On Friday 5th March 2010 the New Zealand Racing Hall of Fame inducted its 10 new inductees at a black tie dinner at Ellerslie before an audience of 400 people.
The new inductees are:
Ray Verner - Auckland
Racing's Reluctant Maestro
* Took up training reluctantly to help his aging father.
* Became a Master Trainer, renowned for his conditioning of horses & named NZ
* Racing Personality of the Year in 1978.
* Trained top stayers like Good Lord (two Wellington Cups, Sydney Cup); sprinters
like Blue Blood and Gold Hope; and weight-for-age horses like Prince Majestic and
The Gentry.
* Integral part of a training dynasty spanning more than 70 years that continues to
this day.
John Wheeler – New Plymouth
Ambassador Extraordinaire
* More successful in Australia than any other New Zealand trainer of modern times.
* Trained three near-champions – Poetic Prince, Rough Habit and Veandercross (in
Australia) and won major Australian races (including a dozen Group Ones) with all
three.
* Dominated Australia's jumping scene for years (winning seven Great Eastern
Steeplechases at Oakbank); and won Nakayama Grand Jump in Tokyo with St
Steven.
* A leading trainer at home and a great ambassador for his country.
Linda Jones M.B.E.- Cambridge
Blazing the Trail
* Led the 1970s fight for the right of women to be jockeys.
* Media sensation in her first riding season, 1978-79; was equal-second in NZ Jockey's
Premiership when a race fall halted her season.
* Her success and celebrity status took pressure off young women who were to
follow.
* First female jockey in the world to ride a recognised Derby winner; to ride winners
at Ellerslie and Trentham, and against male jockeys at a registered Australian
meeting.
David Peake - Auckland
The Ultimate Professional
* First appeared on winning jockeys' list 1962-63; retired 40 years later as the winner
of 2,085 races in New Zealand, the third biggest-winning jockey in New Zealand
history.
* Won six NZ Jockey Premierships, rode most winners of any jockey in the 1970s
(794) and held the course record for winners at Ellerslie (392) until topped by
Lance O'Sullivan.
* Especially renowned as a rider of stayers; rode track work regularly over many
years, always hard, fit and professional.
Grenville Hughes - Auckland
Mr Charismatic
* Twenty years after he retired from race riding, Grenville was a guest on Radio
Pacific. The switchboard was jammed with calls all afternoon.
* Other jockeys bettered Grenville's lifetime tally of 1,278 wins, but none equalled
his popularity with the public. Grenville had charisma.
* A master stylist and judge of pace, he excelled in weight-for-age races and is
especially remembered for his partnership with chestnut champion Mainbrace, on
whom he won 23 races from 24 rides.
Grey Way
The Washdyke Wonder
* 164 starts, 51 wins, 27 seconds, 21 thirds, NZ$235,020, A$8,400
* First win at Rangiora October 1972, his last win was on the same racecourse eight
years later. His 50 wins in New Zealand, often against outstanding opposition, beat
* Black Duke's previous NZ record of 46.
* Won from 1200 to 2000m but probably best at 1600m, at which distance he scored
great wins in the ARC Easter Handicap and the WRC George Adams.
Defaulter
The Overlooked Champion
* 28 starts, 22 wins, one second, one third, 11,890 pounds
* Outstanding performer at the end of the 1930s; won last seven at two years and 10
straight as 3YO, a first-up defeat at three interrupting a sequence of 18.
* Beat the best in Australia as well as New Zealand, winning five weight-for-age races
in Sydney against vintage opposition and at distances from seven furlongs to two
and a quarter miles.
* Retired to stud, he was a successful sire.
Horlicks
International Achiever
* 40 starts, 17 wins (six at Group One), 10 seconds, 2 thirds. NZ$3,411,682, A$625,000
* Won 16 in Australia and New Zealand, including New Zealand's first two million-
dollar races and the L.K.S. MacKinnon Stakes in Melbourne.
* But career highlight undoubtedly the grey mare's defeat of strong international
field in the Japan Cup, in which she ran the 2400m in world record time.
* Later successful broodmare, Melbourne Cup winner Brew being her best progeny.
Eulogy
Broodmare Par Excellence
* Imported to New Zealand 1915, bred 13 winners of 70 races.
* Her four best foals (Commendation, Esteem, Epitaph and Homage) between them
won 10 three-year-old classics and 10 prestigious two-year-old races.
* Eulogy's eight daughters bred some of the best racehorses of the era. The family
has bred on, later descendants including champions Show Gate, Il Tempo, Kingdom
Bay and Bonecrusher. Miss Potential ushered the family into the new millennium.
Bonecrusher
He never quit
* 44 starts, 18 wins (nine Group One, six of these in Australia), five seconds, 12
thirds; NZ$674,225, A$1,679,495.
* Champion NZ 3YO, home wins including NZ Derby and Air New Zealand Stakes,
followed by stunning Sydney wins in Tancred Stakes and AJC Derby.
* Following spring won a memorable Cox Plate duel with Waverley Star.
* Beat At Talaq in Australian Cup, again displaying huge will to win.
* Won another Air New Zealand Stakes at five, despite injury problems.
The principal sponsor of this year's Racing Hall of Fame event is New Zealand Bloodstock, while other key sponsors are Trelawney Stud, Marie Leicester and Paul Kenny, Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, Dunstan Feeds, TRAC, Canterbury Jockey Club, Auckland Racing Club, Majestic Horse Floats, The Informant and Coupland's Bakeries.
- NZTR Website
The new inductees are:
Ray Verner - Auckland
Racing's Reluctant Maestro
* Took up training reluctantly to help his aging father.
* Became a Master Trainer, renowned for his conditioning of horses & named NZ
* Racing Personality of the Year in 1978.
* Trained top stayers like Good Lord (two Wellington Cups, Sydney Cup); sprinters
like Blue Blood and Gold Hope; and weight-for-age horses like Prince Majestic and
The Gentry.
* Integral part of a training dynasty spanning more than 70 years that continues to
this day.
John Wheeler – New Plymouth
Ambassador Extraordinaire
* More successful in Australia than any other New Zealand trainer of modern times.
* Trained three near-champions – Poetic Prince, Rough Habit and Veandercross (in
Australia) and won major Australian races (including a dozen Group Ones) with all
three.
* Dominated Australia's jumping scene for years (winning seven Great Eastern
Steeplechases at Oakbank); and won Nakayama Grand Jump in Tokyo with St
Steven.
* A leading trainer at home and a great ambassador for his country.
Linda Jones M.B.E.- Cambridge
Blazing the Trail
* Led the 1970s fight for the right of women to be jockeys.
* Media sensation in her first riding season, 1978-79; was equal-second in NZ Jockey's
Premiership when a race fall halted her season.
* Her success and celebrity status took pressure off young women who were to
follow.
* First female jockey in the world to ride a recognised Derby winner; to ride winners
at Ellerslie and Trentham, and against male jockeys at a registered Australian
meeting.
David Peake - Auckland
The Ultimate Professional
* First appeared on winning jockeys' list 1962-63; retired 40 years later as the winner
of 2,085 races in New Zealand, the third biggest-winning jockey in New Zealand
history.
* Won six NZ Jockey Premierships, rode most winners of any jockey in the 1970s
(794) and held the course record for winners at Ellerslie (392) until topped by
Lance O'Sullivan.
* Especially renowned as a rider of stayers; rode track work regularly over many
years, always hard, fit and professional.
Grenville Hughes - Auckland
Mr Charismatic
* Twenty years after he retired from race riding, Grenville was a guest on Radio
Pacific. The switchboard was jammed with calls all afternoon.
* Other jockeys bettered Grenville's lifetime tally of 1,278 wins, but none equalled
his popularity with the public. Grenville had charisma.
* A master stylist and judge of pace, he excelled in weight-for-age races and is
especially remembered for his partnership with chestnut champion Mainbrace, on
whom he won 23 races from 24 rides.
Grey Way
The Washdyke Wonder
* 164 starts, 51 wins, 27 seconds, 21 thirds, NZ$235,020, A$8,400
* First win at Rangiora October 1972, his last win was on the same racecourse eight
years later. His 50 wins in New Zealand, often against outstanding opposition, beat
* Black Duke's previous NZ record of 46.
* Won from 1200 to 2000m but probably best at 1600m, at which distance he scored
great wins in the ARC Easter Handicap and the WRC George Adams.
Defaulter
The Overlooked Champion
* 28 starts, 22 wins, one second, one third, 11,890 pounds
* Outstanding performer at the end of the 1930s; won last seven at two years and 10
straight as 3YO, a first-up defeat at three interrupting a sequence of 18.
* Beat the best in Australia as well as New Zealand, winning five weight-for-age races
in Sydney against vintage opposition and at distances from seven furlongs to two
and a quarter miles.
* Retired to stud, he was a successful sire.
Horlicks
International Achiever
* 40 starts, 17 wins (six at Group One), 10 seconds, 2 thirds. NZ$3,411,682, A$625,000
* Won 16 in Australia and New Zealand, including New Zealand's first two million-
dollar races and the L.K.S. MacKinnon Stakes in Melbourne.
* But career highlight undoubtedly the grey mare's defeat of strong international
field in the Japan Cup, in which she ran the 2400m in world record time.
* Later successful broodmare, Melbourne Cup winner Brew being her best progeny.
Eulogy
Broodmare Par Excellence
* Imported to New Zealand 1915, bred 13 winners of 70 races.
* Her four best foals (Commendation, Esteem, Epitaph and Homage) between them
won 10 three-year-old classics and 10 prestigious two-year-old races.
* Eulogy's eight daughters bred some of the best racehorses of the era. The family
has bred on, later descendants including champions Show Gate, Il Tempo, Kingdom
Bay and Bonecrusher. Miss Potential ushered the family into the new millennium.
Bonecrusher
He never quit
* 44 starts, 18 wins (nine Group One, six of these in Australia), five seconds, 12
thirds; NZ$674,225, A$1,679,495.
* Champion NZ 3YO, home wins including NZ Derby and Air New Zealand Stakes,
followed by stunning Sydney wins in Tancred Stakes and AJC Derby.
* Following spring won a memorable Cox Plate duel with Waverley Star.
* Beat At Talaq in Australian Cup, again displaying huge will to win.
* Won another Air New Zealand Stakes at five, despite injury problems.
The principal sponsor of this year's Racing Hall of Fame event is New Zealand Bloodstock, while other key sponsors are Trelawney Stud, Marie Leicester and Paul Kenny, Taranaki Thoroughbred Racing, Dunstan Feeds, TRAC, Canterbury Jockey Club, Auckland Racing Club, Majestic Horse Floats, The Informant and Coupland's Bakeries.
- NZTR Website
