– Craig Ferguson got his first two wins as a trainer at his third and fourth attempts, following two seconds last week;
– Nathan Williamson drove a skewbald when he brought up his 600th New Zealand win as a driver;
– There was a hometown victory in the $15,000 Winton Trotting Cup after a closing 400 in 25.7;
– Brent Gray described his seventh Butterworth winner for the season as all class.
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* Craig Ferguson had his first two runners as a trainer at Invercargill last Sunday. No More Change and Havinaravup both finished second. They were back at Winton on Sunday, both drew one, No More Change trailled, Havinaravup led, both won decisively.
The Invercargill-based junior was also winning driver of the pair and to cap a memorable day, had a third win as a reinsman. It came aboard Robyn’s Bad Boy who, also from the one draw, scorched home from the trail to beat Talkerup and Dexter Dunn by three quarters of a length.
Ferguson’s first contact with the code was through his father Russell who has had a horse or two in training at Edendale for the past nearly 30 years. He was also instrumental in arranging for Craig to help Brendon McLellan while still at school.
“I worked about two years part-time for Brendon before and after school and at weekends,” Craig said. “When I left school I went full-time and to Mark Jones during the winter.”
His full-time stint began at the end of 2009 and by August the following year, as a 17 year old, he drove his first winner. It was the McLellan-trained Lucy Legacy at Forbury Park. Ferguson is in his second season with Wayne Adams now and at the close of play on Sunday was just two short of his first century of wins. He finished fifth on the 2014 junior drivers premiership, third last season, and is holding down the same position on this season’s table.
“This is my last season as a junior and I’d always thought I’d like to get into training,” he said.
Another catalyst was fellow junior driver Jamie Campbell who was given No More Change by the mare’s breeder and relative Ivy Keenan. Ferguson said he got the horse to train because Campbell was a teacher and didn’t have time to train her himself.
Campbell has taken his mother and Ferguson into the ownership, along with aunts Liz Forde and Joan Olsson, and Ferguson’s friend Rory McCall.
Ferguson is joined by his own mother in Havinaravup along with McCall. The seven year old was bred by the Sinclair Brothers at Edendale, trained by McLellan and in 2014 at Forbury Park was a winner at his second start with Ferguson in the sulky.
“He was out in a paddock doing nothing, the Sinclairs said they had too many horses so we leased him,” said Ferguson who trains his team at Wyndham in the afternoon and has five in work.
Ferguson said junior driver colleague Sheree Tomlinson, who works for Murray Brown, helps him with the training and provides variety by riding the horses. He says he doesn’t put his early success down to any one factor but says its important to him that his horses are looking right before he takes them out.
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* Nathan Williamson’s 600th New Zealand win was on Culler Coded. She is trained by David Heffernan of Oamaru for his wife Rebecca and the Splash Out Syndicate of Auckland vet Catherine Pemberton and some members of her family.
Culler Coded is a descendant of Splashed, a skewbald mare who had two foals by Christian Cullen, Both were skewbalds. The colt, Tomahawk, had six starts and his best result was a second on debut at Alexandra Park in September 2006. The filly, Cullermein, won three. She is the dam of Realmein, a bay by Real Desire, who has won ten and is still racing.
She is also the dam of Culler Coded, a skewbald by American Ideal. Her second at Franklin in August 2014 was her best result in 10 starts for Catherine Pemberton’s husband Matthew. Rebecca Heffernan said her first contact with the Pembertons when she rang to ask about a service to Tomahawk in a bid to get a skewbald foal.
“She said we can’t transport his semen, we’ll send the stallion down to you,” Heffernan said.
Tomahawk duly arrived and served two Heffernan mares and one outsider before being returned. Unfortunately, both of the Heffernan mares had bays and one of them died. The other is now a two year old filly. Out of Meadow and named Tommy Girl, Heffernan said she has just been broken in. The outside mare was a skewbald herself and left a skewbald foal.
Heffernan kept in touch with the Pembertons and got a phone call last year to see if she wanted Culler Coded to try as a racehorse.
“She had been sold to Ireland but it fell through,” Heffernan said, “I leased her and they retained a small racing share.”
Culler Coded began her South Island racing career in January but had tie-up problems.
“Since we took her off grain she has turned the corner,” Heffernan said.
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* Costa Del Magnifico and Dexter Dunn went out favourite for the $15,000 Winton Trotting Cup on Sunday and the less informed made much of the fact that normal driver Nathan Williamson wasn’t in the sulky. However trainer Brent Shirley told ‘the website’ days before the race he had encouraged Williamson to stick with the second favourite Democrat Party.
“Nathan didn’t want to get off but Democrat Party has got a bigger programme ahead of her and it was important for him to drive her. He can get back on Costa Del Magnifico any time,”Shirley said last week.
And with Costa Del Magnifico giving Democrat Party a 30 metre start, Shirley saw the local mare as the hardest to beat. So it proved.
Williamson took her to the front after 250 metres and when she sped home from the 400 in 25.7seconds, she made it hard for the chasers.
Although always owned in the south, Democrat Party has spent most of her life in the north and was racing on her home track for the first time. Her co-owner and co-trainer Katrina Price, along with husband John only hoped for a better outcome than in her previous outing when only 10th of 14 in the New Zealand Breeders Stakes at the beginning of the month. In that group one, Democrat Party went from the outside of the second line, had no option but go back at the start, and found progress difficult.
“She got a bad draw and the three wide line never got going,” Price said, “we had expected a better result but she came through the trip okay and we were happy with her. We hoped she would step well and be up handy at Winton.”
The race was the last of the Country Cup qualifiers but Democrat Party’s only one, ruling her out a tilt at next week’s final. Price says the Jewels is the ultimate aim but she is unsure of where Democrat Party will undertake her lead-up racing.
Costa Del Magnifico had already been withdrawn from the Jewels. He finished second, two and three quarter lengths back.
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* Mr Mojito was bred by Ben and Karen Calder and given to Brent Gray to train. As a two year old in January last year, he qualified impressively at Young Quinn raceway, was snapped up for the Butterworth Racing Syndicate and joined the All-Stars team. After a workout at Rangiora in April, he was put aside.
“He hung because of splints so they put him out for two months at Diane Cournane’s,” Gray said. “When he came back I pre-trained him and got him ready for a race at Wyndham in November. I was quite confident but he had a heart fibrillation.”
Mr Mojito was treated and after another spell, was prepared for his winning return to the track on Sunday.
“Its not my usual style to trial the Wednesday before a race but he had to get a clearance and he went a very good, trial, he is a class horse.”
Son Of Brahma (two), Pavarotti, (two), Run To Hide (two), Better Go Hurry, Double Impact and Blackguard’s Corner have been other Butterworth winners for Gray this season.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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