A gathering of family and friends were at the Berrigan graveside, earlier this week, to pay their final respects to the late Bert Honeychurch, aged 94.

Bert was almost an institution in his own right, a very competent horse trainer, he averaged a winner a week from the time he commenced training at Berrigan in 1946, until the time he retired in 1983.

He commenced training alongside his best mate, Brian Courtney, at Mentone, before a stint at Bendigo; finally he planted his roots in Berrigan that is where he remained.

Berrigan became a thriving racing centre, several fellow trainers followed Bert’s lead and others applied for licences, regular trials were held there every couple of weeks.

He never left the Riverina, except for those periodical trips to Melbourne when he thought he had the right horse to win a race down there.

Bert’s method of training was keeping horses happy and relaxed, he usually had around 40 in work at one time, after morning track work they were all fed in separate yards and remained there until it was time to box them in the evening.

He was a success story, yet success never changed him, he won 14 Southern Districts Racing Association training premierships and trained over 3,000 winners.  

His biggest thrill in racing was short lived when Petard won the St Leger at Flemington, only to lose it on protest to King Cobbler, trained by Phil Burke.

The Victoria Derby, the jewel in the crown of Australia’s classic races, was never better scripted than the 2015 version of the classic.

Craig Newitt has been conspicuous in his absence from the winner’s circle, from his last 50 rides he has failed to ride a winner.

Nothing is new, every jockey has been down that road before, it is just matter of time before you reach that turn.

That turn was never more welcomed than when Tarzino blew the field away to win the Victoria Derby in the easiest possibly fashion

Tarzino winning the Victorian Derby

He won the race like a really good horse, it took him a little time to find his rhythm, he pulled a bit in the early stages, Newitt was fully aware of that, a big advantage of having a jockey that has had previous knowledge of the horse he is riding.

Newitt was confident he was riding the best horse in the Derby; he didn’t want to be distracted by taking any other mounts on the program.

Mick Price turned out Tarzino super fit, the Derby had not served him well in previous years, but that is now forgotten when you win.

Tarzino returning to scale

Tarzino is an exciting young horse with a great future ahead of him; he will star again in the coming autumn and could be the likely weight for age star in the spring to follow.

He proved the best stayer in the field beyond any doubt, by the time he reached the winning post he had the remained of the field stretched out like brown’s cows, they were coming in at long intervals.

This was one Derby that that won the approval of the purists, the favourite won the race, he was the dominant colt and any complaints that the distance of the of the race should be altered has again fallen on deaf ears, and rightly so, leave well alone

The winner, Tarzino, is by Tavistock, a New Zealand bred sire by Montjeu, from a daughter of Zabeel, he was offered as a yearling by Yarraman Park at the Magic Millions Sales, and purchased for $60,000 by Mick Price, he and his wife have both retained a share in the young colt, who has a great future ahead of him.

Craig Newitt celebrating with his boys

Harold Underwood, a prominent businessman, and a racing and breeding enthusiast, had visions of winning the Melbourne Cup; he was living his dream when Australia was just coming out of a depression, and being thrust into World War 11.

Nothing was going to interfere with his dream now, war or no war he was going to have a runner in the Cup, a life’s ambition.

He was pretty serious about it all, he wrote away to an English bloodstock agent with instructions he wanted a catalogue, as he was a genuine buyer.

Harold was a great student of breeding; he was at Epsom when he saw Hyperion win the 1933 English Derby for the 17^th Earl of Derby.

The horse he selected was Helios, among the first crop sired by Hyperion; he had one start as a two year old finishing down the track, and another two at three and did no better.

However, Harold Underwood purchased Helios without a wimp, the horse had an outstanding pedigree, everything went swimmingly until the issue of transport reared its ugly head.

Helios    pic 1942

The German U Boats were then playing havoc in the North Atlantic; the main shipping lanes were under constant attack.

Helios remained in England for over 12months before he was shipped to Australia, the risks were still there; all insurance on the horse was declared null and void.

The only transport was via sea, timber boxes were erected above deck, the only attention the horses received, they were fed and watered, after a sea journey of six to eight weeks they came off the ship almost ready to eat you, particularly if they were stallions.

Finally Helios arrived in 1941, far too late for the Cup of that year; he was given a long spell at the Underwood property, Warlaby Park, Oaklands Junction.

He was entered for the Cup the following year; he had had a long break and was now ready to take his place at Bob Sinclair’s Flemington stables, at the top end of Lang’s Road.

Underwood was still adamant his horse could win a Melbourne Cup, he was weighted at 8stone 6 (53.5kg). in the Cup of 1942 .

His form had been ordinary in the U K, but he did have an outstanding pedigree with a double cross of St Simon, and could be readily traced to Carbine.

When Sinclair first galloped Helios on the big sand, a track that crossed the straight six twice, with circumference of a mile and a quarter (2000 metres), he was surprised how well the horse stretched out after such a long break.

The big sand was frequently used by Richard Bradfield, and James Scobie, in the preparation of their Cup horses.

George Smith - Head Groom with the shoe worn by Helios

Helios had been working on the big sand for some weeks and was adapting to it quite well, when out of the blue disaster struck.

He fractured his near side front pastern, a serious injury, in most instances an injury of that type, a horse would be putdown.

However, Helios was an entire and Underwood had a stud, therefore every effort would be made to save him.

The injured leg was encased in plaster, and remained there for several weeks before it was removed.  

Imagine the shock when the plaster was finally removed and the sole of the hoof was facing backwards, the horse would be standing on sheer bone.

Bill Webb, a brilliant farrier, designed a satisfactory shoe for the horse, he was to prove an outstanding success as a sire, he was among the three top sires Australian wide five times, and outright champion once.

His diet was closely monitored to ensure he didn’t become over gross, putting additional pressure pn the injured leg.

Helios never raced in Australia, however be did repay the Underwood family siring Wodalla, who won the Melbourne Cup and a number of other top class performers.

He was bred by His Majesty King George V1, at the Royal Stud Sandringham in 1937 before World War 11.

Dhoti - An outstanding sire    pic 1940

Warlaby was already a well established stud, the latest acquisition, prior to Helios was Dhoti, bred by the Aga Khan, a magnificent horse, among our leading sires in Victoria.

Dhoti, by Dastur, was originally owned H H the Duke of Kent, when he was to be appointed Governor General of Australia he sent three horses out ahead of him, Dhoti , Greenwich and Moonray, with the intention of racing them in Australia.

All three horses were to be trained by Jack Holt and raced by H H The Duke of Kent, that never came into fruition, The Duke lost his life, the result of an aircraft accident in Scotland.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

Former jockey, Paul Goode, now wheelchair bound and living in Yorkshire, is suing a fellow rider for $5 million, resulting from a fall at Queanbeyan, in New South Wales, in 2009.

Goode suffered catastrophic injuries that have left him confined to a wheelchair, robbing him of his career and quality of life.

While the Sydney jockey denies liability, he will be giving evidence in an Australian court; the case has been transferred to the Royal Courts of Justice in London, due to Goode’s situation.

Goode’s mount, Shot Of The Rails, careered through the fence, crashing onto the cinder track, causing severe injuries to the plaintiff.

Orphan Foal A Winner

There was a touch of sadness associated with the win of Last Typhoon; he won earlier last week at Bairnsdale, just a mid week Maiden at his fifth start in a race.

The first and only foal from his mother, Typhoon Tracy, died soon after giving birth to her foal by Street Cry.

Losing any mare is a sad event, in the case of Typhoon Tracy it was catastrophic, mares of her quality and breeding potential are just so rare, they seldom only come once in a lifetime.

Her dam, Tracy’s Element, by Last Tycoon, was a Group I winning mare in South Africa, where she won 11 races, produced 12 foals, 10 raced for nine winners.

Typhoon Tracy had a great race record; she emulated her dam winning 11 races, of which six races were at Group 1 level.

The Hutchins family that raced Typhoon Tracy have retained a full sister, Kylikwong and two half sisters, Chateau Margaux and Tracy’s Choice, both by Redoute’s Choice .

There could be few excuses for beaten horses after Winx gave the Cox Plate field the slip approaching the old north hill, the result was then a foregone conclusion.

Aided by a perfect barrier draw Winx was no further back than sixth at any stage of the race, when the leader, The Cleaner, began to weaken coming away from the fence, that was the sign for Hugh Bowman to get busy with an explosive burst of speed, the mare had the race safely in her keeping within a few strides.

Nothing took any ground from her in the run to the judge, the winning margin left few excuses for any of the beaten brigade.

When Chris Waller was sorting out riders for his three runners in the Cox Plate, there was no hesitation from Bowman, he responded knowing how good she was after winning the Epsom Handicap on her.

Winx winning the Cox Plate

Her previous eight wins had yielded $ 1,779,925 in prize money, her stake earnings since the C ox Plate win have increased to $3,579,925.

Waller didn’t wait about for any celebration, preferring to fly to Sydney with his wife, to be with their children, he is very much a family man.

Winx is a Magic Millions graduate having been bred by John and Debbie Camilleri of Fairway Thoroughbreds, she was purchased by Peter Tighe’s Magic Bloodstock for $230,000 from a Coolmore Stud draft at the 2013 Magic Millions Sales on the Gold Coast.

The Camilleri’s, John and Debbie, are no strangers to breeding a good racehorse, they bred the Golden Slipper Stakes success, Vancouver.

Winx is by the ill fated Street Cry, an international sire success from Vegas Showgirl, she was purchased as a breeding prospect for $455,000, from Dormello Stud at the 2008 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, by Colm Santry Bloodstock, on behalf of the Camilleri family.

All the marks were with the winner Winx, maybe Criterion was a bit stiff missing the start, but he was not ever going to trouble the winner.

Chris Waller and Hugh Bowman after the Cox Plate

Fawkner’s run was only fair at best, he seems to have slipped off the radar a bit, he is not putting two runs together as previously.

The Cleaner had to work hard to get to the front, and when he did he virtually had run his race, he is best at 1600 metres, he cannot get much further in that company.

Highland Reel was quite impressive, he was running third for most of the trip, never looked a winner, but still a good honest run.

As for Happy Trails, he never looked a chance at any stage of the race, however, being a perennial he will be back, it wouldn’t be the same without him.