
"He said they were coming from Mexico and [Phar Lap] hadn't had any grass for a couple of weeks," Mason says.
"Driving down the road they spotted this paddock of lucerne. He got a crook guts that night and died. They panicked so they came up with the story that the horse was poisoned to cover their butts."
Waikato vets, canvassed by the Times, said Woodcock's explanation was a credible reason for the cause of Phar Lap's death.
The concensus of opinion was that if Phar Lap had consumed a significant amount of fresh lucerne, having not eaten any fresh grass for the previous two weeks, it could have initiated the illness which led to the horse's death.
Mason adds "I can see the common sense in that because lucerne is pretty violent in dairy cows and certainly in a horse that hasn't had any green feed for a while."
Woodcock specifically asked Mason not to recount the story until after his death, and Mason remained true to his promise.
Woodcock died in 1983 and Mason said the time was right now for the truth to be told.
"Tommy was very sincere in what he told me and very positive that he wasn't going to tell anyone else."
Mason says the time was right now to make public what Woodcock had told him 28 years ago.The revelations come the same week that a life-size statue of Phar Lap was unveiled in Timaru and a new book Phar Lap - The Untold Story was launched.
Mason says he expects to receive "flak" for his revelations, especially from Australia, but he feels relieved to have finally made public the amazing story Woodcock told him in 1981.
Mason grew up on a dairy farm in Carterton and was always drawn to horses.
His grandfather was a trotting trainer but to him thoroughbreds had always appealed more, perhaps through his link to Dick Mason.
"When I was a young fellow, there was a quite a few books around on him and I'd read about the amazing feats that he was able to achieve. He was a superman. The used to call him The Wizard," Mason says.
"At one two-day meeting at Riccarton he won 13 of the 16 races. And the black-type races he won at the Sydney Easter carnival was incredible."
"He was a real horseman. He used to cut the shoots off gorse hedges to feed the horses for the vitamins, little things like that."
"The old guys I used to listen a lot to like Percy Burgess and Cecil Humphries would talk about him as a great trainer. It's a pity he's not recognised more."
John Mason moved to Waikato in the mid-1980s to manage Denby Lodge [now Cambridge Thoroughbred] before going on to work at Chequers Stud.
He temporarily left racing to pursue a silage contracting business in the central plateau with his sons Richard and Jamie - he also has three adult daughters - Dinah, Felicity and Patricia - but soon afterwards bought a small holding at Whakamaru and trained his horses along the fire breaks in the forest.
He moved to Tokoroa two years ago where he lives with his second wife Andrea - a national endurance riding champion - and trains across the paddock at a track currently getting an overhaul from the South Waikato Racing Club.
"I still train the old way - plenty of work, plenty of feed," Mason says.
"I always had a bit of luck because racing is a fitness thing. I was a shepherd early on so I was always on a horse and I've always found that fitness was the key.
"I don't gallop them, just lots of three-quarter pace and than a short sprint at the end. I spend two hours working two horses. In the big stables you couldn't do that, if they spent that much time on each horse they'd go broke."
Tallifer, who injured his knee and didn't start in the 1982 Melbourne Cup, won a Hawke's Bay Guineas as a maiden at just his third start, while Grand Poppa was another flagbearer.
In recent years, Real Vision and Danzaman were both stakes winners in Mason's orange and white quartered silks and earned close to $200,000 each. Danzaman was a six-year-old maiden with navicular disease in both his front feet when he joined Mason, and he won on to win an Easter Stakes at Riccarton and a Taumarunui Cup at Te Rapa. These days, Mason has a stable of two horses and he is at his most content spending time with the pair.
In 1983, Woodcock told Melbourne's Herald-Sun newspaper that he had a theory as to the real reason for Phar Lap's death but he refused to reveal it.
"There was another possible way he died. But I don't want to say because I don't know for sure," Woodcock told the paper.
Mason says he never felt carrying Woodcock's secret around with him for so many years as a burden. In part, he felt privileged that Woodcock would confide in him but he says he is relieved to now get the real reason for Phar Lap's death out in the open.
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| Stead dynasty lives on in Hawkes Bay |
13 Dec 2009 |
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By Aidan Rodley
There was a Melbourne Cup that sat gathering dust on the mantlepiece but John Bary hardly gave it a second thought.
That was until his great-great grandfather George Gatenby Stead became an inaugural inductee into the New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame in 2006.
Bary attended the lavish induction ceremony at Auckland's Ellerslie racecourse and came away with a far greater appreciation for his racing heritage.
A founder of the Canterbury Jockey Club, Stead was 12 times leading New Zealand owner in the 1890s and early 1900s. He was treasurer then president of the Canterbury Jockey Club in more than 30 years service to the club, a key initiator in the formation of the New Zealand rules of racing and played a leading role in moving New Zealand racing to an all-totalisator structure.
However, the Melbourne Cup belonged to Stead's son Wilfred, who bought and and raced Sasanof, successful in the Flemington showpiece in 1916, the same year he won an AJC Derby with Kilboy and topped the New Zealand owners' list.
``WG'' Stead had moved to Hastings in 1905 and established Flaxmere Stud - later Sasanof Stud, which was continued by the next stead generation, Bary's great-uncle Bob Stead, who was a foundation member and committeeman - and later life member - of the New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Association.
``Before the Hall Of Fame dinner, I knew very little about the family racing background,'' Bary admitted this week.
``I knew we had a Melbourne Cup above where I lit the fire that Sasanof had won, and that was all I really knew. But since then I've found out all about what GG and then WG and even uncle Bob had done.
``GG won 13 Derbies himself - I wouldn't mind that. Uncle Bob Stead carried the stud on and we've come the full circle now I'm training.''
Less than four years after the inaugural Racing Hall Of Fame ceremony, Bary, 40, has embarked on a training career and has made a flying start.
In just his second season, Bary is currently equal 11th on the premiership, winning 10 races from just 42 starts, his strike rate the best of any of the top 25 trainers.
Classy three-year-old The Hombre has been a flagbearer for the stable.
In six starts, The Hombre has won twice, finished second twice and proved himself up with the best of his age in the country.
In winning at Hastings earlier this season, he defeated horses the calibre of Joey Massino, Corsage, St Germaine and Seven Schillings.
``He's a distance horse, a Derby horse through and through. When you've got a horse like him, it that much easier to get out of bed each morning," Bary says.
``We've turned down some big offers for him. But he's worth keeping. He's brought the stable the sort of promotion you just can't buy.''
The Hombre wears the all gold colours and black cap made famous all those years ago by Bary's Hall Of Famer ancestor.
Bary's cousin Mary MacSmith had kept the Stead colours registered since her grandfather Bob Stead died and when Bary decided to pursue a training career he asked if he could take over the colours.
He takes a great deal of pride out of seeing the colours made so famous in the pioneering days of New Zealand racing returning to the winner's circle again in his name.
``It's huge. Whenever you see solid colours, you know they are over 100 years old,'' Bary says.
``As a country, we are not steeped in as much history as elsewhere and to have something that's 130 years in your family is quite special.''
Bary says he was on horse back from a young age, progressing from pony club to a career as an international polo player.
He played professionally for eight years, retiring after returning home guiding Rangitikei to its first win in the Saville Cup in 96 years in 2001.
Through polo, he also met his Irish-born wife of nine years, Laura. The couple have two children, Kobe, eight, and Fleur, five.
Having made his money playing polo, Bary invested in a sheep station at Wairoa and went on to buy other sheep farms in Hawke's Bay.
He has rationalised his farming interests as his training career has taken off.
``I've still got the station at Wairoa, now with a full-time manager and I'm full-time training horses. With 20 in work, it's a full-time job and it sure beats the hell out of farming.''
While Bary was not fully aware of the Stead family's illustrious deeds in racing, he was involved in thoroughbreds from a young age.
His parents, Ann and Campbell Bary, since divorced, were involved, his mum as a trainer and his father as an administrator.
``Mum's always had a horse as an owner-trainer for as long as I can remember.
She had a good jumper called Fontenelle.''
Campbell Bary remains active in racing administration, as a past-president of the Marton Jockey Club still serving on the committee.
``It's just sort of happened. I'd owned one or two, sold one to Singapore and I really enjoyed it. Training is a challenge every day, a challenge to get a horse right on the day and win.
``My first goal was just to win one race but in that first year we got seven or eight. This season we've exceeded our expectations but I attribute that to the set-up and the staff.''
Bary has developed from scratch 15-box stabling at Hastings, just five minutes from the racecourse, where he has invested in a modern training facility complete with a track and walker.
He still utilises the old family stud as well, a 30-acre property still housing the original stabling, where the young horses are domiciled.
``We just want to get to a level we are comfortable with, probably at 25 or 30 horses, maybe more if we are comfortable when we get there.''
Bary is confident he can continue his success, maybe not to the level of George Gatenby Stead but enough to have made him proud.
``I'm very aware of my heritage and where I've come from.''
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| NZ Racing Hall of Fame Exhibition Displays |
2 Dec 2009 |
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| The NZ Racing Hall of Fame has commissioned curator and designer Jenny Cave to develop and produce a world class information kiosk which will include the video stories of the NZ inductees. This exhibition should be completed in time for display at the third induction event on 5th March 2010. |
| Third Induction Event Date - Friday 5th March 2010 |
2 Dec 2009 |
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| The third induction dinner will be held on the eve of the Telecom NZ Derby raceday at Ellerslie. The event will honour ten new inductees who have been chosen by our selection panel. The new inductees are based throughout regional New Zealand and include current racing and breeding participants. |
| NZ Racing Hall of Fame Exhibition Plans |
20 Jun 2009 |
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The Board recently commissioned internationally acclaimed curator - Jenny Cave to prepare an exhibition concept design plan for our organisation. This concept work offered two options - one being a mobile kiosk presentation and the second being a permanent exhibition.
The concept plans have well received by our board and we are progressing this work further. |
| Legendary commentator Kelly joins racing's elite |
5 Mar 2008 |
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| TIM BARTON - The Dominion Post |
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The binoculars that launched a thousand commentaries were donated to the national racing museum last night.
The binoculars were those used by legendary racecaller Peter Kelly who last night was inducted into the New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame.
Kelly, who died in December 1997, used the same German-made binoculars throughout his commentating career.
"They were like gold to him," Kelly's widow, Marie, said. "He wouldn't let them out of his sight. They were very big and very strong."
The announcement that the binoculars would be donated to the museum was made by Kelly's son, Patrick, who had made the trip from Panama to attend the hall of fame dinner.
About 20 of the Kelly family attended the dinner, including Marie, daughter Cushla, who lives in New York, and Peter's brothers, Bernie, Michael and Jim.
Peter Kelly, who was also New Zealand's best known bloodstock auctioneer, represented the sound of racing for a generation of racing fans.
He called his first race meeting as an 18-year-old and took over as the Trentham racecaller in 1955, a position he held for the next 28 years.
Kelly, who was based in Palmerston North for the bulk of his career, was the chief auctioneer and a director of Wrightson Bloodstock and raced several good gallopers, including Fun On The Run, Greene Street and Meralini.
Thirteen new members joined the hall of fame last night. Kelly was joined by trainer Colin Jillings, jumps racing maestro Ken Browne, jockey Hector Gray, owner-breeder Bill Hazlett and pioneer administrator Henry Redwood.
The horses inducted were the champion sires Sir Tristram and Foxbridge and the outstanding racehorses Tulloch, Mainbrace, Rising Fast, Desert Gold and Balmerino.
Redwood, commonly referred to as the father of New Zealand racing and Tulloch, a champion Australian galloper, were controversial omissions from the first list of inductees, in 2006.
Tulloch was New Zealand bred but did all his racing in Australia where he was trained by Tommy Smith. He was an extraordinary three-year-old, winning 14 of his 16 start at that age. He then nearly died from a mystery illness and did not race again for 18 months but still achieved a career record of 36 wins, 12 seconds and four thirds from 53 starts.
Mainbrace had 23 wins and two placings from 25 starts while Rising Fast had a win and a second in the Melbourne Cup and also won two Caulfield Cups and a Cox Plate. Desert Gold, who was retired from racing in 1918, won 36 of her 59 starts and is regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest racemares.
Jillings, whose stars included Uncle Remus and McGinty, retired from training in 2004 after a 55-year career that encompassed a remarkable number of big race wins, including five New Zealand Derbies, three Auckland Cups and a Cox Plate. Hector Gray was a controversial but wonderfully talented rider while Hazlett, who was based in Southland, had 1000 wins as an owner before anyone had reached 1000 wins as a trainer.
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| Sir Tristram Legacy painting to be auctioned for charity |
18 Feb 2008 |
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A collectors item’ painting by one of Australia’s finest equine artists will attract worldwide attention at a charity auction to be conducted during the New Zealand Bloodstock New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame gala dinner at the Ellerslie Convention Centre on the eve of the 2008 $700,000 Stella Artois Auckland Cup (March 4).
The painting is titled “Dynasty Of Kings – Sir Tristram” and features Sir Tristram, Zabeel, Octagonal and Lonhro ---- following one of the most prolific sire lines in the bloodstock world of modern times.
The painting has been closely inspected and given the mark of approval by Sir Patrick Hogan of Cambridge Stud which has stood Sir Tristram and Zabeel.
Share-holders in Sir Tristram and Zabeel are among those already showing a keen interest in acquiring the painting which will be eagerly sought after by anyone with an interest in art or the horse racing industry.
Lyn Beaumont is a horse owner and rider, and painting horses has been a life-long interest, from a hobby to becoming more serious in later years. She has embarked on a dedicated pursuit of specific aspects of oil painting, and displays a tenacity in striving for that combination of composition, tone, colour and accuracy in her work.
“Having my own horses outside my door, I have an appreciation of equine anatomy and therefore movement and proportion, but also of their behaviour. However I believe that a portrait of such a wonderful animal is much more than that. I like to work into the painting what I believe to be the animal’s personality and character,” she says.
Lyn has developed her own style of painting an equine subject, evident in her use of colour, to achieve textures, mood and form. She hopes that her love of horses and therefore her knowledge of them is evident in her work, both emotionally and physically. Her work also regularly includes human portraiture, with a softer, more tonal approach.
She has received commissions for some “famous faces” of the horse racing world such as Lonhro, Sunline, Makybe Diva, Phar Lap, Danehill, and many more, plus some much loved equine subjects of lesser fame. She has been commissioned by the Victoria Racing Club to paint ‘Australia’s Champion Racehorse of the Year ‘ for 2004-2005, and again for 2005-2006, and commissioned by “Horseland” to paint for their Autumn catalogue 2005.
Beaumont has had exhibitions in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Melbourne. Her work hangs in collections at Flemington (VRC),Moonee Valley Racing Club, Werribee Racing Club, in Japan, New Zealand, Britain, USA, and Australia wide. She has also recently been invited to participate in an equine art project in the U.S. which will be displayed around the world for the benefit of horses.
There are only 500 prints of the painting for sale (each authenticated with allocoated print number) and these will be offered for sale at $1800 including gst and postage. Further information on the artist and painting can be viewed at www.lynbeaumont.com
The second New Zealand Bloodstock Racing Hall Of Fame dinner will attract more than 500 guests and will see another superb night of historical celebration of great New Zealand racehorses and people involved in the industry. A total of 13 new inductees will be named into the Hall Of Fame.
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| 2008 NZ Hall Of Fame Date Announced |
27 Apr 2007 |
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The New Zealand Bloodstock Racing Hall Of Fame will conduct its second inductee event in Auckland on March 4, 2008.
This was confirmed by Hall Of Fame Board chairman Mr Gerald Fell, of Palmerston North.
The inaugural event was held in March last year and introduced 14 foundation inductees into the Hall Of Fame.
The Selection Committee for the 2008 event has already made its decisions and has unanimously chosen a second group of 13 inductees featuring 6 people and 7 horses.
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| Planning has commenced for our Second Induction Event |
8 Aug 2006 |
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| The Selection Committee for the second induction event (planned for March 2008) met for the first time in Auckland on Thursday 3rd August 2006. |
| Australian Racing Hall of Fame event |
8 Aug 2006 |
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In early July Chris Luoni - Director attended the 2006 Australian Racing Hall of Fame event in Melbourne.
The NZ Racing Hall of Fame was acknowledged as a supporter of the Australian event at which the great mare - Maykbe Diva was one of the new inductees.
We will continue to have a close association with our Australian sister body. |
| New Director Appointed |
29 Mar 2006 |
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The Board is delighted to announce that Phillip Leishman has accepted appointment as a director of the NZ Racing Hall of Fame. Phillip has had an active involvement with our organisation, initially as a member of the Selection Committee and later as the Master of Ceremonies at our very successful inaugural event. Phillip was largely responsible for the success of out inaugural event and he will be a major asset for us in planning our future events.
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| Inaugural New Zealand Bloodstock New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame Dinner Held at Ellerslie Racecourse Friday March 3 2006 |
4 Mar 2006 |
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New Zealand thoroughbred racing celebrated many of its greats of yesteryear at the inaugural New Zealand Bloodstock Racing Hall Of Fame in Auckland on Friday night.
A total of 14 greats from the New Zealand horse racing world – combining horses and people – were made inductees to the Hall Of Fame at a dinner attended by 450 guests including Prime Minister Helen Clark and Racing Minister Winston Peters and many of the racing industry’s biggest names.
New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame chairman Gerald Fell said the reason for setting up the Hall Of Fame was to rightfully honour and celebrate many of the greats of the New Zealand racing industry.
“It is high time our industry recognized and honoured excellence and achievements that have enriched the New Zealand thoroughbred industry both equine and human,” Fell said.
“These horses and people have been responsible for the success of our industry and the position of respect it holds in the racing and breeding world today,” Fell said.
“New Zealand was in real danger of losing some of our early racing and breeding heritage with the passage of time. Already many of our greats are only a dim memory to the current generation,” he said.
“Even Australia had been claiming some of our greats in their Hall Of Fame so it was high time we set up our own so we could celebrate our heroes of the New Zealand industry in a fitting manner,” he said.
The Hall Of Fame inductees will have a permanent and dedicated display in the new Racing Museum at Ellerslie racecourse.
The selections of the original inductees was carried out by a group of professionals representing all facets of the racing industry including racing media, historians, administrators, businessmen and sportsmen.
“It was a hard task for the selection panel,” said Fell. “It is impossible to recognize all the wonderful horses and horsemen in one function and history can become boring so we decided to keep a balance of old and new inductees,” Fell said.
The full list of inductees is:
CARBINE
SIR GEORGE CLIFFORD
GEORGE GATONBY STEAD
RICHARD (DICK) JOHN MASON
GLOAMING
PHAR LAP
W.J. (BILL) BROUGHTON
KINDERGARTEN
BILL (W.D.) SKELTON
BOB (R.J.) SKELTON
D.J. (DAVE) O’SULLIVAN
SIR PATRICK HOGAN
LANCE O’SULLIVAN
SUNLINE
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| Prime Minister to attend NZRHF Dinner |
23 Feb 2006 |
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Prime Minister Helen Clark and Racing Minister Winston Peters will be among the who's-who line-up of guests attending the inaugural New Zealand Bloodstock Racing Hall Of Fame dinner in Auckland next Friday night.
The function is expected to be attended by up to 500 people with tickets selling fast, says Hall Of Fame chief executive Renee Geelen.
Other guests include the National Party's spokesman on racing, Lindsay Tisch.
The evening's MCs will be Phillip Leishman and Kelly Swansoe-Roe.
A total of 14 inductees will remain secret until the night when they will be announced.
The standard of dress is formal (but not black-tie).
The title sponsor for the event is New Zealand Bloodstock.
Event sponsors are Auckland Racing Club, First Sovereign Trust, Lion Breweries, Montana Wines and the New Zealand Racing Board.
The inductee sponsors are: Australian Racing Hall Of Fame, Australasian Turf Monthly, Beattie Rickman, BG and DG Neville-White, Bloodstock PR Ltd, Cambridge Stud, Canterbury Jockey Club, Chianti Stallion Partnership, Dunstan Feeds, Fairdale Stud, Highview Stud, Huka Lodge, Northern Ceilings NZ Ltd and TRAC Racing.
The selection panel for the inductees was chaired by well-known NZ racing administrator Don Hancock and comprised 12 people involved in racing mostly journalists, historians, industry profressionals.
The selection criteria is:
- Horse candidates
will primarily be racehorses, but could include great stallions and famous broodmares;
- People candidates
might include jockeys, trainers, owners, breeders, administrators, and media contributors;
- In all instances, nominees will have been outstanding achievers in their category and in their era; and
Racehorses, to be eligible, should have been New Zealand-based and trained for an important part of their career. There will be exceptions where New Zealand bred racehorses have achieved outstanding success internationally and therefore should be considered.
The function will begin at 6.30pm at the Ellerslie Convention Centre on Friday March 3.
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| New Zealand Bloodstock Racing Hall of Fame dinner |
27 Nov 2005 |
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The inaugural New Zealand Bloodstock Racing Hall Of Fame inductee gala dinner in Auckland next March is going to be one of the greatest celebrations of the industry’s achievements ever seen.
A committee chaired by Fairdale Stud’s Gerald Fell and supported by New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing established the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame in 2003.
The inaugural event is scheduled to be held at the Ellerslie Convention Centre on Friday 3 March 2006, as part of the new Auckland Cup Carnival week. Subsequent Hall of Fame induction events will be held every two years.
"It’s going to be a very special night that anyone associated with New Zealand racing will want to attend – something which people in this country have never witnessed before," said Hall Of Fame board chairman Gerald Fell.
"The idea for the event came more than two years ago and I can say that the momentum towards the function is going full speed ahead and planning is now well underway and on target," he said.
Fell said the objectives of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame are:
- To recognise and honour those whose achievements have enriched the New Zealand thoroughbred industry.
- To increase national and international interest and participation in New Zealand racing.
- To develop a prestigious event that has unique appeal to the general public as well as racing enthusiasts.
- To enhance the image and brand of the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame event and the new Racing Museum.
Inductees will be chosen from right across New Zealand thoroughbred history, in two categories, Horses and People. The selection panel, chaired by Don Hancock and comprising journalists, historians and industry professionals, has already begun its selection process and it is anticipated the original group of inductees will number 14.
Some important steps in the foundation of the Hall Of Fame have already been put in place.
Firstly, a title sponsor for the event has been confirmed which will be New Zealand Bloodstock.
Fell commented: "We are delighted to have New Zealand Bloodstock's commitment to our project and note that there is a perfect fit for a company like New Zealand Bloodstock who champions our bloodstock to the world, to be part of honouring our industry's elite.
New Zealand Bloodstock has agreed to sponsor the Hall of Fame for an initial period of three years. Marketing Manager, Petrea Vela, commented on New Zealand Bloodstock's commitment to the project, "New Zealand Bloodstock is proud to be able to support a Hall of Fame for our industry. It is a great way to honour the achievements of those who have helped to make thoroughbred breeding and racing in New Zealand what it is today, and to show our appreciation for the foundation they've provided us. I hope that the Hall of Fame can have a long and treasured place in our industry's future."
Secondly, the New Zealand Racing Hall Of Fame logo has been approved by the Board and this will give the event a clearly recognizable icon.
Thirdly, the appointment of an executive officer Renee Geelen to oversee the inaugural event planning.
And also the setting up of an internet web site www.racinghalloffame.co.nz (which will be regularly updated) on which people will be able to purchase tickets for the night and memorabilia. Tickets will also be available for purchase from New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing and racing clubs.
Naturally, the Hall of Fame will have a home within the New Zealand Champions Racing Museum and the two projects, although independent of each other, are mutually supportive.
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