Most famous of them all from Pyne catalogue

Press, 30 November 1978, Page 22

Most famous of them all from Pyne catalogue

By

J. J. BOYLE

The withdrawal of Pyne, Gould. Guinness Ltd, from {its position as one of the joint auctioneers at the national yearling sales at Trentham ends a long and distinguished chapter in the history of the New Zealand {bloodstock industry. In their early years at Trentham the sales embraced 'two catalogues, one offered by Wright, Stephenson and ' Company, Ltd, in conjunc(tion with H. Chisholm and ; Co; the other by “Pyne’s” in ! conjunction with 'William {lnglis and Son. And from a Pyne cata- ; logue was sold the most ' famous youngster of them all —the gangling chestnut colt ! which- was to astound the {racing world under the name iof Phar Lap. Mr Derrick Gould, of Christchurch, who was largely instrumental in securing a place in the Trentham sales set-up for his firm, was in the auctioneer’s box alongside Mr Reg Inglis when Phar Lap was knocked down to Hugh Telford for 160gns in the Trentham birdcage in January 1928.

The under-bidder on Phar Lap was Sid Reid, father of {Mr Phil Reid, the chief stipendiary steward of the New Zealand Racing Conference. William Inglis and Son pulled out. of the sales in the depression years, and it was then decided that Wright, Stephenson and Company, Ltd, and Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd, would sell in conjunction, a practice continued at Trentham ' until last Januarv.

The leading firm of Canterbury stock agents came

into existence under the! name of Pyne and Co., from! a partnership formed latej last century by Fred Pyne! and Alex Boyle. Pyne and Co. quickly be-j came the principal blood-1 stock agents in New Zea-! land largely because the main! vendors of yearlings early' this century were then !o-! cated in Canterbury and North Otago, with only a few’ studs in Auckland and vir-j tually none in Waikato. | The firm used to conduct sales of yearlings in Christ-1 church in cup week and; vendors included the North!

{lslanders Mr lan Duncan, j Waikanae, and Mr G. M. i Currie, of Koatanui, Wanga!nui. j ! For a number of years' I Pyne and Co. and later Pyne,; I Gould, Guinness sold Mr' ’ Duncan’s yearlings from! ! Waikanae on his front lawn; {in Hobson Street, Welling-! iton. The yearlings would be {stabled in Thorndon at the{ ’stable of J. O’Brien and C 0..! {and would be walked up a{ {fairly steep face on to Mr; {Duncan’s lawn. { Mr Derrick Gould puri chased winners from the I ’Trentham sale ring to carry

, his own colours in his long . i association with racing. •i He also made a memorable purchase for another South! i’lsland owner. ,i He was under instructionsi ■[from Mr A. K. Firth, of i[Christchurch, to buy a colt! [up to lOOOgns at a Tren-I [tham sale in the 19305. and; ■[spent some time examining! Hthe near top colt. However! . on the morning of the sale! he got a message to say Mr! '[Firth wanted a colt and ai ■ filly as well. The filly turned, ■lout of no real account, al- ■| though she was a close ■ second in the New Zealand > Oaks. But the colt, purchased for 160gns, turned out to be Royal Chief, winner of 23 races including the New Zealand Derby and St Leger, the A.J.C. Metropolitan and Colin Stephen ' Stakes.