By Duane Ranger
Woodville’s only harness racing trainer continues to keep racking up wins season after season despite living and working in the harness racing wilderness.
The Matt Hickey trained pacer Prime Lustre, who is merely in this world to be a training partner for Hickey’s only other horse in work – open class trotter Foray.
But Prime Lustre won his third race in 23 starts at Manawatu Raceway last Thursday night and that narrow half-head victory continues an amazing sequence for Hickey who, except for one year, has won a race every season for the last 11 years.
“It’s a great track to train on, but it’s sad to see the horse numbers dwindle over the years. Once there were between 300 and 400 horses trained on the track. Now sadly there’s only about 20 gallopers and my two standardbreds,” Hickey said.
The 75-year-old horseman said the galloping people were good to him and great to train with, but felt it was a different story come race-day.
“The trotting people are a rare breed – such friendly welcoming people. The same goes for the governing body – HRNZ. They rang me the other day just to check if Prime Lustre had any gear changes.
“I’ve had gallopers and know that they don’t do it that way in the thoroughbred world. They would rather tell talk to you afterwards when they give you a fine,” he said.
Prime Lustre sat back on a hot pace last week and Sailesh Abernethy did the rest.
“I’m still just a hobby trainer but like anyone still get a big thrill out of winning races. Thursday’s race panned out exactly the way we wanted it to and Sailesh just sat back while the others went for it up front.
“It was a lovely patient drive from Sailesh. He does a good job,” Hickey said.
He said every time Prime Lustre the owners all went out for tea.
“This Saturday night Prime Lustre is shouting us out to tea in Feilding. We’ve done almost every restaurant in Palmerston North so we have changed it this time.
“It’s one of the reasons I enjoy racing. We all go out for tea and each owner picks a different restaurant each time. They must come too. there’s no getting out of it,” Hickey said.
Prime Lustre, a 5-year-old Stonebridge Regal – Serene Lustre gelding was bred by Ivan Court at Ladbrooks and is owned by Hickey and his wife Marion, Valerie Stantiall, Lyn Burrell, and Ray Dempsey.
Sadly it hasn’t all been a bed of roses for Hickey this season.
Foray was being set for the next month’s Dominion and will now have to bypass that Group One event at Addington due to injury.
“He stretched a ligament in his joint and the vet told me to work him on a hard surface like tarseal to get him right. It’s a shame because the Dominion is one race every trotting owner would love to have a starter in.
“He has lined up in the New Zealand Trotting Free-For-All at Addington before and finished third, but never the Dominion. I was really looking forward to that, but sadly we won’t see Foray back until after Christmas now,” said Hickey.
Hickey said Foray raced in Matt Bowden’s name (as trainer) because it made sense for him to do all his fast-work at Pukekohe and then limit the travelling time to Alexandra Park.
“Woodville to Auckland is more than 1,000km round trip and it can take a lot out of a horse. He was racing well too. I was really impressed with his last start win at Alexandra Park in early July.
“I thought we were in for a big season, but no, we will have to wait a bit now. He’s a very nice trotter. He won first up in Australia and set a track record in the Cranbourne Cup before he got injured again and we had to bring him home.
“I was happy to leave him there with Ross Sugars but it wasn’t to be,” Hickey said.
Eight-year-old Foray has won 12 of his 44 starts and placed in seven others for $98,609 in purses.
“I looked back on some statistics from last season and saw that he recorded the fastest 1700m in New Zealand for a horse aged over five. And he sat parked when achieving that.
“He’s definitely a city horse. As for Prime Lustre well he’s perfectly suited to Manawatu and we have a lot of races there this season and that’s where he will be racing,” Hickey said.
Hickey is no stranger to training good trotters. He also conditioned and co-owned open class trotter Raydon for his 14 starts before he sent him to Barry Purdon, and then latterly Dave and Clare McGowan.
Raydon went on to win 15 of his 64 starts. He also placed 20 times for $273,656 in purses.
“I’m not saying that Foray is another Raydon because he was a very good natural trotter, but this fella still has the potential to make a very nice horse,” he said.
Hickey has trained 48 winners from 360 starters since 1981. He’s also placed on 84 occasions for $264,495 and his UDR strike-rate sits at a healthy 0.2377. He’s also won 23 races as a driver since 1981. His last winner in the bike came in the 2009-2010 season.
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