Maurice Holmes the Maestro

With the running of the Maurice Holmes Vase this Friday night, Addington once again salutes the greatest horseman this country has ever produced, Maurice Holmes.

He was first licenced as a fourteen year old and in August 1925 at sixteen Holmes recorded his first win when Bonny Logan won a saddle pace with the local press saying at the time, “The winner was well and patiently ridden by young horseman Maurice Holmes whose first win it was. With the good judgement and coolness he showed, he will be heard of later.”

They weren’t wrong as a few months later he won the 1926 Auckland Cup, his first feature race.

In forty eight years in the sulky, Holmes drove 1,573 winners. He won the New Zealand Drivers Premiership for the first time in just his fifth season.

He went on to win a further sixteen Drivers Premierships, becoming a household name and was the first driver to win 1,000 races in New Zealand – a feat he achieved in November 1960.

At that point only successful New Zealand jockeys Jim Ellis and Bill Broughton had reached the 1000 wins milestone.

Holmes drove three New Zealand Cup winners – Wrackler in 1930, Chamfer 1950 and Lookaway 1957. He drove three Dominion Handicap and three Rowe Cup winners.

His wins also included two Interdominion Pacing Championship Grand Finals.

However the race in which he had the most success was the New Zealand Derby where he drove twelve winners between 1928 and 1973.

His biggest winners were Recruit 16 wins, Lookaway 15 and Vedette 15.

“Everything I learned I learned from my old Dad. He soon got the message through to me how important it was to save a horse up in a race,” Holmes said.

Racing rules in the 70s dictated that drivers had to retire at the age of 65 and so in 1973 Holmes, having won his last race at Alexandra Park as well as the New Zealand Drivers Premiership, was forced to take off his driving cravat for the last time.

The age issue was extensively debated and the then Auckland Trotting Club President Merv Corner commented, “Some club delegates seem hesitant to oppose executive thinking and therefore frank and logical discussion was muffled.”

Holmes also trained 428 winners, but he’ll always be remembered for his skills as a driver and as an early pioneer in the sport.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink