In the next few days, as he prepares for his last race, there will be many words written and spoken about the feats of Smoken Up on the racetrack. No need for me to add to them. But I do have a little story to relate about what he has meant to us, my son and I.
I got interested in harness racing at about the same age as my son but in an entirely different way. When I was a kid my next door neighbour gave me a crystal radio set he was about to throw out. He said it only picked up one station and only worked at night but I could have it if I wanted it. No batteries needed. Stick the earplug in and fiddle with the dial until you tuned in to something. He was right it only picked up one station. 3UZ, a racing station of that time. As I lay in bed the first night I tried it out I caught a race from the Showgrounds. Didn't really know what it was I was listening to at the time. I can remember a horse called Young Globe won but I was more taken in by the noise of the crowd. And from the next morning I went in search of what it was I had listened to.
My sons' introduction was a little different. He had a terrible shyness problem and got very nervous around new people. 'Expert' professional advice followed. But nothing worked. Looking back now a couple of things happened that changed all that.
A horse I bred here won at his first start. I picked my son up from school at lunchtime on the way to his next start. I had to fill in a form to say why I was taking him out of school early. Somehow I didn’t think writing "Taking him to the trots" on it was going to be appropriate. The Principal obviously saw I was a little uncomfortable and said “Just put personal reasons". He won again that day. And that day my son found the same thing I discovered many years before and he was hooked. I don’t know what he said at school the next day but the next time I picked him up early the Principal handed me the form, winked and said "Is your horse in again today Mr Humphreys?" And like me he started investigating what this harness racing was all about.
That got my son moving forward. But how to keep that up?
An idea sprang to mind. I'll take him to the trots. Everyone talks to you at the trots. They don't care who you are and what you have, they just love talking horses. That will help with his shyness. We went to the last night at Moonee Valley. Sat in the stand together all night and just watched. He asked me all sorts of questions and I told him all sorts of stories of what I had seen there in my days. And then to Melton every week. At first he'd hide behind me when I spoke to people he didn't know. But that didn't last long. People came up to him to ask him about how "his horse" was going. No time to hide behind me. And as time went on his confidence slowly grew.
From moving forward to almost rolling. Didn't want him going backwards.
Enter Smoken Up and Lance Justice.
In all his research he found a horse he took a liking to. Of course I knew of Smoken Up, but he set his mind to finding out all he could about his new found idol. And he did. He used up a months internet allowance in 2 days watching his replays! We went everywhere to watch him. I saw Lance was down as a speaker at a function so booked us in. At question time my son stood up and asked him a question. A Smoken Up question of course. The boy who hid behind me was now standing up in a room full of strangers asking questions. When the function was over Lance came over and took him aside and had a chat to him about Smoken Up. I never asked what was said. I didn’t have to. I had a beaming young kid with me all the way home who couldn’t get the smile off of his face. Our trainer rang the next day and asked how we went. And it must have been something in my voice as I told him of our night because when I'd finished he said "So what time is Lance coming to pick your horse up?"
Now he's rolling
Our horse won a race later that had a trophy attached. When the race was done my son asked if he could make the speech. “You want to do what? You’re sure?” He really wanted to do it so off he went. And he did a great job. There were a few glows in the car on the way home that night. The dashboard lights of course and a proud dad and owner. But none brighter than the one emanating from the passenger seat. From his face you’d think he’d climbed Mt Everest. Maybe he had. The next day his school report came home. It commented "He has problems talking in front of an audience". HA!! His teachers could not believe it when they were told what he'd done the night before.
From rolling to flying!
As reward for his efforts at school I took him to the Miracle Mile to cheer for Smoken Up. Our first trip away together. We met heaps of new people. Met harness people because he had the form guide out all over the breakfast table at the hotel we were staying at near the track. Yes he was nervous but nothing like he was before. A mention of Smoken Up and you couldn’t shut him up. We had a great time and have been back to see him race there 4 more times. Every time we met new people and all the time he became more comfortable. And over to Adelaide 4 times to watch him. Again we met new people. Once to Adelaide to witness the great race. The one we reckon was his greatest win. And to Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, Cranbourne and Melton and everywhere in between. 1000’s of miles and 100’s of hours spent with my son to watch a champion horse run.
All the ‘wise advice’ and nothing worked. He's got a long way to go but he's doing just fine. And mostly because of a horse. In years to come I hope he remembers. I'm sure he will. Just like that kid with the crystal radio set does.
So Smoken Up is much, much more than a champion racehorse to us. We’ve got a lot to thank him for and we will very much miss going to watch him race. He's more than the awesome beast that ground his opposition into submission and broke the hearts of the best ones. He's more than the horse that gave us so many thrills and much excitement. He's more than the horse with an unbelievable will to win.
He's the 'King of Horses'. And for the way he made us feel whenever we travelled to see him race he's also the ‘Horse of Kings’.
Go well Trigger!
