Tussle—champion of champions

Press, 9 March 1987, Page 28

Tussle—champion of champions

By

JEFF SCOTT

Tussle, the mare never originally intended for racing purposes, shattered all sorts of records when she was crowned the 1987 Lion Brown Inter-Dominion Trotting Champion at Addington Raceway on Saturday evening.

r 1987 1 JOINTER-DOMINION Championships

The 10-year-old trotting queen was never out of second gear as she cruised to the wire with two and a quarter lengths to spare and master reinsman, Peter Jones, only having to flick the sulky shaft twice inside the last 100 metres to make sure of an easy result. In winning the $125,000 Grand Final, Tussle became:

• The first trotter to win the big three races for her gait in New Zealand; the Dominion Handicap, the Rowe Cup and the Inter-Dominion. • The New Zealand re-cord-holder for a mare over 2600 m mobile with a 3:20.6 clocking, eclipsing Petite Evander’s 3:22.5. set back in 1977. • Set her seventh New Zealand time record, earlier marks being 2000 m stand 2:36.2 (mare), 2000 m mobile 2:31.9 (allcomers); 2200 m stand 2:51.8 (mare), 2200 m mobile 2:47.6 (allcomers); 2700 m mobile 3:28 (allcomers) and 3200 m stand 4:13.81 (mare). • The shortest-priced favourite to win a Trotting Inter-Dominion Final in New Zealand (paying $1.45).. • Furthered her record seasonal earnings for a trotter to $233,315 and her career earnings to $428,120, the biggest ever by a New Zealand squaregaiter. • Joins 1973 winner, Precocious, as the second oldest Trotting Final winners, Bay Johnny (1976), an U-year-old, being the oldest.

But if it had not been for the persistence of Leone Gasson, a laboratory assistant at Lincoln College, the racing career of New Zealand’s greatest stakes-winning trotter would never have unfolded. Dr Cliff Irvine’s Hals-well-trained mare was initially destined to be an experimental horse at the College when in her early days she was small, weedy, and from a mare that had earlier left some deformed foals. In fact, Tussle still combines her role of top trotter with joining in on Dr Irvine’s experiments in equine science, taking part in an exercise as little as three weeks ago. “We carried out an experiment on the effects of emotional stress during exercise on all of the racing team,” said Dr Irvine. “When she first started racing, I thought she would win a race but that would be about all, but then she kept on improving. Leone kept ringing me in California at 3 a.m. to tell me she had won again when I was overseas for some time. Her racing, her temperament, everything, just kept on improving,” said Dr Irvine. Strange as it may seem.

Dr Irvine has only had two offers for the champion daughter of Tuft and Kimmer.

“Pearl Baker rang up just after she saw Tussle had qualified to see if I wanted to sell for $2OOO or $3OOO as she had raced Parisian Duke from the same family 20 years ago but I told her she’d be wasting her time,” said Dr Irvine.

Last Thursday Dr Irvine was made a large offer from an American for the mare to race in the United States, however, Dr Irvine wasn’t sure if the offer was genuine and in any case, wasn’t prepared to consider such a proposition until after her big race on Saturday.

Dr Irvine has no immediate thoughts of racing Tussle in North American himself. Tussle was driven to perfection on Saturday by Peter Jones. Despite being taken on in front by the Victorian Game Ebony from the 1800 m, Tussle was always travelling sweetly and Jones kept his main danger, Melvander (trailing) bottled up until the last 100 metres. “I knew he was on my back and waited as long as possible, but he (Melvander) didn’t have a lot left when he did come

out,” said Jones of the runner-up, which was denied a half-gap along the inner 100 m Jbefore being switched out inside the tiring Game Ebony. Westham was a courageous third after being trapped wide outside Tussle and Game Ebony over the last 1800 m, with Great Life finishing well late for fourth. Troppo (sixth) was the unlucky runner of the beaten remainder, failing to find the gaps when full of running over the closing stages. Her success in the Trotters’ Grand Final took her wins in a row to eight, giving her the second biggest winning sequence for a trotter in New Zealand. No Response put together a sequence of 10 in the late 19705, while Sir Castleton is third in line with seven wins in succession. FIRST GRADE WINS CONSOLATION The Mangere-trained nine-year-old, First Grade, in the hands of Doody Townley, held on for a narrow head win over fellow northerner, Jenner, and the fast-fin-ishing Tobago, in the Trotters’ Consolation. Raced by his trainer, Ted Edwards, with Ray Prangley, a Mangere farmer, and Malcolm Taylor, an Auckland company director, First Grade took his earnings near the $BO,OOO mark with his 13th career win. First Grade moved up to challenge on the home turn and kept out Jenner, which had moved up from the 800 m to be handy turning for home, by a head in a smart 3:20.74 for the mobile 2600 m.