Horse racing: Butterworth continues ownership winning streak

Merv and Meg Butterworth with the New Zealand Cup.

One of racing’s luckiest owners wasn’t feeling all that lucky for much of last Friday before The Race By Grins gave him a shot at one of the more remarkable doubles in New Zealand racing history.

Australian-based owner Merv Butterworth is a regular investor in New Zealand Bloodstock, predominantly in harness racing, having owned 2015 New Zealand Trotting Cup winner Arden Rooney before spreading into thoroughbred ownership around the same time.

As hard as winning one NZ Cup is to beat, Butterworth has found a way this season by not only owning a now two-time New Zealand Trotting Cup winner in Copy That but sharing in the ownership of New Zealand Thoroughbred Derby winner Sharp ‘N’ Smart.

Sharp ‘N’ Smart won the Derby, arguably our greatest thoroughbred race, but also the Herbie Dyke and the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick.

That puts him very much in the conversation for Horse of the Year, alongside Imperartriz, Prowess and Legarto, while Copy That would be the early favourite for Harness Horse of the Year.

The two awards are voted on for different periods, as the thoroughbred season runs from August 1 to July 31, while the harness racing season is now the same as the calendar year.

But Butterworth has a legitimate shot at his horses winning both awards, the rarest of doubles anywhere in the racing world.

“It has been an amazing last 12 months,” smiles Butterworth.

“To win maybe the two biggest races in either code in New Zealand and a race like the Spring Champion Stakes in Sydney and both horses still have a lot in front of them is pretty special.”

The end of this year could include the possibility of having his superstars line up in the biggest Cup race in both countries, the Melbourne Cup for gallopers and the New Zealand Cup for pacers, on consecutive Tuesdays in November.

An owner winning both of those great races in the same era is not unheard of, as Terry Henderson, of OTI Thoroughbreds fame, owned 1993 NZ Cup winner Chokin and 1995 Melbourne Cup winner Doriemus, but as remote a possibility as a same-year double is, Butteworth could have a chance.

If Sharp ‘N’ Smart makes it to Flemington or Copy That returns to try and win a record-equalling third NZ Cup, Butterworth is hoping to enjoy the experience from a bit closer to the action than he did when Copy That led all the way in the $1 million Race by Grins last Friday.

“I spent Friday in hospital having a hernia surgery,” said Butterworth, who owns many of his horses with wife Meg.

“I only really woke up from the operation an hour before the race and managed to watch it on my iPad, and while it was still exciting, it could have been a lot better.”

Butterworth will be more with it for this Friday when Copy That and many of those he conquered last Friday clash again in the $90,000 Dawson Harford Taylor Mile at Alexandra Park. Copy That has again drawn perfectly at barrier two, and with The Race runner-up Old Town Road being allowed to miss this week and the next home in Self Assured and Better Eclipse both drawn poorly, Copy That will be a red hot favourite.

Taylor Mile - Alexandra Park, Friday

1 Smiffys Terror

2 Copy That

3 Nicholas Cage

4 Chimichurri

5 Alta Wiseguy

6 Akuta

7 Harder Than Diamonds

8 Better Eclipse

9 Self Assured

10 Triple Eight