A colourful character named Dan O’Brien bought the Musket colt he first named Mauser and then renamed Carbine at a Sylvia Park, Auckland, auction for 625 guineas. He was unbeaten in five New Zealand starts at two, and O’Brien took him to Melbourne as a spring three-year-old to race in the VRC Derby. Narrowly beaten – he was reputedly beaten by the jockey’s over-confidence – in the Derby, he won two races in Melbourne for O’Brien before being bought for 3000 pounds by Australian sportsman Donald Wallace. For Wallace he became the first true champion of Australian racing, transcending Victorian/New South Wales rivalries. He started 43 times for 33 wins, six seconds and three thirds, his stake earnings of 29,626 pounds a record for more than 20 years. The apogee of his racing career was the 1890 Melbourne Cup, which he won over a record field (38), with a record weight (10st 5lb, or 66kg) in record time. No horse had previously won with as much weight; no horse has since, in more than a hundred years. In the closing stages Carbine outfinished a lightweight named Highborn, to whom he was conceding 3st 11lb, or 24kg. Highborn later won the Sydney Cup with 9st 3lb! Carbine went to stud for four years in Australia, and sired the winners of more than 200 races. Then he was sold privately to the Duke of Portland, and, despite standing in England alongside the great St Simon, founded the triple Derby-winning dynasty of Spearmint, Spion Kop and Felstead. His blood flows through the veins of Nearco, Hyperion and all their great descendants.

Race Record:
43 starts, 33 wins, 6 seconds, 3 thirds.
Prizemoney:
29,626 pounds (a record for over 20 years)

Carbine was kindly sponsored by the Chianti Stallion Partnership. Chianti is an Irish bred 1998 bay stallion by Danehill from Sabbah. He stands at Te Runga Stud, Pukekohe. For further details contact Wayne Larsen (Studmaster) at 027-497-5115 or refer to websites www.terungastud.co.nz or www.chianti.co.nz.

Richard Mason was regarded as the outstanding trainer of New Zealand racing’s first epoch. His record in what would now be described as New Zealand’s black-type races remains unmatched to this day and he made regular trips across the Tasman over a period of 20-plus years to beat the Australians on their home ground. Mason trained for 22 years for George Stead when Stead was the dominant owner in the country – indeed, no owner since has equalled the dominance achieved by the yellow and black Stead colours around the turn of the 20th Century. On Stead’s death, Mason went training for a new patron, George Dean Greenwood, and for him won a further 11 Derbies, 10 Jackson Plates, nine CJC Challenge Stakes… well, a further 58 races on either side of the Tasman which would these days carry black type. He was credited at his death with having trained 30 Derby winners, on either side of the Tasman, and he won 57 races with the great Gloaming alone. Dick Mason died in 1932, in his 80th year, just a week after Gloaming died, aged 17, on George Greenwood’s Teviotdale Station.

Dick Mason was sponsored by Hamilton based accountancy firm - Beattie Rickman which has recently merged with PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand. Please call 07-838-3838 or go to www.clevercompanies.co.nz for further information.

Colourful characters abound in the world of racing and Hector Gray can certainly lay claim to being one of our most notorious.

Legendary for his clashes with racing authority Gray was put out of racing on two occasions for periods of two and three years, but the most notable was his suspension for life, which was later remitted to five years.

Whatever the misdemeanours were, no-one could take away from the fact that Hector Gray was one of the most talented jockeys New Zealand has ever seen. As happens with only the rarest of champions, his name became a byword for excellence; the greatest since Hector Gray.

Sneaking away from home against his father’s wishes, Gray began riding in 1902.

Riding what was then a record of 921 winners in New Zealand, Gray was the first to ride a “century” in a season, kicking home 116 winners in 1930-31.

He won seven premierships, the first in1909-10 and the last in 1930-31.  Had he not spent so much time out of the saddle and riding overseas there is no doubt he would have won plenty more titles.

Riding in Australia, England, Belgium and France, he had the notable achievement of riding a winner in his first ride in each country and internationally rode more than 100 winners. 

When his last disqualification of five years was lifted in the 1929-30 season, Gray returned to the saddle. Now in his mid-forties, the old master wasn’t about to let his time out of the saddle and a new generation of younger horsemen, including the brilliant youngster Keith Voitre, get in his way.

In his second to last season he won the premiership with 75 wins and followed that up in his last season with his record of 116.

Hector Gray’s character led him to push the boundaries. His character was no doubt also the reason he achieved the reputation of being one of our all time greatest jockeys. 

Sir George was born in New Zealand but educated in England at Stonyhurst College, after which he named his sheep and thoroughbred station in North Canterbury. Sir George bred and raced on a huge scale, standing several generations of homebred stallions at Stonyhurst with a good deal of success. Clifford horses, trained at Chokebore Lodge by Edward Cutts, won 181,258 pounds on the turf, eclipsing the tallies of Australia’s most prominent owners of the day, and won 116 classic or semi-classic races over a 50-year period. For the first decade of the 20th Century, virtually his only challenger as leading owner was fellow Cantabrian George Stead. Both frequently travelled their horses north to Auckland to win the major races at Ellerslie. Sir George was unchallenged as president of the New Zealand Racing Conference for a 30-year period, up to his death aged 82 in 1930. Yet he still found time, while running his big breeding and racing operation, to have hands-on involvement in the production of the first official New Zealand Stud Book (1900), and the next two or three volumes as well.

Sir George Clifford was proudly sponsored by Barry and Deidre Neville-White of Auckland. Barry Neville-White is a past Chairman of the Auckland Racing Club. It is interesting to note that the first five inaugural inductees into the NZ Racing Hall of Fame were based or born in Canterbury.

Commonly described as the Father of the New Zealand Turf, Henry Redwood was a pioneer in the world of thoroughbred breeding and racing.

The English immigrant, who arrived in Nelson, in 1842 at the age of 19, would go on to establish New Zealand’s first thoroughbred stud and become one of New Zealand’s leading owners of his era.

Initially setting up stables in Spring Creek near Blenheim, Redwood imported horses from both Australia and Europe. In about 1852 Redwood brought a shipment of stallions and 20 mares and fillies from Australia. Their progeny would go on to win on both sides of the Tasman.

In 1863 Redwood’s mare Ladybird won the first New Zealand Champion Race against horses from Australia and New Zealand.

Convincing Australian trainers George and Edward Cutts to come and train for him in New Zealand, the previously amateur racing scene in New Zealand took on a professional air.

After establishing stables near Riccarton Racecourse known as Chokebore Lodge, Redwood went into partnership with James Watt, the first Auckland Racing Club President. As testament to Redwood’s historical impact, his stables still stand today after being faithfully restored and recycled with the original bricks; they now house a restaurant.

A man of integrity Redwood was known for his sternness to his stable boys and his kindness to his horses. A story is told of how Redwood successfully raced Strop in Sydney then sold him.  Not satisfied with the horse’s treatment by the new owners he bought him back at a loss to give the horse an honourable retirement in Nelson.

Redwood’s colours, a black jacket and red cap were well known throughout New Zealand and Australia. He won the Wellington Cup and Dunedin Cup twice, the Canterbury Cup three times and the Nelson Marlborough Cups four times. His victories were always popular.

A staunch Catholic, Redwood was married to Elizabeth with whom he had two sons and a daughter.

Redwood died on 9 November 1907 aged 85 years. His role in establishing the New Zealand racing industry can not be overlooked.
 

George Gatenby Stead was 12 times leading owner in the 1890s and early 1900s, but this conveys only a part of the influence he wielded on New Zealand racing in the early days. He was treasurer of the Canterbury Jockey Club for more than 30 years and chairman from the turn of the century, at a time when the strength of New Zealand racing was very much based in Canterbury. Active in the formation of the Racing Conference, he was much involved in the formation of a uniform set of rules throughout the country, and oversaw the building of a railway line from the main line to Riccarton racecourse. At first a leviathan punter, he became an enthusiastic supporter of the totalisator and was played a leading role in moving New Zealand racing to an all-totalisator structure. With only two trainers – David Jones and Dick Mason – during a 30-year period, Stead raced many of the best gallopers of his era and won all the country’s feature races on numerous occasions. He also made some stunningly successful raids on Sydney racing. He was a fearless buyer of bloodstock, but also imported some significant stallions and broodmares to New Zealand.

George Stead was proudly sponsored by the Canterbury Jockey Club - the premier racing club in the South Island. Stead is recognised as the founder of the Canterbury Jockey Club.