By Barry Lichter
Ray Green knew the chances of Copy That making it back to the track weren’t good but this week when he realised he’d clicked a cart on behind the champion pacer for the last time it still affected him.
The rollercoaster ride with his life-changing horse was over.
It didn’t take long after Copy That’s return to Lincoln Farms for Green to know all the rehab the seven-year-old had undergone would be to no avail.
Even at jogging speed Green could tell his star would not stand up to the rigours of training, despite surgery last December to remove bone and cartilage fragments from his knee.
“The vets were on the same page and Merv (Butterworth) had no hesitation in retiring him. We knew the odds were against him but we went through the process, and Merv spared no expense trying to resurrect him, but it just wasn’t to be. It’s the end of the trail.”
Green said the reality of modern day racing was that most elite horses struggled to race at their peak for more than a couple of years.
“Racing is tough at the top, it takes its toll, and it’s caught up with him. And we’d never try to put him through a preparation when he’s not right and see him get bashed up by inferior horses, that wouldn’t be fair on the horse.”
Green said it wasn’t until he sat back and thought about all the big races Copy That won and all the places he’s taken them to that he really appreciated just how much he had impacted their lives.
“For non-descript little turkeys like us, it truly was life-changing. He was one in a million. I used to love the days when four or five k used to drop into my bank account every other week. He wiped out our mortgage.
“How many horses win two million dollars?
“He fits every superlative you can think of. I’ve had a lot of good horses but he was something else. He was the whole package.
“He was deadly from a stand, quick out of the gate, he could do anything. You could put him anywhere in a field and he’d drop the bit, he was just a professional racehorse.
“He had speed and toughness but most of all the greatest constitution and resilience. He just bounced through tough runs and was ready to rock again.”
Green said he’d trained a lot of very good three-year-olds who never made the transition from the age of three to four to open class.
“With him it was instant. He was straight in against the top dogs and good enough to rough them up.
“And he enjoyed it. He’d get to the track and puff himself up, screaming out so everybody knew he was there.”
Green said Copy That pulled off some spectacular feats which he couldn’t imagine many other horses doing. And, while his two IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup wins had to top the list, his lasting memories will be of lesser races, some of which he didn’t even win.
“I think back to the 2019 Sires’ Stakes Final at Addington when he did everything wrong and was unlucky to go under by half a head to One Change.
“And the 2020 Auckland Cup when he sat parked for the last two laps and ran a close third to Amazing Dream and Spankem – and was running on again at the finish.
“His best race might actually have been at Cambridge (October, 2022) when he came from a handicap of 70 metres to win and set the New Zealand record for 2700 metres.
“Those races were more exciting than say his Taylor Mile and Messenger wins when he stood over them. It was just lead and win, no drama.”
For sheer exhilaration, though, Green remembers Brisbane in July, 2021 when Copy That came from an impossible rear position to win the Wondai’s Mate, driver Anthony Butt dragging him from the inside to the outside early in the home straight to win going away with an enormous burst of speed.
“One of the races that gave me my biggest thrill though was the (2020) Ashburton Flying Stakes when he worked his way to the front and ran his last quarter in 25.2 to beat Self Assured and Spankem.”
That win marked the real emergence of Copy That as an open class force which eventually carried him to 33 wins, including seven at Group I level, and $2,019,937 in prizemoney.
That tally could have been even higher had Copy That not fractured a splint bone in Victoria in December, 2021, and been couped up recovering for four months.
He successfully made it back to the track to win a second New Zealand Cup and bag the $1 million Race By Grins in April, 2023, his final win.
“It’s been a good ride,” said Green whose wife Debbie bought Copy That for just $7000 as a weanling before selling him to Merv and Meg Butterworth after his second win.
“But it wasn’t all beer and skittles. There were times I’d gladly have taken $10,000 for him. It took him a while to find his feet and in a lot of races he galloped at least once.”
In the early days Copy That spent much of his time misbehaving at Lincoln Farms, even jumping gates when he first arrived after the weanling sales.
“He was a character of a horse, very mischievous – he’d slip his halter and try to get away.
“But he was also very smart. Whatever you asked him to do, he got it the first time. Everybody at the stable came to admire him.”
Green said he was fortunate that the Butterworths left Copy That, a product of Woodlands Stud, at Lincoln Farms for so long.
“At the age of 78, I’m unlikely to find another one as good but I’ll keep looking.”
Copy That : Group 1 wins
2021 New Zealand Cup 3200m
2022 New Zealand Cup 3200m
2021 Harness Emerald 1609m
2021 Taylor Mile 1609m
2021 Messenger 2700m
2021 Sunshine Sprint 1660m
2023 Ballarat Cup 2710m
Career: 33 wins, 18 places, 68 starts
Prizemoney: $2,019,937
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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