The following article is the first of four that will cover the harness racing career in New Zealand and Australia of Leicester Maidens.
Initiated by an enquiry from Noel Ridge (Bendigo Harness Racing Club’s History and Memorabilia Sub-committee member) whose wife was the great niece of Joe Hillier who with Leicester Maidens was associated with “Dauntless Peter” in Victoria in the early 1950’s. Noel’s enquiry was in regard to Maidens history in New Zealand although he made a name for himself on both sides of the Tasman in a remarkable career that spanned the mid-1920’s – early 1950’s.
Leicester Maidens was born into a mid-Canterbury farming family in 1900 – named after an English county his name was usually spelt in most publications as heard, Lester. Having had plenty of experience he only took to training seriously in the 1930’s. Becoming a popular personality, he trained what was considered a large team of thirty horses at Winchmore (situated between Ashburton and Methven). There were many instances where he produced more than one winner/several placed horses on the same day.
Following an enforced two year retirement on medical grounds, in 1940 he won twenty six races in just seven months of the 1939/40 season (January – July 1940) to finish third on the national premiership to legendary trainer Ces Donald (34 victories for season). Whilst complete records are not available, it is obvious that Maidens was both a leading trainer and driver during his time in NZ e.g. 1932/33 (10 training; 8 driving wins); 1933/4 (12 training and 10 driving); 1934/5 (15 training; 13 driving); 1935/6 (12 training; 7 driving); 1936/7 (21 training; 14 driving); 1939/40 (26 training – 3rd; 10 driving); 1940/1 (21 training; 10 driving); 1943/4 (7 training; 5 driving) and 1944/5 (5 training successes).
Note : results show his training establishment became of no fixed abode in mid-1940’s i.e. Dusky Sound’s Ashburton All Aged Stakes win June 1944, training at New Brighton; Southland’s Canterbury Park TC Stewards Hcp win July 1944, training at Spreydon while Dusky Sound’s 1944 Boxing Day Hcp win at Ashburton, training at Addington.
Maidens was to retire again in 1945 taking over proprietorship of the Royal Hotel in Palmerston North. By his own count, in seventeen seasons in NZ, he had rarely been outside the leading half dozen trainers. His horses were left in the charge of GS (Swannee) Smith who teamed up with Maidens after having not been involved in the industry for approximately two years as a result of breaking his leg in a race smash on the West Coast in the early 1940’s. Smith gained valuable training knowledge prior to Maidens move to Melbourne which took place in 1949.
Among the many leading veteran horses Maidens brought back to prominence were Harvest Child, Rollo, Jesse Owens, Peter Smith, Blue Mountain, Zincali, Wrackler, Peter Locanda, Marie Celeste, Zingarrie and Palomar. He had an uncanny record with older horses he was given after they appeared past their use by date and for whom previous trainers had run out of ideas to revive their form lines. They were often aged between seven and twelve when he got many of them.
Maidens NZ Cup record was impressive – from five starts as trainer/driver in the Cup, he was desperately unlucky not to have won at least once. In 1934, the grey gelding Blue Mountain (fourth favourite) finished second to Indianapolis (his first of three successive NZ Cup victories) in a new race record of 4:15 4/5 for two miles. On the same day Blue Mountain also finished second in the Hagley Sprint to Sir Guy. Blue Mountain was unplaced in the 1936 NZ Cup (7/6) while later the same day he won the Hagley Hcp.
Maidens next NZ Cup runner was Peter Smith (4/4) who in 1941 was third behind Josedale Grattan and Kenworthy in another race record time of 4:15.0 while in 1942 Peter Smith (6/6) finished fifth after doing all the hard work in taking the field up to and extending Gold Bar in the lead. This set the race up for winner Haughty was sat behind him all of the way in setting a new record time of 4:13 4/5. Dusky Sound in 1943 was his final NZ Cup runner finishing second last in Haughty’s second Cup victory. Accordingly, three of Maidens five NZ Cup attempts were run in race record times.
What follows is a one by one review of NZ performances of the main horses handled during their time with Maidens (all trained and driven by Maidens unless otherwise stated) – reference will be made to other major deeds performed for earlier/later trainers by these horses.
HARVEST CHILD (1924h Sonoma Harvester/Gwenchild, N108, 2:11.2, £3,989½) – 3 of 8 wins for Maidens
Clarrie Rhodes’s father in law gave Maidens the then eight year old Sonoma Harvester gelding Harvest Child in 1933. One of two high quality winners from the first crop of Sonoma Hanover (other was Sonoma Child – Sapling Stakes), Harvest Child raced with some success (five wins over seven seasons) to that point from stables such as Freeman Holmes but following no returns for Rhodes, he was leased and rejuvenated by Maidens.
Aged nine when Maidens first got him, he won on three occasions, placed second five times together with a third over a twelve month period from January 1934 to January 1935. The first of these wins were at Timaru having been in Maidens stable for six months and as the rank outsider he won the Presidents Hcp, his first win in over four years (previously five wins in 147 starts; second in Paeroa Hcp same day). Rising ten, on a heavy track at Ashburton he won the Ashburton County Hcp (8th favourite in field of twelve) and on NZ Cup Day in November 1934 he won the two mile NZMTC Yaldhurst Hcp at Addington with an excellent staying performance (2nd favourite). His final placed start came in the Selwyn Hcp (Canterbury Park TC) at Addington in early January 1935 where he finished third.
WRACKLER (1925g Wrack/Trix Pointer. 2:08.4, U302, T2:12.0, £8,655) – 1/17 for Maidens (113 starts, 17 wins : 13 pacing/4 trotting)
Wrackler holds the unique position in NZ harness racing, and one unlikely to ever be threatened, as the only horse to have won both the NZ Cup (pacing, 1930) and Dominion Hcp (trotting, 1932), the two premier races. His dam Trix Pointer remains the only NZ Cup winning mare to have left a NZ Cup winner. An early example of a very successful dual gaited horse, his two subsequent NZ Cup performances with a fourth placed finish in 1931 in Harold Logan’s first Cup win and unplaced in 1933. Major pacing victories for other trainers : NZ/GN Derbies; Auckland’s Ranfurly/Spring/Alexandra Hcps; Oamaru Presidents Hcp; NZMTC NZ Cup/Cup heat; Hutt Park NZ Cup trial, NZ Gold Cup.
Following his unsuccessful December 1931 Auckland Cup campaign Wrackler switched to the trotting gait. He won a Dominion Hcp and International Championship Match race Trot before going a couple of seasons without any further success, wins or placings (in 1935 was hacked in retirement for 12 months). Owner Harry Nicoll asked Maidens to take on Wrackler and as an eleven year old (1936/7 season) from the Maidens stables, he ran second to Norma Bingen at Addington’s August National meeting before two days later recording his seventeenth and final win in the Addington Hcp. Off 60 yards, he beat top trotting mare Sea Gift (Dominion Hcp) by 1½ lengths in T3:20 3/5 (1½m). Wrackler finished third to Norma Bingen in the 1936 Dominion Hcp and placed at Ashburton. Moved on again from Maidens stables, a couple of further placings resulted before being retired after his third twelve year old start, unplaced in the August 1937 Federal Hcp at Addington (Kings Play). He did race (unofficially) once more at a patriotic gymkhana in the Ashburton district from 96 yards behind but to no avail.
ROLLO (1925h Jingle/Madam Templeton, U368, 2:10.0, £4,361) – 1/12 for Maidens
Rollo, having been retired out of Roy Berry’s stable was an eleven year old when entering Maidens stables, managing a win, a second and three thirds in the 1936/7 season. Starting off with a second and a third at the NZMTC National meeting (King Edward Hcp, Grand Mogul), his only victory for Maidens was in the Canterbury Hcp (dr Roy Berry) at the New Year’s Day Canterbury Park meeting defeating War Buoy with stablemate Blue Mountain third. It was a day for the mud larks with the track a “sea of slush” when proceedings commenced. Placings were captured in late January/early February 1937 with a third at Forbury Park’s Summer meeting and again five days later at Hutt Park (Rey Spec, NZ Trotting Gold Cup). The following season (1937/8) Rollo finished second in New Brighton’s Beach Hcp (beaten neck by War Buoy).
A good class winner for previous trainers, these included : Denton Memorial, Midsummer Hcp, King George Hcp (twice) at Addington; FPTC James Hcp.
MARIE CELESTE (1926f Man O’War/Princess Zoe, N147, 2:10.6, £1,395) – 4/10 for Maidens
Marie Celeste was nine years of age when she first appeared for Maidens winning the first of four races for him at New Brighton’s December 1935 meeting. Maidens had been suffering from a sever bout of influenza which meant leaving the driving of his team to L Frost. However G Caddy was the rider when Marie Celeste won the saddle event, Electric Hcp. This victory meant that in the space of a week Maidens had trained three winners, five seconds and a third. Third placings for Marie Celeste followed at the Canterbury Park TC (Telegraph/Harewood Hcps) and New Brighton TC mid-February 1936 meetings (Eclipse Hcp) to round out the season’s stake bearing efforts.
Winning on two days of the August 1936 NZMTC National meeting, first Belgium Hcp (11/9, win dividend in excess of fifty pounds) and then Islington Hcp on the second day provided rich pickings early in the new season. A further good day followed in early October at New Brighton with a second in the main race (Walter Thompson Hcp) and victory in the Beach Hcp off 36 yards, her last success for Maidens. It wasn’t until May 1937 that a pair of seconds at Oamaru and Forbury Park (beaten a head) rounded out her efforts from the Maidens stable. Marie Celeste’s efforts were often fair to moderate at best but she still proved a good performer for Maidens.
BLUE MOUNTAIN (1927g Blue Mountain King/Mother Machree, N147, 4:17.6/2 miles, £4,886) – 9/16 wins for Maidens
Together with Peter Smith and Zincali, Blue Mountain formed a threesome of star Maidens performers. Blue Mountain was registered as a grey gelding as a three year old in 1930 although later in life he was pure white. Owned by Mrs Inex Sweetapple of Auckland, Blue Mountain commenced racing as a four year old being retired at ten. Bred in Southland, the son of Auckland Cup winner Blue Mountain King, was initially trained by J M Maconnell, at Drummond in Southland, before later being trained by E Todd at Wyndham. Once he had won his way out of Southland classes, Blue Mountain transferred to Lester Maidens’ Winchmore team. Shortly after that he was trained briefly by Jack (JS) Shaw at Addington before being returned back to Maidens to race in partnership with his owner.
The winner of nine for Maidens, Blue Mountain was a top level performer. After a third placing for Maidens late in his six year old season, his first wins for him came at the start of the 1933/4 season at NZMTC’s National meeting – Belgium and Heathcote Hcps (won by two lengths from Indianapolis). Placings were his lot over the next couple of months including a second in the Ellesmere Hcp and third in Lyttleton Hcp during Cup week. A trip to Forbury Park in late November resulted in a second and a victory in the second day’s main event, Forbury Hcp starting as favourite. A second in the Ashburton Cup (Gold Tinge) was followed with a New Year’s Day success in the Canterbury Hcp at Addington. A day later Blue Mountain was a narrow winner of the Mason Stakes.
Three starts over two days at Forbury Park’s late January 1934 meeting produced two seconds (including Dunedin Cup, won by Lindbergh) and a win in the sprint event, Au Revoir Hcp on the second day. Dragging a buckled sulky wheel in the Linwood Hcp resulted in a third placing at the February NZMTC meeting.
In his first placed effort in the 1934/5 season, Blue Mountain finished second to Silver De Oro in the Weston Hcp at Oamaru on Labour Day. As a prelude to the NZ Cup Carnival at Addington, he sealed victory over Harold Logan (84 yds) in the NZ Cup Trial five days later at Hutt Park. Blue Mountain (4th favourite) went within a length of beating Indianapolis in that champion’s first NZ Cup with another champion, dual NZ Cup winner Harold Logan (1931, 1932) third three lengths away. Indianapolis was required to establish a new winning world record of 4:15 4/5 for the two mile distance on a “dirt” track. Later the same day Blue Mountain fought a torrid battle with Sir Guy finishing second, beaten a neck in the Hagley Hcp.
Blue Mountain (3rd favourite) then finished third in the 1934 Auckland Royal Trotting Cup to Roi l’Or and Worthy Light when a new world “grass” track record for two miles of 4:15 2/5 was set. A second at Hutt Park in early January 1935 rounded out his season.
Next placed for Maidens as a nine year old during an eventful 1936 NZ Cup carnival, Blue Mountain began with a fifth placed performance in the 1936 Cup (Indianapolis’s third successive NZ Cup success). He was to spring a surprise by winning the 1¼m Hagley Hcp on Cup Day paying a double figure win dividend and the Ollivier Handicap (24 yds) in 4.17 3/5 on the second day where he also finished second in the Clarkson Hcp won by Cloudy Range (in all instances bracketed with Rollo). Despite having been in the hands of several trainers, his key successes came with Lester Maidens training and driving him. Third placings at the Canterbury Park TC’s meeting in the Canterbury Hcp won by stablemate Rollo and Mason Stakes when off 60 yds (Cloudy Range) kicked off the 1937 year for Blue Mountain. A brace of second placings eventuated at NZMTC meetings in January (Midsummer Hcp, won by outsider Bingen Palm) and March (Presidents Hcp, beaten a head by Grand Mogul) rounding out his stakes bearings races for the 1936/7 season.
A solitary placing at the NZMTC’s National meeting (Farewell Hcp, Tempest, beaten a neck after fifth placing in National Hcp earlier same day) in August 1937 was the last stakes earning performance by Blue Mountain for Maidens in his ten year old season. The winner of sixteen races, Blue Mountain was being cared for on Mr O H Sprott’s property at Pendarves at the time of his death.
Wins for trainers other than Maidens included : Invercargill Cup; Canterbury Hcp.
GUYZIAH (1927g Real Guy/Wallacena, N754, 2:15.0, £450½) – 3/3 for Maidens
Unlike many of Maidens horses who were cast offs from other stables, Guyziah started racing for Maidens as a late four year old. After a placing at an Ashburton County RC meeting to Cloudy Range, he won over a mile and a half at an Oamaru JC meeting by five lengths when favourite prior to season end (ran second same day).
At five, four placings and his second win was recorded at Ashburton in the Rakaia Hcp (won by a head). At six years of age, seven placings were achieved, four seconds and three thirds. His final win and next placing didn’t come until two seasons later when aged eight, on the opening day of the Westport Christmas meeting, Boxing Day 1936 (dr L Frost) taking out the four horse field Stockton Hcp (reduced by scratchings).
EASTERN PRINCE (1928g Peter Bingen/Harold Dillon mare, N39, 2:18.4, £495) – 1/3 for Maidens
Eastern Prince had six starts for Maidens having gravitated to his stable as an eleven year old (previous winner of two races over five seasons of racing commencing at four). At just his third start for Maidens he won the Achilles Hcp (worth £126 to winner) at the Combined Christchurch TC’s Patriotic meeting in April 1940. Eastern Prince was eighth favourite with bracket mate Warning paying a double figure dividend. It was his first win since the Westland Hcp (April 1937), twenty three starts previous. Maidens won the preceding race with Jesse Owens (Kaikoura Hcp) giving him a double for the day.
Next Time : Continuation of Lester Maidens NZ career.
Peter Craig
9 January 2019
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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