John Andrew Carmichael was born in 1923, the year that the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) was established following the NZ Government’s takeover of the Canterbury Aviation Company. This included Sockburn aerodrome (re named Wigram) which was formerly the Plumpton Park racecourse, the venue for Canterbury Park Trotting Club fixtures prior to moving to Addington Raceway.
Jack Carmichael born in Wanganui to a family where his father Andrew and brother Alf were freezing workers but who also trained horses they owned themselves. Those to win during Jack’s youth were Kraal, Harvest Boy and Silver Black (later trained in Hamilton).
In 1939 Jack Carmichael travelled down to Canterbury from Wanganui for a holiday but never returned to the North Island. He lodged with relatives and began working for Wes Butt. Carmichael was a cousin of Butt’s future wife Beryl Bennett on whose father’s (Dave) track Butt trained in his initial years. Jack Carmichael worked for the Butts for around thirteen years before commencing training in his own right. Apart from riding/driving for Butt he looked after the small team during the war year’s when Butt was stationed at Burnham Army Camp.
Jack Carmichael did most of the riding for Wes Butt in those days, riding in saddle races on the West Coast circuit in 1940. Rode Mankind (good performer in saddle trots) in his saddle work and when he ran second to Gold Bar at Addington in 2:03.6 (November 1941, world record mile from a stand).
With a licence to ride in saddle trots, his first ride was Flower Potts at Westport while his initial success came with Dawn Grattan at the Westland Trotting Club’s meeting on 21 March 1942 at Hokitika. Dawn Grattan won two races for tr/dr Wes Butt including Westport Cup and when trained by HR Reid a further two wins both driven by Jack Carmichael (Westland TC, Aviation Hcp, 21 March 1942; Reefton TC Presidents Trot 27 December 1944). Jack Carmichael’s drives earned £273 in his first season. His first significant win in the 1940’s was taking out the Greymouth Cup with Direct Medium.
Carmichael became right-hand man to Wes Butt at his Mankind Lodge property during the period when Butt captured his two driver’s premierships and the majority of his seven trainer’s premierships. Following Jack’s marriage to Dorothy, he grew potatoes and then raised pigs and milked thirty cows on a farm property he purchased prior to commencing the training of horses. He quickly established himself as a top Canterbury trainer after branching out in the mid-nineteen sixties.
Ted Graham was Carmichael’s first owner when he started out as a public trainer with Coronet Lass being Graham’s first horse. The Van Logan mare had previously won races from the stables of Hughie Donaldson and Hec Henderson. She was first trained for Graham by Lance Heron with Dave McGregor driving her to victory in a race at Addington. Jack Carmichael trained her when she finished third to Au Fait and Dianthus Girl in the Dominion Handicap.
To begin with Carmichael trained Coronet Lass and Monopat (bred by Des Grice and dam of Micron) for Ted Graham. These two horses became four and progressed to a team with Gold Globe (winner of six in early nineteen sixties, Reefton/Greymouth Cups), Dorstan (won five), Chequer Board, Hindu Star, Precocious, Globe Bay and Worth Seein’ (winner of six from eighteen starts) to follow.
Early success with nineteen wins in the 1964/5 season thanks in part to Gay Robin and more especially Chequer Board, Jack Carmichael quickly made his mark in the training ranks. Other prominent owners for him included Des Grice – following Bob Young’s enforced retirement at the end of the 1970/71 season, he became Grice’s number one driver (Don Lopez, Smokey Lopez); Arthur Idiens – Astro Blue, two of three wins for Carmichael; Winning Double, won two before sale to North America; El Guago; Alvarez, three wins, sold to Australia; Johnny Rondo, winner of one of only two starts; Stan Wheatley (Globe Bay); Andy Carmichael (no relation, Chequer Board) and Doug Goslin (Micron).
Carmichael formed an association with Brian Meale and Charlie Hunter of Central Standardbred Agency (CSA) assessing and trialling prospective horses for Australia and North America, One example was Peter Yeatman’s Nardins Hall with whom Carmichael won four races before he was sold to Australia for $100,000, 10% ($10,000) being a good commission.
As an administrator, Jack Carmichael spent many years on the committee of the Trainers and Drivers Association (once campaigning for a losing driving fee) as well as being associated with the Owners and Trainers Association running trial meetings at Addington.
Derek Jones commented “Jack was always a very sound, capable and level headed man, a self-made one too and up with the best as a horseman”. Des Grice said “He has always been a very competent horseman, I think he’s one of the best tactical drivers in the country. He would be in the same class as Maurice Holmes and Bob Young.”
Well performed sons and daughters of Johnny Globe in particular and his son Lordship appear throughout the training and driving deeds of Jack Carmichael. He had something of an affinity with the produce of the Globe Derby line – Chequer Board, Gay Robin, Johnny Gee, Globe Bay, Precocious, Berkleigh, Gold Globe, Worth Seein’ all by Johnny Globe while the brilliant but erratic Micron was sired by Lordship.
His fourteen NZ Cup drives produced a solitary victory with Globe Bay in 1972, second with Globe Bay to Arapaho in 1973 and third with Chequer Board to Spry in 1969 (one of three drives in NZ Cup with him/Wes Butt drove on an earlier occasion).
His Interdominions record is full of considerable merit, having trained and driven separate Trotters Grand Final winners (dr Precocious 1973; tr Yankee Loch 1989) whilst having driven in five Trotters Finals (Acquit 1965; Precocious 1971 [fourth], 1973 [first]; Darky Forbes 1975 third; Topeka 1976). He was the winner of three trotter’s heats with Darky Forbes in 1975 and Topeka twice for trainer Derek Jones in 1976.
With Pacers, he won a heat in 1968 with Humphrey; a consolation with Chequer Board in 1971 and drove in three Pacers Grand Finals (Trade Fair 1965, Chequer Board 1968, Miss Pert third 1979 for trainer Russell Carter).
Carmichael was in select company as just the fourth horseman to have completed an Interdominion Championship double up until 1989 with Precocious as driver in 1973 and Yankee Loch as trainer in 1989 – Doody Townley (Pacers twice : 1965 Robin Dundee/1971 Stella Frost; Trotters twice : 1968 Stylish Major/1980 Hano Direct), Perc Hall (1962 James Scott/1976 Bay Johnny) and John Langdon (1975 Young Quinn/Castletons Pride) being the others.
Major race winners trained by Jack Carmichael were (all driven by Carmichael unless otherwise specified) :
- GLOBE BAY, 1:59.4, $75,700, sixteen wins all except first win when trained by Don Nyhan/driven by Barry Nyhan; NZ/Wellington/Greymouth Cups, Roydon Lodge FFA; seconds NZ/Easter Cups, NZFFA; 2:00.2US; total earnings $137,585; owned by
Christchurch garage proprietor Stan Wheatley, he was leading money earner in 1972/3 season with $39,470
- PRECOCIOUS, T2:07.0, $38,480, sixteen NZ wins; West Coast Trotting Stakes, Dominion Hcp, NZ Trotting FFA; T2:10.1AUS, $11,625, two AUS wins, 1973 ID Trotters Grand Final, Melbourne Trotters FFA; total earnings of $50,105. First three wins were for Hawera tr/dr GD (Doug) Grantham followed by four wins for trainer Bob Mitchell, driven in three of them by his son Robert and once by Jack Carmichael.
A winner during the 1970 Pacers Interdominions in Melbourne defeating Tony Bear in a Melbourne Showgrounds Trotters FFA and fourth to Just Money in another Melbourne Trotters FFA followed before being transferred to the Templeton stable of Jack Carmichael for her eight year old season (1970/71). Her first wins for Carmichael were in the St Andrews and Remuera Handicaps at the Auckland May 1971 winter meeting.
As nine year old, recorded five victories, three of those coming in her first seven starts – Christchurch and Ern Smith Trots at Addington and West Coast Trotting Stakes at Greymouth prior to a fourth in the Worthy Queen Hcp on NZ Cup Day.
Precocious, the favourite scored her major seasonal win in the Dominion Hcp on Show Day, before taking out the Hagley Trotting FFA at the Canterbury Park meeting. Precocious finished as the seasons leading stakes earning trotter with $16,305 from five wins and six placings from twenty five starts.
At ten, victory at the 1973 Sydney Interdominion Trotters Grand Final for Jack Carmichael completed the seven NZ wins as trainer /driver and one AUS win for him as driver of Precocious (Bob Mitchell trained at ID’s). Her final two NZ victories were back in the care of Bob Mitchell where the NZ Trotting FFA was won in the Mitchell colours. Significant placings recorded by Precocious with Jack Carmichael as trainer/driver were : seconds in Ordeal/Banks Peninsula Trotting Cups, NZ Trotting FFA; third in Dominion Hcp; fourth in Geffin’s 1971 Addington ID Trotters Grand Final.
Precocious was dam of eleven foals for two winners – Precocious Guy, 2:00.2US, $105,854; Pertly, 2:07.6TT; while several of her filly foals bred on – Narryna Way, dam of Narryna Guy (VIC SS -3c); Over Fence, dam of very good trotter Precocious Lad T1:57.3US, $512,627, Precocious Lass (grand dam of Millwood Ashley 1:52.3US, Millwood Dell 1:54.0US, Alison Bay 1:54.4US), grand dam of Precocious Hanover (Thames Nursery), 4th dam of Aloha Christian 1:51.4US.
- YANKEE LOCH, T2:05.9, $249,170, seventeen NZ wins; T2:04.9AUS, $ 67,889, unbeaten in three AUS wins; total earnings of $317,059. Trained by part owner Keith Gibson for his first five wins, four of them at Hutt Park as a four and five year old before Jack Carmichael took over his care and attention resulting in his first two wins at Addington plus a third in NZ Trotting Championship. His two wins at six (1987/8) were again at Addington.
Yankee Loch’s big season was as a seven year old in 1988/9 where apart from his clean sweep of the Melbourne ID’s (two heats and final driven by Jim O’Sullivan), he won Rowe Cup (driven by Jim Curtin, driver in several major NZ victories) together with wins at Addington and Ashburton and ran second in NZ Trotters Championship.
Three wins as an eight year old included Dunedin Trotting Cup with other successes at Addington and Alexandra Park (best NZ mile rate of T2:05.9) together with a third in Banks Peninsula Trotting Cup. His final season at nine (1990/91) saw two early season victories off back marks at Addington with thirds in Ordeal and Banks Peninsula Trotting Cups. In total he won on eight occasions at Addington, twice at Alexandra Park, six at Hutt Park and was unbeaten in three stars at Moonee Valley. He was named Trotter of Year in 1989.
- CHEQUER BOARD, 2:01.4, $54,515, twenty three wins, first seven for Dave Jessop; sixteen as tr/dr for Carmichael including Wgtn Presidents Hcp twice, Allan Matson /Ollivier FFA’s, Easter Cup, Waikato Flying Mile, ID Pacers consolation; seconds ID heat, Ashburton/Auckland Cups; thirds NZ Cup, ID heat
- MICRON, 2:02.7, $28,640, eleven wins, ID Pacers heat, Kaikoura Cup, Wgtn Presidents Hcp; second in ID Consolation; third Inter Island Challenge Stakes
- ASTRALIGHT, T2:10.8, $10,635, eight wins, trained for three of these including single winning drive in Rowe Cup when rank outsider (14/13) paying £30 9s to win
- GLEN MORIA, 2:04.4, $38,358, ten wins (seven for Maurice Kerr as tr/dr [Winton/Roxburgh Cups], three for Jack Carmichael), CPTC Winter Cup; seconds Ashburton/New Brighton/Kaikoura Cups, Ashburton Flying Stakes
- HINDU STAR, 2:08.6, $1,660, three wins (trained/drove to first two wins); dam of Sakuntala and extensive family of winners, Canis Minor; decadents include Karloo Mick, The Warp Drive, Gaius Caesar
- SPRY JOKER, 1:59.5, $65,205, eleven wins (Kerry O’Reilly, two driving successes), Kaikoura Cup twice, Timaru Cup; third Chch Airport Travelodge FFA, Dunedin New World Cup
- GAME POINTER, T2: 07.2, $22,170, trained and drove to eight wins, NZ Trotting Championship, Dunedin Trotting Cup
- GAME PAUL, T2:02.1NZ, $277,852, twenty two NZ wins/one AUS win (ID heat, T2:02.0AUS, driven by Patrick O’Reilly jnr/tr Jack Carmichael); raced by Colin Baynes; trained by Jack Carmichael for eleven NZ wins (driven by JW Smolenski and John Hay for five wins each, Richard Brosnan one win); trained to win Ordeal Cup, Ashburton Flying Mile, BPTC Trotting Cup; seconds Ashburton Trotters Mile, BPTC/Ordeal/CPTC Trotters Cups; thirds in City of Sails FFA, Ordeal Cup, Dominion Hcp
- WHITE HORSE PRIDE, T2:01.7, $73,059, trained for six of nine wins (dr Anthony Butt, six wins), Ashburton Trotters Mile, ID Trotters heat
- KATES RETURN, T2:07.6, $28,528, ten wins, (five as driver, six as trainer), Ashburton Boxing Day Trot, Reta Peter Hcp; third in Timaru DB Trotting FFA
- JASCOE, 2:03.6, $27,490, nine wins, first four for Brian Gliddon and five for Carmichael as tr/dr; third CPTC Winter Cup
- EL GUAGO, 2:08.2, $19,455, three NZ wins, two at two; second NZ Derby; 1:59.2US, $83,341
- YOUNG PRIDE, 2:04.5, $14,875, five NZ wins; 1:57.5AUS, $137,539, twenty six AUS wins; Bohemia Crystal FFA twice, NSW Golden Mile; total earnings of $152,414
- NARDINS HALL, 2:02.6, $14,590, four NZ wins, NZ Rising Stars – 3; 2:02.7AUS, $15,408, five wins; total earnings $29,998
- JENNER, trainer only for Ordeal Cup, NZ Trotting Championship victories
Other important race wins for free-lance driver Jack Carmichael included :
- AR MISS, drove in three of eight wins including NZ Oaks, Rangiora Cup
- ARMALIGHT, first drive on her was in NZ Metropolitan 3yo Championship when setting 3yo fillies NZ and race record over 2600m (SS) 3:23.1; NZ Oaks (replaced Bob Negus who had his own filly Elfin engaged), hot favourite established a race record of 3:23.9 (2600SS); third consecutive win was Fillies Triple Crown for perfect driving record on Armalight of three starts for three wins
- BERKLEIGH, driver in eight of twelve wins including NZ Derby, Ashburton Cup, Allan Matson Stakes, second Hannon Memorial; third Methven Cup
- HILARIOUS GUEST, drove to victory in final win NZ Breeders Stakes and second in Auckland Cup
- WESTBURN VUE, drove to win NZ Breeders Stakes in 1:58.0; dam of champion Australian stallion Westburn Grant
- DARKY FORBES, ID heat win at Auckland 1975 (tr Colin Berkett), third in Grand Final to Castletons Pride, won one of two Trotting FFA’s on fourth (Pacers G/F) night
- GAY ROBIN, one winning drive, Ashburton Flying Stakes; second Auckland Cup; thirds George Barton Memorial, Laing Hcp
- GREAT CREDIT, Dunedin Cup
- MEGATREND, driver for first three of seven wins including NZSS – 3c
- VA VITE, driver in five of ten wins, fourth Dunedin Cup (tr Maurice Kerr, also five driving successes)
- DON LOPEZ, nine wins driving for tr Des Grice/owner Ben Grice; Harrison/New Brighton Stakes; thirds Welcome/Sapling Stakes
- SMOKEY LOPEZ, six of eight wins as successful driver for tr Des Grice/owner Ben Grice; Waitaki/Canterbury twice/Riccarton Stakes, EF Mercer Mile all at three; second Sapling Stakes; thirds NZ Derby, Ashburton Flying Stakes (dr Ross Payne)
- MISS PERT, drove into third place in Rondel’s 1979 ID Pacers Grand Final at Addington
- TOPEKA, drove to two ID Trotters heat wins in Adelaide in 1976 for tr Derek Jones, unplaced in final; third Bridgens Memorial trot
Wins in either or both capacities as trainer or driver –
- Greymouth Cup – Direct Medium, Gold Globe, Edward Eden and Globe Bay
- Mercer Mile – Black Gypsy
- Canterbury Park Trotting Cup – Harbour Light (dead heat with Flaming Way), Great Applause
- Ordeal Cup – Acquit, Waipounamu
- Banks Peninsula Trotting Cup – Tronso, Waipounamu
- New Brighton Cup – Chiffon
- Methven Cup – Saucy Jack, Alec Peterson
Like several prominent horsemen, Jack Carmichael was compulsorily retired from race driving aged 65 at the end of 1987/88 season. First licensed to drive in the nineteen forties, he finished with approximately eight hundred winners (773, not including many years where less than three wins recorded but not shown in annual statistical tables). He won twenty one races in his final season of driving, the last being for Peter Ryder trained Haughty Nugent in the last race at a New Brighton TC meeting on 20 July 1988. His final five drives took place at an Auckland TC meeting on Friday 29 July 1988. His best finish was a fourth while his final drive came in the Jack Carmichael Mobile Pace with Hitchin who finished unplaced. He was possibly only suspended from driving on six occasions over his lengthy career.
At the Canterbury Park meeting on 12 February 1972, he drove the last three winners on programme – tr/dr of Microdot (Rolleston Stakes), dr of Forest King (Cressey Stakes, tr Ces Donald**) and tr/dr of Precocious (Hagley Trotting FFA).
** Forest King was Ces Donald’s 1000th training success.
Carmichael handed in his training licence in 2005, having not presented a horse at the races since the 2002/3 season. Aged 88 in 2011, he became the oldest professional trainer in New Zealand when renewing his licence, seventy one years after he first went racing. Training again for a further two seasons, he managed one final winner in Flaming Freida at Washdyke Raceway, Timaru (15 May 2011, dr Ian Cameron) while his final placed horse as a trainer was Harvest Boy at Rangiora (1 March 2012, dr Kerry Hadfield). In total, he trained some 362 winners in his saxe blue jacket, gold hoop and sleeves, saxe blue cap colours in
a career spanning six decades
Jack Carmichael had a lengthy and illustrious career in harness racing, being known as a very competent horseman who was considered one of the best tactical drivers in the country. He is one of ten horsepersons elected to Addington’s Harness Hall of Fame (twenty eight inductees in total through 2018).
Popular and highly respected former Templeton horseman Jack Carmichael passed on Wednesday 23 May 2018 aged 94. Carmichael, the husband of Dorothy and father of Wayne, was appropriately farewelled on the following Monday at Addington Raceway.
Peter Craig
9 October 2019
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
