Vale John Langdon

A harness racing history-maker, John Langdon has died in Australia.

In 1975, at just 27, he became the first driver ever to win both the pacing and trotting Grand Finals of the Interdominion series at Alexandra Park with Young Quinn and Castleton’s Pride.

He only got the drive on the superstar that was Young Quinn after his trainer and regular driver Charlie Hunter was injured in a race day smash earlier in the carnival.

Langdon won the IDs again 17 years later when he trained and drove William Dee to victory in the 1992 series in Melbourne.

In doing so, in a track record-equalling effort, he became just the fourth driver to win two Inter Dominion Trotting Championships, joining Bob Young, Doody Townley and Graeme Lang.

Among his many other achievements was winning the 1989 Auckland Cup and the 1990 New Zealand Cup with Neroship.

He’d wanted to win the New Zealand Cup ever since skipping school to watch the race in 1962 as a 15-year-old. It was the year the great Lordship won.

His first job in harness racing was with Cecil Donald in Christchurch. After learning the basics of the sport there, and having some drives, he moved to Morrinsville.

His first winner was as a junior driver with Vice Royal at Hawera in 1969.His first training success was a year later with King High.

He trained 439 winners on his own account, in 1970-71 and between 1976 and 1997, and also worked for Hunter before joining him in partnership in 1976. They had 34 wins together.

“He was a very likeable guy,” Hunter recalled, “and a very good horseman.”

“Some people just have a good affinity with horses and John certainly had that and that’s why he was so good at driving.”

In total he drove 694 New Zealand winners.

In 1989 Neroship won the Auckland Cup, a year before Langdon fulfilled his long-held ambition of winning a  New Zealand Cup at Addington. It was his first and only win in the country’s greatest race.

Neroship, a winner of 17 races, won the Cup in 4:04.1, narrowly from Starship.

Langdon also won the Rowe Cup twice, with Landora’s Pride (1987) and Jenner (1984).

In the late 1990s, John and wife Jenny moved to Queensland. He retired from the sport in 2001 after injuring his shoulder.

Son Michael Langdon enjoyed success both in Australia and Canada, and  grandson Vinnie would also later continue the family tradition in the sport.

John Langdon was 78.

by Dave Di Somma, for Harness News Desk