Exciting young trotter has family back on track

Harness racing people are known for their resilience and a testament to that is the Newberry family of Victoria’s Goulburn Valley region.

Ten months ago, they were inundated by floodwaters which left a trail of destruction—not to mention personal pain and loss.

But John, his wife Maree and son Matthew are forging on despite those memories still being close.

“There’s still water lying around. It hit us on October 18 last year and unfortunately had nowhere to go. It just sat down in a depression of our land,” Maree said.

“The first five days the horses were standing up to their knees in water. We had to call in a fella with a boat to help us one night after we could hear one of our pregnant mares splashing around,” she said.

“He put his boat in on the road, came across and picked up John and Matthew from the stables and went down to the paddock so they could get her out and across to higher ground – three mares actually foaled on gravel outside the front where it was a bit higher and dry. There were sleepless nights and high stress levels.”

The water was released from Loch Garry but had nowhere to flow and inundated the region including around the Newberry property at Bunbartha.

“The floodwaters got to within five feet of our house,” Maree said.

“We couldn’t get to our track from October to Christmas Eve, but we were lucky to be able to train out at Steve Duffy’s place.”

The Newberrys now have a team of 13 in work, and all things considered, have done extremely well to get 13 winners and 23 placings so far this season.

“Mr Reliable” Diamond Eclipse (Pet Rock) has led the way with four victories, but without doubt the shining light is the unbeaten and exciting two-year-old square gaiter Nordic Reign (Volstead).

The filly, raced by enthusiastic Melbourne owner Troy Walker, was impressive on debut at Bendigo (July 19), winning in 2.02. Eight days later she led all-the-way to take out the Reg Shinn Memorial at Kilmore.

“Troy loves the sport and has enjoyed success. He was interested in buying some NZ broodmares and John suggested he would be better off buying a nice filly and then breeding after her racing career,” Maree said.

“They decided that a trotter might be the best way to go so John went through a catalogue from the APG sales and picked a few out. Nordic Reign was the first one to come out and they just liked the look of her.

“There’s quite a connection between Troy’s parents and us. John has known Des and Julie for probably 40 years—and they actually attended our wedding!

“Nordic Reign was known as ‘covid Karen’ by her breeders, but we decided to change her stable name to ‘Kez’ after our champion Kerryn Manning. Kerryn actually gave us the thumbs up after one of ‘Kez’s’ wins, so let’s hope the horse lives up to the moniker.”

Matthew Newberry has been taking on the driving duties after both he and John did a lot of work with the filly, particularly Matt, leading up to her races.

“She is a delight to have around, being so sensible and just keeps improving. After the Kilmore win they gave her an easy time with a few days off. She’s due to trial this week with the aim being the VicBred and Breeders Crown that are coming up,” Maree said.

John Newberry has enjoyed some stunning success over the years with square gaiters, including the great New Zealand trotter Cal Brydon (Caliburn).  His memorable win in the 1982 Dominion Trotting Handicap took him to 17 wins and over the $100,000 mark in stakes.

Of interest, he held the 2200m standing start record for a trotter for some time— a mark achieved in a race for pacers.

“There’s nothing better than when you have a trotter going well,” Maree said.

“Cal Brydon raced against the great Māoris Idol. On one occasion at Alexandra Park, in Auckland, Cal Brydon went up against the pacers and scored after coming off a 30-metre handicap.”

Newberry also enjoyed outstanding success with trotting half-brothers Just Call Me Earl (Earl) and The Majestic (Monarchy). Just Call Me Earl posted 21 wins and 50 places ($142K) from 2011 to 2019, while The Majestic had 14 wins and 43 places ($115K) over eight seasons, kicking off in 2013.

Other great performers over the years for the Newberry stable have been Brydon Duke (43 wins/44 places), Cifersky (22w/24p), Diamond Ace (15w/24p), Lombo Idle Belief (13w/29p) and On Fire Within NZ (12w/27p).

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink