Sir Tristram could be a mean and unpredictable character, but a forgiving John White will always be in debt to the superstar stallion.
The multiple champion sire possessed a notoriously nasty streak and always required vigilance and careful handling.
“I went to Cambridge Stud when it first opened and I was Sir Tristram’s groom for five of the six years I was there and he was a bastard, but he made me a horseman,” White said.
“I was very happy go lucky, but you had to be on your toes. He was tough, but at the same time I’ve got a photo by Brian de Lore of me leaning over the gate and giving Sir Tristram a kiss.”
Experience gained at the iconic nursery was a forerunner to the success he was later to enjoy after opening John White Bloodstock in Cambridge nearly three decades ago.
White was born and grew up in Christchurch where the first racing seeds were sown.
“My grandfather used to take me to the trots at Addington on Saturday afternoons when I was a little fellow. I had to sit with Nana while he went down and had a beer with his mates,” he said.
“Later on when I was about 12 or 13, I worked first thing in the morning and took one or two horses to the track at Riccarton for Bill Beck and after that I did weekend work and holidays with John Barr.”
On finishing his education at Lincoln High School, White worked in the standardbred industry at Roydon Lodge Stud and at the freezing works.
“In 1972, I went to Melbourne and worked for Angus Armanasco for four months, Keith Hawtin was there at the same time,” he said.
“I came home and went back to the freezing works was still going to races before I came up north and worked for a year at Blandford Lodge, David Benjamin employed me and when he left, I went to Pirongia Stud for Jack Macky for a year.”
Cambridge Stud was to follow before White and wife Jan ran a dairy.
“The Allen brothers at Allegra Park headhunted me to work for them and I sold the shop not long after and was their yearling manager for six years,” he said.
White set up his bloodstock business in 1998, drawing on the numerous contacts made through previous years across New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong.
“That was the key to it all, I did pre-inspection work at all the sales in Australia for Graeme Rogerson and the like, and Bevan Laming has been buying horses off me for 20-odd years,” he said.
“I did horses for the Tai brothers in Hong Kong for 20-odd years, William Tai died 18 months ago and he was my main man and found all the people who had permits there.
“We worked in together and bought horses for Dennis Yip and they went to other places, to David Hayes and Gary Moore, who was in Macau at the time.”
White, who also bred the 1984 Group 1 South Australia Oaks winer Neliska, has sourced more than 150 individual winners for Hong Kong and is now taking a more laid-back approach.
“I’ve still got clients, but I’m 71 now and enjoying a quieter life and racing a couple of horses as well,” he said.
Q & A
Do you remember the first horse you bought?
“It was a horse called French Connection who went to Hong Kong. He was by Catrail and I bought him off Murray Baker and he was the first winner Dennis Yip trained. I had bought and raced horses for myself before that.”
Do you have any sale day superstitions?
“No, not really but I went to take a photo of one of my horses before a race and my wife said you can’t do that, but what will be, will be.”
Best horse you’ve ever bought or being associated with?
“Hill Of Grace (G1 Australia Stakes), I bought her (85,000) as a yearling for Terry Jarvis.”
Do you have a favourite nick/cross when sourcing yearlings?
“Not really, I look for all the top sires in the pedigrees and anything out of a Zabeel or Sir Tristram mare.”
Favourite current sire and of yesteryear?
“At the moment Savabeel and Super Seth is the best young chance and then Sir Tristram and Le Filou.”
Most memorable day at the races?
“Any day you have a winner is a good one.”
