Racing: Inductees put NZ on map

Fourteen thoroughbred racing icons were last night inducted into the inaugural New Zealand Hall Of Fame.

The 14 inductees were announced at a dinner in Auckland which was attended by about 450 guests, including Prime Minister Helen Clark and Racing Minister Winston Peters.

Making up the 14 inductees were five horses and nine people.

The horses were champions of yesteryear Carbine, Gloaming, Phar Lap and Kindergarten, while representing the modern era was Sunline.

Among the nine people were two owners-administrators, two trainers, four jockeys and a breeder.

The owners-administrators were George Stead and Sir George Clifford. The trainers were Dick Mason and Dave O'Sullivan, the jockeys were Bill Broughton, Bill and Bob Skelton and Lance O'Sullivan. The breeder was Sir Patrick Hogan.

Hall of Fame chairman, Manawatu breeder Gerald Fell, said the greats of New Zealand racing could now be rightfully honoured.

"It is high time our industry recognised and honoured excellence and achievements that have enriched the New Zealand thoroughbred industry both equine and human," Fell said.

"These horses and people have been responsible for the success of our industry and the respect it holds in the racing and breeding world today.

"New Zealand was in real danger of losing some of our early racing and breeding heritage with the passage of time. Already many of our greats are only a dim memory to the current generation.

"Even Australia had been claiming some of our greats in their Hall Of Fame so it was high time we set up our own so we could celebrate our heroes of the New Zealand industry in a fitting manner."

Hall Of Fame inductees will have a permanent and dedicated display in the new racing museum at Ellerslie.

One of the organisers, Hamilton accountant and racing enthusiast Chris Luoni, said it had been a long haul, but after attending an Australian Hall Of Fame dinner in Adelaide a couple of years ago, it was a natural that we had something the same.

Fell and Luoni have put together a $70,000, 45 minute video honouring the inductees.

Those honoured:

CARBINE: Probably the greatest horse to race in this part of the world. The 10 stone 5 pounds he carried to victory in the 1890 Melbourne Cup remains a record as does the 39 rivals he beat. He conceded 53lbs to the runner-up Highborn in that race. Carbine won 33 of his 43 starts despite foot problems.He sired English Derby winner Spearmint, who left Derby winner Spion Kop whose son Felstead also won the Derby. Carbine was the lynch pin of the sire dynasties of Nearco and Hyperion in the 20th century.

GEORGE GATENBY STEAD and SIR GEORGE CLIFFORD: New Zealand's two most successful owners. They had things between them for the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. Stead's famous yellow jacket and black cap were carried by Menschikoff, Royal Artillery, Machine Gun and Noctuiform, all champions or near-champions. He won the NZ Cup 4 times, Auckland Cup 3 times, Wellington Cup 4 times and the NZ Derby 13 times. Clifford's list included the Great Northern Derby 5 times, NZ Derby 4 times, the Oaks 5 times and a remarkable 16 victories in the CJC Champagne Stakes.

GLOAMING: The champion of the 1920s when trained by the near-genius Dick Mason. Gloaming equalled Desert Gold's record of 19 consecutive victories and would have extended that to a remarkable 29 but for a form-reversal second. Retired with record earnings and career stats of 67 starts for 57 wins, 9 seconds and only one unplaced run when the open barrier strand wrapped around his neck, causing him to fall.

PHAR LAP: A bargain basement New Zealand-bred who became the legendary Australian Depression hero. A massive racehorse with heart to match, Big Red terrorised the opposition, taking the 1930 Melbourne Cup carrying a whopping 9 stone 12 lb. His career ended in tragedy and controversy when days after winning the world's richest horse race, the Agua Caliente Handicap in New Mexico he died of poisoning.

BILL and BOB SKELTON: Bill Skelton broke Keith Voitre's long-standing record of 123 wins in a season when he rode home 124 in the 1967-68 term. He retired in the mid-1980s with a record 2156 victories in New Zealand and more than 20 in Australia. Brother Bob was a specialist rider of stayers. His judgment of pace was superb and it was fitting he won the 1976 Melbourne Cup on Van Der Hum. Bob Skelton was the second New Zealand-born jockey to ride 2000 winners, the last 261 of them in Australia. Retired and in his 70s, Bob Skelton still rides work in provincial Melbourne.

KINDERGARTEN: The champion oldtimers always spoke of as the only great in the same class as Carbine and Phar Lap. Was injured and spelled after his sole start in Australia and the uncertainty of wartime shipping of the early 1940s meant he was never to return. Beat everything in New Zealand pointlessly, taking the ARC Easter Handicap at Ellerslie as a 3-year-old carrying 9 stone 11lb, 17lb above weight-for-age.

SIR PATRICK HOGAN: With clever planning and intuition he developed a breeding empire to a near art form. Widely regarded as the icon thoroughbred breeding figure in this part of the world, Hogan dominated group one racing on both sides of the Tasman. The blood of Cambridge Stud patriarch Sir Tristram is welded into the pedigrees of many topliners as is the influence more recently of Zabeel.

DAVE and LANCE O'SULLIVAN: At the same times as siring a dynasty, Dave O'Sullivan built from scratch one of the most feared stables in New Zealand. He became the first foreign trainer to produce the winner, Horlicks, of the then world's richest horse race, the Japan Cup. Lance O'Sullivan is New Zealand's most successful jockey, with a record 2380 victories in New Zealand and 99 overseas. He rode 62 group one winners, 40 of them from the O'Sullivan Wexford Stables.

SUNLINE: The 13 group one victories says it all. Even the Australians regard her as the best mare they've seen. The 32 victories from 49 starts included many remarkable performances, three of the best being two Cox Plates and victory over Hong Kong champion Fairy King Prawn in the Hong Kong Mile at Shatin. The award should also acknowledge the marvellous handling and placement of Trevor and Stephen McKee.

BILL BROUGHTON: Won 11 jockeys premierships without ever being associated with a champion and completely dominated the 1940s. Retired with 1446 wins, remarkable given the small number of racedays during his career.

DICK MASON: Rated by his contemporaries in the early part of the 20th century as the greatest trainer in the Southern Hemisphere. He trained 30 Derby winners and was not frightened to scratch if he thought he could not win. Trained champion Gloaming to 57 wins and 9 seconds from 67 starts.