Racing: Takanini trainer lets his champions' results do the talking

By HERALD SPORTS STAFF

Trevor McKee is nothing if not pragmatic.

That means no lavish celebrating after being made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit - in fact, winning tomorrow's $350,000 Westbury Stud Auckland Cup with Ebony Honor or Laughing Cavalier will mean as much to the Takanini trainer as the New Year honour.

Horse racing has been McKee's entire life. It helped him find Sunline, and the champion New Zealand race mare undoubtedly had a role to play in his award.

It will be a surprise to many that McKee was awarded a QSM in June 1990. The only reason he mentioned it yesterday was that it was in front of him on the wall as he answered the phone.

"It's nice to be honoured in this way, but it won't change anything I've been doing for the past 40 years," he said.

McKee does his job with the least amount of fuss and lets the champions like Sunline do most of the talking on the racetracks.

At $10 million stakemoney, that's a lot of talking.

* Bob McDonald's QSM for services to bowls, in particular his work with the partially sighted, will surely be among the most popular of the New Year awards.

Pleasingly, recognition for McDonald comes at the same time as Peter Snell receives his Distinguished Companion honour.

Both were gold medallists at the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games where McDonald - "Porky" to his many friends - and another of the real gentlemen in the sport, Robbie Robson, won the pairs.

McDonald and bowls have long been synonymous.

The winner of the national - then dominion - pairs in Christchurch in 1962 (with his Onehunga clubmate Frank Livingstone as his lead, the last of Livingstone's six titles), McDonald won a second title in 1973 skipping the victorious four.

In the days before composite teams, Onehunga were one of the strongest clubs, and McDonald, who had first played with his father at Ellerslie, was the driving force.

As his competitive days wound down, McDonald's enthusiasm did not.

He played a major role in establishing the Kittyhawks, who have long supported the Halberg Trust with their popular tournaments, which continue to raise huge sums for children with disabilities.

McDonald was also quick to join forces with John Flett in opening a new world to the blind and partially sighted in giving them a genuine sporting interest.

One of lawn bowls' real characters off the green and one of the better performers on it, McDonald has, justifiably, been recognised for both.

* Waitakere City's Roy Williams was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his involvement in athletics spanning more than 50 years.

Williams was a champion decathlon, discus, long jump and hurdles athlete in the 1950s and 1960s. He was New Zealand sportsperson of the year in 1966, the year he won the Commonwealth Games decathlon gold medal at Kingston, Jamaica.

He is a former Waitemata Athletic coach, Auckland Athletics selector and former coach-manager of the New Zealand Athletics team, and for many years has been a respected sports writer.

* Turangi's Mark Willis was named a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his service to karate.

Willis was instrumental in setting up the Japan Karate Association in New Zealand in 1977, and there are now 16 branches in the country.

He holds the rank of fifth dan black belt and has trained many students and instructors. Since 1981 he has coached and/or managed a number of New Zealand teams including the New Zealand youth team.

He is a member of the organising committee for the first Tri-Nations Japan Karate Association Tournament between New Zealand, Australia and South Africa to be held in Sydney in March.

* Professor Shunsuke Takahashi was made a honorary Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, also for his service to karate.

For 25 years he has held the position of chief instructor of the Japan Karate Association of New Zealand.

A Japanese citizen, Takahashi has travelled extensively throughout New Zealand teaching traditional karate and developing members within the association. He has also hosted many members of the New Zealand association who have travelled to Japan for events.