Hopes join elite 1,000 Club

Last Sunday at the Waikouaiti harness racing meeting Greg Hope achieved a major milestone reached by just a few when he became a member of the elite trainers 1000 winners club.

“It’s a bit of a relief that we got there. It was one thing I’ve always wanted to do. We’re both thrilled to have done it and Nina’s been a huge part in the business with what she does. It’s been a family affair,” Greg said after he and his wife Nina trained three winners on the Waikouaiti card.

Greg grew up in the Marlborough region where his parents Peter and Mary Hope grew grapes and his father trained one or two standardbreds.

“They were establishing 25 acres of grapes when I was young but I was always going to do the horses. I did the pony club thing, shows and hunts. Every weekend I’d be away with the pony.”

Peter trained 46 winners and had success with a couple of sons of Noodlum, Braedoon and Lock Rae.

“He always had a handy horse around him. He’d only work them if he thought they could win four or five races. He was a big feeder and always put the big foundation in. He ran a shearing contract business and a hire pool business at the same time. I used to work them before school so that’s how my early involvement with harness racing began.”

Braedoon won the Cardigan Bay Stakes at Hutt Park, beating smart juvenile Lyndon Robert. He won six races and Greg drove him to win five times.

Lock Rae won seven, including the New Zealand Sires’ Stakes at Addington.

“He was a really speedy horse. I used to drive him all the time in training. He ended up going up to Barry and Roy’s (Purdon) and won the Te Awamutu Juvenile Stakes. Dad sold him for big money to Roy Annear in Australia.”

Peter gained notoriety when he raced champion free legged pacer Robalan with his friend Allan Devery.

Trained by Denis Nyhan, Robalan won thirty nine races including the 1974 New Zealand Trotting Cup, three New Zealand FFAs, the Easter Cup, the Canterbury Classic and the Ashburton Flying Stakes.

“We always had the second Tuesday of November off from school, would come home and watch him race. We’ve got photos of him out in the stables winning the New Zealand Cup.”

As soon as Greg left school he worked for Robert Dunn for three and a half years. Dunn provided the young driver with the first of 148 winners with Vivid Rainbow’s win at the New Brighton meeting in September 1981.

“It was my first ever drive at Addington.”

While working for Dunn, Hope saw the benefits of training on the beach as well as the value of straight line training and it became a lifetime dream to train there.

“When I was working for Robert we used to take horses to Spencer Park from West Melton and I thought then that it was the ideal place to train.”

Also in the early days, Hope worked for Peter Robertson. He subsequently took out his own training licence and his first winner was Natural Magic at Hutt Park in February 1987.

Wanting to expand, he rented boxes at Gavin Hampton’s property on Maddison Road.

“I ended up buying thirty two acres and Gavin subdivided off seven acres which included his house when he retired. It’s now Nigel McGrath’s place.”

At this time Nina came into Greg’s life.

“She came to work for me. She’d worked for Paul Black and Peter Bagrie.”

Nina (nee Sharpe) also comes from a harness racing background.

Her grandfather Les Sharpe was a trainer, his best horse Mystery Point won three. Perhaps one of Sharpe’s most memorable wins was at Kaikoura in October 1989 when he trained Nina Marie (named after his granddaughter) to win.

“She’s (Nina) a huge asset because she’s right into massaging. She’s really good at reading horses and telling you which horses are getting on and which ones aren’t. She does all the jobs nobody else wants to do, like accounting and book work.”

Nina drove successfully too, reining seven winners from limited opportunities. The Hororata meeting at Ashburton in March 2000 is a memorable day, when she and Greg drove a winner each that day. Nina won with Shamrock, while Greg drove Blue Judeen owned by his parents. Both were trained by Greg.

Greg and Nina had a yearning to train on the beach.

“We thought the only way we could train was if we could walk out on the beach from the property. We just felt it was going to be too hard to be floating them. When I first went out training I went to Lands and Surveys and rang all the property owners from Amberley through to New Brighton Beach. At that stage none of them wanted to sell.”

It wasn’t until twenty years later that they had the opportunity to buy their dream property.

“It was just by chance. It was through a friend of Nina’s who showed dogs. Nina went there one day with the boys. The woman who owned the property next door was there and said to Nina that they were contemplating selling their property. We saw it that night and bought it the same day.”

The property of twenty one acres adjoins Woodend Beach.

“It did have half a dozen stables and a couple of sheds. We’ve now got a sand track, an 800 metre all-weather track and a big walker that we jog our horses on.”

When the Hopes moved there, the only other trainer working his horses on the beach was David Butt.

“There are a lot more trainers there now. The Dunns are renting from Davey. Gavin Smith and Matt Purvis are all there now and Regan Todd started off there.”

Once established at the beach Greg and Nina were keen to take on more trotters.

“We were never really given a trotter to train and we thought the only way we were going to get one was to breed one.”

They purchased Diedre Darling, a Sundon mare bred by Sir Roy McKenzie which was advertised for sale in the Trotting Calendar.

“She’d won a race at Forbury but obviously they chose not to breed from her so we bought her. I was talking to Mark Smith from Kaikoura and he said that if I bred her to Love You I’d get a champion. Mark had been to Europe quite a few times and realised how good Love You was. That’s how we got Monbet.”

Monbet won a Dominion Handicap and a Rowe Cup as well as two New Zealand Trotting Free For Alls. He won twenty three of his thirty seven starts.

“He was a big overgrown horse that we thought wouldn’t make a two year old. But he ended up being Two Year Old Of The Year.”

After winning the 2016 Dominion when he beat stablemate Quite A Moment, Monbet was away from racing for two years and had three more starts before he was retired.

“He had a wee chip in his knee. It wasn’t really affecting him but we felt we should get it taken out. After they took it out he got arthritis in the knee. In hindsight it might have been better left in. We thought we were doing the right thing but it became a big issue after that.”

When Monbet won the Harness Jewels Two Year Old Ruby, it was the partnership’s first Group One win in this country. It was Quite A Moment that provided Greg and Nina their first Group One win in Australia, when she won the 2013 Breeders Crown Three Year Old Fillies Final at Melton. She was owned by long time stable clients Wayne and Connie Stewart.

“When we got Monbet people started to send us trotters. Now two thirds of our team would be trotters.”

Enghien was the next good trotter off the Hope production line. He won as a two year old and won nine races at three including three Group Ones.

“He was a super horse with a big motor. He did a hind suspensory as a late three year old, came back and won a couple as a late four year old, but the injury kept plaguing him.”

Enghien won sixteen races and banked $407,423.

Hope says Monbet and Enghien are still active and are part of a horse trekking school which goes down the Waimakariri River.

“We had Monbet and Enghien here for a bit and used to ride them but rather than having them sitting in the paddock we thought they’d be better off out doing something.”

In among the success with trotters the Hopes have had a good share of pacing wins and they’ve won two Taylor Miles with Mossdale Conner and AG’s White Socks.

Owned by Archie Affleck, Mossdale Conner was the first horse to break to 2 minute barrier in the 1700 metre feature when he won in 1-58.1 with a mile rate of 1-51.7. The time is still a New Zealand record.

“Archie was selling at the sales and Nina’s uncle and auntie Garry and Anthea Sharpe were preparing two yearlings for him. They didn’t sell and Garry and Anthea suggested they give them to us. That’s how our relationship started. He would always send a couple to us, we’d get them going and sell them. Eventually he gave us the pick of the horses and now he sends them all to us. He’s been a brilliant owner.”

AG’s White Socks provided plenty of highlights for the stable and won the Group One Easter Cup as well as the Taylor Mile. He also campaigned successfully in Australia.

But Muscle Mountain has been the stable’s biggest race winner and stake earner and Greg said he liked him the first day he laid eyes on him.

“I went on the yearling tour and he was being paraded at Nevele R. Dobbie (breeder and owner Ian Dobson) had him there getting prepared for the sales. He was out the back and was a big awkward looking horse. I asked them to trot him up for me. When he trotted I could tell he was just a beautiful mover. On the day of the sales, not knowing whether Dobbie would buy him back or not, I said to him I really liked the horse and could I throw my name in the hat (to train him). After the horse was broken in, he rang and asked me if I’d like to train him.”

Muscle Mountain has won 35 races and $971,284 and is only $28,716 away from becoming a millionaire trotter.

“We’re looking forward to when we can tick that off.”

Although Muscle Mountain is in the twilight of his stellar career the stable hopes he’ll win a Dominion.

“With those good horses you always want to win a Dominion. There are always the young guns coming through which is going to make it harder as he gets older.”

Homebush Lad has also provided the Hopes with plenty of satisfaction. He’s won nine Country Cups including the Reefton Cup three times and the Waikouaiti Cup twice.

“Davey Butt originally trained the horse and thought he’d reached his mark and wanted to sell him. Davey sent him to Stephen Doody to race at Manawatu because Adeline Smith who owned him didn’t want to sell him. He wasn’t suited by the small track so he came home and sat in the paddock. Adeline rang me and asked if I’d be interested in training him. I looked him up and thought he can’t be any good. She said to me if I tried Homebush Lad there were two Bettor’s Delight’s in the paddock she’d send me.”

Homebush Lad has now won sixteen races and $242,878. Fourteen of those wins have been for the Hopes. Nina and stable client Richard Dellaca took over the ownership of the eleven year old gelding in October last year.

Habibti Pat is a trotting filly likely to keep the stable in the spotlight. As a two year old she won five of her six starts, including the Group One Ace Of Hearts.

“She’s been back for about three weeks. She’s looking great. If she’s going good we’ll go to Auckland with her.”

Over the years driver Ricky May has been integral to the Hope’s operation. He’s driven 354 winners in the stable colours, including fifteen Group One winners.

“He’s driven a heap of winners for us. He’s been great and is always thinking of the horse.”

Greg and Nina’s son Ben now does most of the stable driving and has driven 227 winners for his parents and he has six Group One wins in his arsenal.

“He was always keen and all he’s ever done is worked with horses. He was always wanting to drive and train. Eventually he’ll take over and I’ll end up being the boy (laughter). He’s done well and owns his own property and house.”

When Muscle Mountain won the 2021 New Zealand Trotting Championship it was Ben’s first Group One win as a driver.

“It was brilliant. You want your kids to do well and to be happy with what they’re doing. Muscle Mountain has been a great horse for him.”

Of the Hope’s 1000 winners, 289 have been trotters.

“When we started off we used to pre-train and had a core base of six to ten owners. It wasn’t until we came to the beach that we could offer a point of difference. That’s when it really took off. When we had success with Monbet, more trotters came our way.”

Within the 1000 winners, Greg and Nina have trained sixty four Group or Listed winners including twenty three Group One winners. Nineteen of their Group One winners have been trotters. Monbet won 9, Muscle Mountain 6, Enghien 3 and Habibti Pat 1.

Their biggest winners have been Muscle Mountain (35), Monbet (21), Enghien (16), Homebush Lad and Jason Rulz (14) and Mossdale Conner and Midnight Dash (13).

Theirs is a busy operation and they train between 25 and 35 horses at any one time.

“John Versteeg and Kyle Cameron predominantly break our horses in. They also work up a few when we get really busy.”

Greg says the signs for harness racing in the future are positive.

“It’s amazing the stakes rise. We can really see the stakes increase when we look at the bottom line. It’s been brilliant and I hope we can sustain it. They seem to be trying new things to entice new people into it. Anything that brings new blood into the game has got to be good.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink