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Thread: What got you hooked??

  1. #21
    Banned Foal The new German will become famous soon enough
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    Marty Johnson
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    Quote Originally Posted by Danno View Post
    with all the negative stuff thats doing the rounds I thought I might try somthing to bring out some positive stuff.... so what got you hooked??

    this is my story,

    A short trottin’ story
    I come from a family of horse people, one of my earliest memories was of me trying to convince my Dad we should have a horse in the backyard, just like Pop. Dad said “mate we just don’t have the room here” my response “ we could just get a little one, maybe a foal! “ Too young to realize, my mum and Dad got married very early in life, mum was looking after us 4 kids, dad a fireman on a regular, but limited income and another large mouth to feed was out of the question.
    I was entranced by horses from my earliest memories, I don’t why, I just was.
    A few years later, when I was about eleven ( many years to me, at the time) dad had made several promotions in the fire brigade and an opportunity had come to learn the ropes of the trotting game from a fellow fireman, Ron Connell.
    I was in there straight away! Mucking out boxes, putting on boots, hosing down and cooling off, all the things the adults really didn’t want to do, mate I loved it!
    Dad was doing his ticket ( driver’s permit) with a big skinny chestnut mare Ron had, called “Gay Marie” , a well bred NZ mare, who apparently had become disenchanted with the racing side of things. Gay Marie actually left a couple of handy progeny later in life despite her disaffection with racing, although she had apparently won a race before Dad got her.
    Anyway Dad completes his trial drives and we take her to Cessnock trots for her first start for us ( notice how I say US! I was well and truly part of the team at this stage! ) It’s Dads first drive in a race and old Gay Marie doesn’t surprise anyone, she runs fair dinkum a hundred yards last. Didn’t try a yard! But that was pretty much what we expected by that stage.
    Gay Marie becomes the first horse we sack! I really don’t remember how I felt about that at the time.
    Anyhow* very shortly later Dad has leased a late 3YO gelding from “Spotlight Watson” of Kurri Kurri who had a bowed tendon, but had shown some promise. His racing name was “Charmed Gift” and for us he was well named!
    Charmed Gift, a 1967 foal by Attacks Gift from “Charmhaven”, a mare that Rugby League legend John Sattler, drove his first couple of winners on. Not a well known fact.
    “ Spot” as well called him, ( an undying habit in our family is to name a horse after the person you got it off) was one lovely horse, a beautiful nature, a tryer that wasn’t blessed with enormous ability but had a go every time he went around.
    A couple of trials and many gear and shoeing adjustments later and Spot was ready for his first lifetime start, September 1970,at Newcastle, over 10 furlongs and 28 yards.
    Horse and driver both went super leading throughout in the mud to win by a nose!
    Spot was no star but his finest moment was about 18 months later, he’d won another race by then and was a 2.26 class horse (C2 on today’s terms), any way Dad decides he’s going to have a trip away with the horse, try some “big tracks” like Penrith and Canberra, because he reckons Spot feels like he’s not happy on the tight turns of Maitland and Newcastle ( both 550 metre and 600 metre tracks in those days.)
    We get to Penrith for the Thursday night meeting, Spot’s a 100/1 in against horses like Hal Peterson ( K.Newman) and Royal Calypso ( P.Hall)… in a bloody ‘26 front at Penrith!!!
    Dads mate Roger says to dad “we’ve got no hope here mate save our dough for Canberra ,what do you reckon?” Dad says nah I reckon I’ll something on him tonight, just in CASE!
    Spot jumps out, sits behind the leader Hal Petersen, Dad and horse go for a run that’s not there at the 600m, get legs taken, all over.
    We ( Dad, Roger and I, (who was wagging school for a few days) camped at Penrith in the stables that night before heading to Canberra the next day.
    We get to Canberra and old spot is absolutely out of his skin! I had never seen him so “bull at a gate” He’d changed a bit from my old casual mate to being fair dinkum on his toes!!
    I was a bit worried about Spot, and had a “heart to heart” conversation with him in the stable before we geared him up “ mate if you don’t do the job today it may be all over, Dad and Roger have backed you off the map”
    Spot is in a standing start (only form of start in those days unless you were in the miracle Mile, which obviously we weren’t) over 12 furlongs or three laps of the half mile circuit.
    Starter lets the tapes fly and Spot does something he had never done before and never did again in his entire life, he gallops hopelessly at the start !, got left at least 100 yards. I was gutted! All this way for a knock down and now this!
    Now Spot was the sort of horse that would jump in the first two or three and finish in the first two or three, giving the leaders a big start was something he had never done and, in our minds was something he was incapable of overcoming.
    I was standing at the entrance to the track, which was situated at the bottom of the home straight, in other words we were looking up the horses backsides as they went down the home straight. As the horses went up the back straight the first time around, Spot had finally got back in his gear but was a bloody long way behind the last horse let alone the leaders. I couldn’t believe it! It was completely NOT SPOT.
    As the race progressed Spot was gradually making ground on the field, I thought at one stage, gee me might actually beat one or two home, wouldn’t that be a run!
    With a lap to go Spot had caught the field and dad was gaining cheap, gradual yards up the fence, and I thought “ great effort but it’s going to tell in the last 800m”
    Up the back straight the last time spot and dad kept making ground along the inside and when they got to where we were standing at the bottom of the straight, Spot was in the thick of it, only about two lengths off the leader, I thought geez, what a run!
    As the field ran down the straight, I couldn’t hear the call because everyone around me was cheering on their horse, but I could see dad shift Spot off the fence getting pretty close to the post…. Then I heard the announcer say “ photo finish resting between Susan Bonney and Charmed Gift”
    I thought, you RIPPER he’s run second!!
    Then the course announcer says “Charmed Gift the winner, by a half neck, trained and driven by B.E Gibson at Waratah in Newcastle and what a run! They don’t bring them all this way for nothing!!
    I was hooked….., and have been ever since!

    That’s my “hooked” story,

    Dan.
    Good story Dan. Maybe it was those spare grapes you picked and fed him.

  2. #22
    Senior Member Horse Of The Year Toohard will become famous soon enough Toohard's Avatar
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    Paul Humphreys
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    Smoken Up farewell

    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!

  3. #23
    Super Moderator Stallion Messenger will become famous soon enough Messenger's Avatar
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    You mention the few glows in the car on the way home Paul. Your post makes me glow. Thanks
    per un PUGNO di DOLLARI

  4. #24
    Junior Member Weanling dmac43 will become famous soon enough
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    Dannie McKinnon
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    Great read Paul. Hopefully you can have a photo on the wall winning (or running 2nd to washmepockets) in the Farewell Smoken up pace

  5. #25
    Senior Member Horse Of The Year Amlin will become famous soon enough Amlin's Avatar
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    Kyle Galley
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    Brilliant post - maybe there is a thread in that (if not done already - how did you discover the trots?)

  6. #26
    Junior Member Weanling FINEST will become famous soon enough
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    AMANDA MEAD
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    What a fantastic read Paul, lets hope Trigger goes out a winner especially for your son.

  7. #27
    Senior Member Colt Mark Croatto will become famous soon enough
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    mark croatto
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    Hey Paul

    Thanks for sharing those thoughts; it was an inspiring and very interesting read. Hope you guys venture up Goulburn way again soon, perhaps Palais would enjoy a hit out in the Goulburn Cup on Australia Day

    Regards

    Mark

  8. #28
    Senior Member Stallion Danno is a jewel in the rough
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    Dan Gibson
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    Gee wizz Paul, there is not one skerric of a doubt that is the best post of ANY kind I have seen on this forum, bloody marvelous read, thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it....things that come form the heart hopefully shine through, your choice of words ensured this story did!! thanks mate!

    Cheers,
    Danno

  9. #29
    Senior Member 4YO Smoken will become famous soon enough Smoken's Avatar
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    Evangelos Paps
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    Whatever Danno said + 100! Your son is very lucky to have a father like yourself Paul, and is very lucky to have had the privilege to see Trigger race through the years. He and many others will cherish those memories forever!

  10. #30
    Super Moderator Stallion Messenger will become famous soon enough Messenger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Danno View Post
    Gee wizz Paul, there is not one skerric of a doubt that is the best post of ANY kind I have seen on this forum, bloody marvelous read, thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it....things that come form the heart hopefully shine through, your choice of words ensured this story did!! thanks mate!

    Cheers,
    Danno
    To me the Humphreys family make the Waltons seem like the Osbournes. I have just re-read this whole thread and it is a great read, in no small part due to your own great opening post Danno
    per un PUGNO di DOLLARI

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