Campbell out to extend record

Press, 9 November 1988, Page 47

Campbell out to extend record

By

DAVID McCARTHY

Records, they say, are made to be broken but the Awapuni-based trainer, Patrick Campbell, sends Straight Order into today’s Cambridge Stud Two Thousand Guineas in the knowledge that the chances of his extending a fine Guineas record are tilted in his favour. Campbell, aged 39, and one of the most promising of New Zealand’s younger trainers, has made two previous visits to Riccarton with three-year-olds. The first, in 1983, was a memorable one as Burletta, the best horse he has trained, gunned down Eastern Bay and Silver Elm in the tightest of finishes, after a controversial incident early in the race, in the One Thousand Guineas. The next year Campbell was back looking for a rare double with Our Buddy in the Two Thousand Guineas. Our Buddy, ridden by Gus Clutterbuck, had to settle for an honest but well beaten third four lengths from Kingdom Bay and Governor’s Bay. Now it is Straight Order’s turn to set that particular record right and Campbell is thrilled with the way the horse has done since coming south. “We’ve had rain almost continuously for three months up there, some falling virtually every day. It has made things difficult and it is the sun on his back probably as much as anything which has made him bloom,” Campbell said. Campbell has a varied background in the racing game. A native of Hastings, he had strong racing connections through his father and his maternal grandfather, Sid Reid, as well through an uncle, Phil Reid, a well-known stipendiary steward. Sid Reid was a leading trainer at Trentham and Hastings where he ran . a private operation for the Ormond family. While at Wellington, training privately for the Riddiford family, he was the underbidder on an ungainly chestnut yearling which turned out to be Phar Lap. It is part of racing lore that the alleged underbidders on Phar Lap now number several thousand but Mr Reid’s claim

is the genuine one. Patrick Campbell had plenty of experience before taking up training which he did, initially, with Bruce Marsh in 1974. Before then he had spent some time working in the bloodstock division of Wrightsons in Melbourne, after a brief stint at farming. Then an application for a cadetship at the Irish National Stud was successful and Campbell spent nearly three years in Ireland. “The course covered all aspects of breeding from covering through to the foaling and there were lectures as well as practical work. The Irish Stud was just getting going then and there were no really big names among the stallions there but it was interesting and valuable experience.” Campbell also spent considerable time working in the stable of Paddy Prendergast, his experience there covering two race seasons. “The facilities and staff situation over there make a huge difference,” said Campbell, indicating how difficult it is to relate European training to the New Zealand situation. “The training areas are sparse and you can do a variety of things with a horse without any problems at all. And having a handler for every two horses is a little different from here. We just couldn’t afford it.” Campbell and Marsh were based in Ireland at the same time and when Marsh returned, to ride Magnifique in the Melbourne Cup, he was followed home soon afterwards by Campbell. Their training partnership lasted three seasons before Marsh shifted to Woodville and Campbell remained at Hastings. Campbell made a major and successful move from Hastings to Awapuni about two years ago and does not regret the move. “Hastings is ideal as a training venue but it is isolated. The travelling costs make it a far cry from what it once was as a training centre.” Curiously, both Marsh and Campbell have done extremely well since through the Mulcaster family. Many of Marsh’s best horses have been owned by Rob Mulcaster of Wairoa while his

brother, Tom, put Burletta into Campbell’s stable. “I was battling then, or at least battling more than I am now, and Burletta will always be special to me,” is her trainer’s simple tribute. Burletta had a magic three-year-old season winning the Gold Trail Stakes, the Guineas, the Bayer Classic, the Eulogy Stakes, the Auckland Breeders’ Ladies Mile, and the North Island Challenge Stakes. She was not however the first good horse to come his way. Earlier there had been Out Of The Blue, winner of six of 18 starts, and still a track record holder at 1400 m at Hastings. She , was later the dam of Tour Blade. “Her career was ended by a malignant growth on her throat. She died after having only three foals.” Tarlton which won nine races and Claymore Boy which Campbell took to Queensland numbered the Ipswich Cup among his successes. Campbell’s other sphere of special success has been with apprentice riders. Chris McNab, who began his apprenticeship with the Marsh-Campbell combination, ended it as leading apprentice with Campbell and was followed by Jimmy Cassidy who joined Campbell as a youngster and developed into an outstanding rider under his guidance. Small wonder Campbell has been drafted as an executive of the new Apprenticeship Board which is surveying many changes in the way youngsters are prepared for a career in race riding. Campbell is enthusiastic about the project but his zest is tempered with caution. “In any field there are going to be very successful people, middle of the road successful people and those of a lower standard but still a vital part of the industry. I wouldn’t like to see too much anxiety to try and change a system which has stood the test of time,” said Campbell. And the Straight OrderTestament clash? “I suppose you have to look at the two as standing out. But you never know in racing. That’s part of its appeal. But our horse is ready to run a big race.”