Two winning tales

Press, 16 July 1980, Page 5

Two winning tales

PA Wellington A Manurewa cartage contractor, Mike Murphy, . originally had no intention of coming south for the Trentham races on Saturday, July 12. He intended driving up to Kawakawa in the course of his work, and playing rugby for his club, Drury, on Saturday. He didn’t get to Kawakawa, and he didn’t play rugby, but he did get $56,381.65 from the Wellington Racing Club’s oncourse jackpot. Mike, aged 29, is a contract driver for Lion Breweries, and was to have taken a load of beer up to Kawakawa, in the Bay of Islands, early on Friday morning. However, soon after leaving Auckland on the proposed long drive north, the differential on his truck failed and a replacement was called up from Auckland to carry on the | journey.

He returned to Auckland, where he called on his father, Mr Ron Murphy, who was sick in bed. Father and son got talking about the jackpot at Wellington, and how it was expected to reach at least $100,900. The lure was enough to tempt them and they decided that if they could get on a plane they would fly down. They were placed on standby, managed to get seats without much trouble, and it was “Trentham here we come.” Mike Murphy would not disclose how much he spent on the big pot, but did say that he had only the one horse, the winner, Mr Hickey in the final leg. He hopes to buy a new house with his windfall. It is not the first big payout Mike Murphy has had. In December, 1977, he and his wife, Pauline, and father, Ron, held the only successful ticket in the terminating Seddon Shield

district jackpot at Reefton. That was worth a “mere” $18,085. On that occasion the trio had arrived in Reefton without accommodation, and could find none. They were forced to sleep under a bridge the night before the meeting. James Wilson, a shearer from Palmerston North, was the other lucky .punter at Trentham. His $56,381.65 payout cost him $240. He had three horses running for him in the final leg, but things were not looking good when one of them, Rabalam, fell with about 1800 metres to run, and another of his choices, Akura, lost his rider at the third-last fence. However Mr Hickey easily carried him through. Mr Wilson said that he attended the races almost every week, but had never struck anything approaching the Trentham payout.