Obituary: Snow Lupton

Snow Lupton was a 'non-fuss' man. Picture / Wanganui Chronicle

Anne Lupton wanted to set the record straight.

The day after the death of her husband, Snow, who trained 1983 Melbourne Cup winner Kiwi, she told how she bought the horse.

Anne Lupton said it was reported in some media that the $1000 for Kiwi at a Waikato sale had come from the housekeeping budget.

"I didn't use the housekeeping money like the some of the papers have reported," Anne Lupton said yesterday.

"I had my own money, not the housekeeping money. I paid for him."

Snow Lupton, 84, died in hospital at Hawera. His first names were Ewen Sneddon but he was known as Snow from a young boy, probably because of his blond hair.

Anne Lupton chose the name Kiwi, and

it was not a name her husband initially approved of.

"As far as he was concerned they were slow birds. He didn't think that was a good name for a racehorse."

Anne Lupton said what she remembered most of the 1983 Melbourne Cup, in which Kiwi produced a stunning finish from last, was the reaction of stable assistant Graham (Shorty) Hare.

"Shorty Hare just about threw me off the grandstand," she said.

The big crowd was also something unfamiliar for the southern Taranaki farming couple from Waverley, near Wanganui.

Kiwi died in 1995 and is buried on the Lupton farm. His headstone reads: "Kiwi, 1983 Melbourne Cup." Anne Lupton said that typified Snow.

"Snowy is a non-fuss fellow. If it had just Kiwi written on it, he would have been happy."

Snow Lupton had a gravel voice, spoke slowly and had an unflappable nature. It was that nature that had Anne Lupton concerned on the night of the Melbourne Cup win.

They were to attend the lavish after-cup function. Anne made her own way to the event while Snow took the horse back to his stables.

As time went by there was no sign of Snow and organisers became anxious. Anne assured them Snow would turn up but she remembered thinking at the time: "I hope he hasn't gone to bed."

Also celebrating the win back home in Waverley was son Warwick. He partied well into the wee hours and a hangover the next day was the least of his worries after he fell down stairs outside the hotel.

"I had a hell of a night," Warwick Lupton, 44, recalled. "I broke my leg in four places. It took a bit to heal."

Warwick Lupton said his father had been in and out of hospital for the past six months. He had been diagnosed with emphysema about 15 years ago.

Snow Lupton's funeral is to be held at the property where Warwick now farms.

Snow Lupton had farmed at the same property, taking over from his father. Warwick said Snow's ashes would be spread over the farm.

There was controversy when Kiwi returned to defend his Melbourne Cup crown in 1984 and

Victorian veterinarians ruled him out of the cup because of what they believed was a scratchy action.

Snow Lupton was not happy and years later his opinion had not changed. In one interview he said: "The whole thing [leg] had been scanned and there was no damage."

It was said the vets had put the horse through a stringent examination which Anne Lupton said was best summed up by fellow New Zealand trainer Kevin Myers, who saw it.

"Kevin remarked that even Phar Lap in the museum would have flinched had he been subject to such tests."

New Zealand media compared the scratching to the infamous cricket underarm bowling incident. Although Snow was disappointed he did not make scathing comments. That was Snow Lupton.

- NZPA