Kevin Holmes a great ambassador for N.Z.

Press, 4 May 1978, Page 18

Kevin Holmes a great ambassador for N.Z.

Kevin Holmes, who has a clear lead in the World Driving Championship, at present being run in the United States and Canada, is proving a great ambassador for New Zealand. A son of the well-known trotting figure, Allan Holmes, of Yaldhurst, Kevin has for some time been training with success at Cambridge, but in the last 12 months or so he has split his activites and has a sizeable team in work at Liberty Bell, Philadelphia.

Holmes’s activities have been given great publicity in daily newspapers and he has a strong following among betters.

In an article in the “Philadelphia Journal” Ells Edwards said: “First it was German Beer. Then Japanese cars, and finally Italian shows and sunglasses. “Today, the hottest import fad, in case you haven’t n o t i c e d strange-sounding

names from faraway places studding the entries at Liberty Bell Park, is Down t'nder horses. “And it’s not hard to notice with names like Sabawai, Yaquis and Arapaho household words around pacing circles at the Bell. Talk abdut un-American activities. Trend-consious betters rush to the nearest window when they spot anything with four legs that looks like it might just have cleared customs.

“It’s enough to trigger a new wave of xenophobia, the way horse traders are flooding the local tracks with quality New Zealand and Australian stock. And don’t be surprised to hear some loud screams from the fat cat harness breeders, who make a handsome living off spiraling prices at U.S. Yearling sales." Holmes is quoted as saying that the reason for his switch of activities to America was his inability to

make trotting pay in New Zealand. There were more racing days at Liberty Bell than in the whole of New Zealand in a year, he said. His sales pitch quotes the odds favouring the purchase of imported horses rather than American-bred yearlings.

“I can sell a horse that’s ready to race next week,” he said. "The advantage is that you pay less than you might for a yearling. The disadvantage is that yearlings are ‘staked’ in this country.

‘‘lt’s odd that almost every horse I’ve sent over has been sired by an Ameri-can-bred stallion. Our mares don’t have the speed, but they have the stamina. Crossed with your stallions, you end up breeding a nice combination. Most of the horses in New Zealand race up to about 20 times a year, so they’re not burned out in spite of their age,” said Holmes.