Hazlett Family Has Yet To Win A Grand National

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 187, 9 August 1941, Page 6 (Supplement)

Hazlett Family Has Yet To Win A Grand National

Three Horses, Slayer, Whirr, Astral Flame In Tuesday's Race The name of Hazlett is a household one in the realms of business and sport in the South Island. Many a good racehorse has carried colours of a branch of the family—but never to victory in the Grand National Steeplechase. There would be no more popular success if the name of Hazlett figured on the 65-year-old winners' list next week; the prospect is not too remote. There are three horses to represent the family, Slayer and Whirr in the name of Mr. L. C. Hazlett, and Astral Flame, the entry of his two nephews, Messrs. J. S. and W. E., the latter of All Black football fame.

THE Hazlett association with racing in Otago dates back to 1895. Prior to that date one of the leading owners in the province was Mr. John Stephenson, a partner in the firm of Wright, Stephenson and Company. He raced horses with considerable success for a number of years, and about 1895 he took as a racing partner Mr. James Hazlett, also well known in the Dunedin business world, a member of the wholesale grocery firm of MacKerras and Hazlett. The new racing partnership— Stephenson and Hazlett—had qne outstanding performer in Gipsy Grand, an Australian-bred horse by Grandmaster. He had shown good form for Mr. Stephenson as a two-year-old, and when raced by the partnership at three years he lived up to his early record. One of his early three-year-old efforts was to run third in the New Zealand Cup, the winner being Euroclydon, another three-year-old, owned by Mr. Hugh Craig, a big man in the coaching business in Otago.

Sons In Partnership

' Euroclydon ran second in the New 1 Zealand Cup a year later, beaten by ;: that great mare Lady Zetland, who I later founded a very successful family of stayers. Gipsy Grand, a « horse of imposing appearance, won a number of races, including the I Dunedin Cup and the Forbury Hani : dicap. S. Waddell trained for Messrs. •: Stephenson and Hazlett at the Dunj edin Jockey Club's old course at Forbury. | Outpost was another norse raced ! by the partnership, and his successes i included the Timaru Cup. , At the end of his racing career 1 Gipsy Grand was transferred to the Elderslie Stud, in North Otago. His stock attracted a lot of attention, and _' one of them, Grand Rapids, won the ; New Zealand Cup in 1904 for the late ' Mr. G. G. Stead. The dam of Grand ■ I Rapids was Whirlpool, a descendant ij of Mermaid. One of Whirlpool's Stepniak fillies named Droski became '; a corner stone in later years in Mr. : • L. C. Hazlett's stud. [ i Mr. James Hazlett did good ser- , vice over a long period of years as ' an official of the Dunedin Jockey 1 I Club, and after his death his memory I ! was perpetuated by the James Haz- , : lett Gold Cup, now a mile race, at ' j weight-for-age, with penalties, at the ' j club's autumn meeting. It was fit- ": ting that his son, Mr. L. C. Hazlett, ' won the first contest in 1914.

The next chapter in the family racing history opened in 1903, when two young men, Messrs. W. T. and L. C. Hazlett, sons of Mr. James Hazlett, blossomed out in a racing partnership. Mr. W. T. had taken up his residence in Invercargiil, in charge of the Southland branch of the family business, and had married a daughter of Mr. John Stephenson, his father's racing partner. He has continued a close association with the Southland Racing Club, having been its president for 38 years. Mr. L. C., who is a bachelor, remains at the firm's headquarters, and on him fell the mantle of his father in the Dunedin Jockey Club, of which he has been vice-president for many years. The first racing venture of the two brothers was wonderfully successful. They purchased Trom the Hon. George McLean the Stepniak— Mist colt Vladimir, who had won the Stewards' Handicap at Riccarton in

l-<O2 as a three year-old. For Messrs. • W. T. and L. C. Hazleit he won the | Winter Cup in 1903 and the Great | Easter Handicap in the same season, , while in the following season he won I his second Stewards' Handicap and the Great Autumn Handicap—a great j record in important handicaps at I Riccarton. In all these races Vladi- ■ mir was ridden by the veteran jockey R. Derret. I The brothers did not continue very I long with their partnership, but in due course each of them started ! racing on his own account, and they bred many of the horses that carried their colours. Their careers as owners ran along parallel lines in . other respcct-, for, though each of them nas scored many important ! successes on the fiat, the two brothers have both shown a liking for steeplechases. This partiality has been specially marked in the I case of Mr. L.C., who for many years | has devoted a great deal of attention to the jumpers.

Pamplona Second At Wellington

The first important success scored | by Mr. L. C. Hazlett came in the autumn of 1914, when Sister Radius won the initial contest for the James Hazlett Gold Cup at Wingatui. Sister Radius, by Charlemagne 11. from St. Regis, a descendant of imported Pulchra, who founded a great family, became the dam of Lough rea, a good performer for Mr. L. C. Hazlett, his successes including the Wellington Cup, Dunedin Cup, Riverton Cup and Timaru Cup. Hard Hit and Ravenna were two others to win the Riverton Cup, while daughter, Alma, won the Stewards' Handicap at Riccarton and the Invercargill Cup. He has never been a great supporter of two-year-old racing, though he won fhe McLean Stakes with Overdrawn and the Dunedin Champagne Stakes with Circulation. Pamplona, a brilliant fencer, was Mr. L. C. Hazlett's first good steeplechaser. In 1923 he won the Great Western Steeplechase at Riverton, followed by the Otago Steeplechase, and he repeated the double in the next year, carrying 12.2 in the Dunedin race. Top Gear captured the same double in 1930. Pamplona was at Trentham in the winter of 1924, when Omaha beat him by a head in the Wellington Steeplechase after a great battle from the last fence. He was at Riccarton the following month, but was unable to run in the Grand National as he broke down in the Homeby Steeplechase.

Loyalty To Old Friends

Whirr, Mr. L. C. Hazlett's second Grand National candidate, is by Tractor from Megan, by Solferino from Success. He was bred in Hawke's Bay by Mr. D. Kemp, but the mare and her foal were later acquired by Mr. F. B. Donnelly, from whom Mr. Hazlett acquired Whirr as a yearling. Probably he was influenced by the fact that he had had Tractor at his stud for a long time. Whirr had a lot of bad luck early in his career, mishaps of various kinds preventing him at different stages from racing. He had a few starts as a seven-year-old without success. Last Easter he failed to get round in the Great Eastern Steeplechase at Riverton, but a few weeks later, at the Dunedin meeting, he won the Otago and Wingatui Steeplechases. Next he was seen at Riccarton, where he was beaten a long way from home in the Homeby Steeplechase last Saturday after helping in the early pacemaking. Though only a pony, Whirr is a good jumper. The early racing career, on his own account, of Mr. W. T. Hazlett was carried on in Southland, where he had a team in work, winning odd minor races mostly with horses he bred at his stud in the south. The turning point in his record came when he purchased two imported mares, Simper and Sprig of Erin. The latter was something of a disappointment, but Simper was an outstanding success as a matron. Mr.. Hazlett selected her mates with considerable judgment, and she bred for him a number of good per■rmers, who kest owner protninent Ou 'is** Tor uwy *rs

i | Slayer was hi n:-xt steeplechaser! ,of class. He is by Valkyrian from | Battleflag, by Martian from Lady j i Kinloch, by Menschiffok from Lady I Melton, a Bill of Portland mare I brought to New Zealand by Mr. j Harvey Patterson when he came over ■ from Victoria to breed and race in j Canterbury. As a five-year-old Slayer j had a win and two places over hurdles at Wingatui in the colours of Mr. D. Walker, but later in the season he was acquired by Mr. L. C. Hazlett, who gave Mr. Walker the three-year old Withdrawal, by Paper Money, in exchange. The deal fav- ; cured Mr. Hazlett,. for while With- ' drawal has won races, Slayer has earned about £3000 in stakes for his I present owner, and he is now one ! of the best steenlechasers in training in New Zealand. I Slayer had his first steeplechase in ihe new colours the same season, i at Riverton, where he won in hack company. He failed twice at the J Dunedin meeting and then went to i Trentham. After falling in the Wel--1 lington Steeplechase he won the Matai and the July Steeplechases. : At Riccarton in the following month ■ i he was third in the Homeby and the Grand National,. Padishah wini ning both races, but he won the Beaufort and the Lincoln. He relumed to Riccarton last year, being ! | unplaced in the Homeby, second to | i Clarion Call in the Grand National , and the winner again of the Lincoln. ; : Now having his third Riccarton ■ campaign, he was second to Bally- ' brit last Saturday in the Homeby.

Most of Simper's progeny were trained in Hawke's Bay. It was an arrangement that illustrated a trait noticeable in both W. T. and L. C. Hazlett—loyalty to old friends. After S. Waddell had trained for the Stephenson and Hazlett partnership he went to Hawke's Bay to take charge of the Hon. J. D. Ormond's team, which he handled with great success. Later Waddell started as a public trainer, and it was to him that Mr. W. T. Hazlett sent most of Simper's progeny. It proved a happy association. The loyal trait already noted was responsible for Mr. W. T. Hazlett keeping several horses regularly in a Riccarton stable, where they were trained by E. Scoullar, who as a lad had looked after a hunter in James Allan's stable at Forbury, this being the first horse Mr. Hazlett ever owned. Gold Light (by Hymettus) ran a dead heat in the New Zealand Oaks with Enthusiasm, winner of the Derby two days previously, while her other successes included the Stead Memorial Cup and the Canterbury Cup. Razzle Dazzle (by Kilbroney) won the Oaks, Stead Cup, Hawke's Bay and Wanganui Guineas, Wellington Stakes, Great Easter Handicap and Challenge Stakes. In this last event she defeated Gloaming, who just failed to make up his leeway after losing ground at the start. Speed Light (by Paper Money) won the Wellesley Stakes and Ruling Light (by Chief Ruler) the Riverton Cup. Beacon Light (by Boniform) won the Harcourt Stakes at weight-for-age as well as good handicaps, while Father O'Flynn, a son of the other imported mare, Sprig of Erin, captured the Wanganui Guineas.

Brood Mare For Sheep Dog

While he won jumping races with some of his other Southland-bred horses, his outstanding performer in that department was Paris, by Solferino from Directoire, a Wairiki mare. He won the Wellington Steeplechase in 1931 and ran second to Billy Boy a year later. In the same winters he was second in the Grand National, beaten respectively by Snowfall and Billy Bo3'. Some years ago he sent a team to Melbourne with his Southland trainer, F. J. McKay, in charge. It was added to regularly, till now all of Mr. W. T. Hazlett's racing is done in Victoria, where he lives during a great part of each year. The best horse he raced there was Simper's last foal. Sir Simper (by Grand Knight). He won the Toorak Handicap and was unlucky to be only third in the Caulfield Cup, in which he started favourite. Sir Simper has for several years been at his owner's stud in Southland, and he is the sire of Noko, a three-year-old hurdle winner at the South" Canterbury Hunt meeting last month in the colours of Messrs. J. S. and W. E. Hazlett, who are Mr. W. T. Hazlett's sons. The former, a comparative lightweight, is a capable rider. W.E. is built on more generous lines. He was a famous All Black forward, and he trains the family team, with considerable success. Like their father and the uncle, the brothers have had a measure of success on the flat, but they specialise in jumpers. Last year they won the Dunedin Cup with Sparkle, a Colonel Cygnus mare from one of Simper's descendants. They have three horses at Riccarton at present. One of them, Spendthrift (by Paper Money) won for them as a two-year old and later won sprints before taking on the jumping game. Last Easter lie won the Great Easter Handicap at Riverton.

I Spendthrift was bred by his I owner-s, being by Paper Money from | Fleet Lady, by Anomaly from Miss l Fleetham, by Fleetham from Miss Signal, by Signalman from Miss I Stent. Though not in the Stud Book, i it is a noted Southland family with | the Dunedin Cup winner Doubleack. j and the Great Autumn winner. The Smuggler, among its representatives. Some years ago Miss Fleetham was secured by Mr. W. E. Hazlett in exchange for a sheep dog. W.E.. by the way, is an all-rounder, just as much at home at sheep dog or sporting dog trials as he is on a race- ! course. He has had many successes I with his dogs. | In telling the story of how he acquired Miss Fleetham. he menj tioned that the sheep dog returned ' home so, to quote his own conclud- ; ing words, "I got the lot." ] Astral Flame had his first win as i a steeplechaser at Otautau in April, j Since then he has won at South | Canterbury, a double at Wingatui, and finally the Lawford Steeplechase iat Riccarton last Saturday, a per- , formance which has brought him | into Grand National discussions. At I one stage his jumping was uncertain. : and his successes were sandwiched ; between falls, but he seems to have ! become more reliable now. He is a I six-year-old by Colonel Cygnus, his I dam. Illume, by Kilbroney, being one j of Simper's early foals. i Noko, the third of the team they ! have at Riccarton, is a four-year-old .by Sir Simper from Dark Marie, by Tractor from Directoire, whose | earlier progeny included the good steeplechaser Paris. On the form j he has already shown. Noko may , develop into a class jumper with "a bit of age. , Before the brothers went into | partnership Mr. J. S. Hazlett won a ' steeplechase at Riverton with Greenstone, while Mr. W. E. Hazlett won the Otago Steeplechase with Graball.