Harness success for thoroughbred trainer

Jovial Jay (Sweet Lou) notched a first for one of Otago racing’s most well-known sets of silks with his win at Oamaru on Wednesday.

The pacer prevailed in a hectic affair with driver Jonny Cox wearing the colours of champion thoroughbred trainer Brian Anderton.

The white, red and green silks have won hundreds of races in the thoroughbred code and been carried by many of Anderton’s outstanding gallopers.

“I thought I would get them registered and that was only the third time they have been out there in a trotting race,” Anderton said.

“I have had them since I started out, so they have been around a fair while.”

Appropriately, the colours had their first outing at Anderton’s home track at Wingatui, at its December harness racing meeting.

Anderton has been racing standardbreds since the early 1970s, and his journey began with his good friend the late Bryan ‘Mouse’ Kennedy.

Though there has been plenty of success along the way, things didn’t get off to an ideal start.

“Mouse and I were friends for many years, he came and worked for my father when he was 13-year-old,” Anderton said.

“We borrowed a mare off Mouse’s father and we bred her to Lordship.”

“We got her going and she was having her first start at Timaru for Barry Nyhan.”

“Barry thought she would win and she loomed up to them and then just stopped in a hole.”

“It turned out she had a wind problem, so we decided to breed from her.”

“We have kept breeding from that line right the way through and Jovial Jay is the latest one we have had racing.”

“We have tried to go to the best stallions along the way and we have had a bit of luck.”

“But we have had a lot of fun along the way too.”

JOVIAL JAY REPLAY

Anderton has raced Jovial Jay with the estate of Mouse Kennedy following his passing.

Kennedy’s wife Sandra takes a keen interest in the breed and watched Jovial Jay’s victory with Anderton on Wednesday.

Jovial Jay is by Sweet Lou from Anderton’s smart former race mare New Year’s Jay.

Now a 19-year-old broodmare, the pacer was prepared by Amber Hoffman and Jonny Cox, who teamed up to produce Jovial Jay to win at Oamaru.

New Year’s Jay produced a full sister to Jovial Jay in the spring.

The mare’s two-year-old by Art Major is in work with Hoffman and is showing promise.

For complete race results, click here.

by Jonny Turner, for Harness Racing New Zealand