About three years ago one of Tasmanian harness racing’s greatest fans, Patrick “Paddy” Kamaric died and just before he passed away his good mate Jamie Cockshutt promised he would name a horse in his honour.
Cockshutt and his racing partner Barry Cooper have had success with many good pacers, so when a yearling they purchased from Ken Barron in New Zealand two years ago came to be named, they submitter Cool Water Paddy.
It was so named because Patrick Kamaric loved to splash on the Avon brand of after shave, Cool Water, and whenever he walked into any number of TAB outlets in the northern suburbs, patrons would invariably say “oh, here comes Paddy”.
Cockshutt told Kamaric he would try and find a good pacer to carry his name and it turns out Cool Water Paddy the pacer could be something very special.
Last Sunday night in Hobart the Juanita McKenzie-trained gelding powered his way to another effortless win, which was his eighth in succession and his sixth on end this season.
Cockshutt says every time the gelded son of Ohoka Arizona wins a race all the connections raise a glass or stubby at the post-race celebrations to honour Paddy Kamaric.
“Racing’s a great game because the friends you make in it are friends for life, just like Paddy Kamaric,” Cockshutt said.
“Paddy was as large as life itself and anyone who knew him only had nice things to say about the bloke and boy, he loved his harness racing.
“When he got crook I told him that we’d get a good horses and name him in his honour.
“Paddy loved Cool Water after shave so much, his son David told me his late Dad had boxes of it at home before he died.
“I’m so glad the horse turned out to be a cracker.”
McKenzie is confident the four-year-old has what it takes to progress to fast class and driver Ricky Duggan, who also became friends with Paddy Kamaric, has a big opinion of the gelding.
“This horse is very exciting because he still does a few things wrong but keeps winning by big margins,” Duggan said.
“He’s getting better all the time and who knows how far he will go.”
Cool Water Paddy only had one start at two for a second in the Keith Stanley Debutante, after which he was spelled for almost a year.
He resumed as a three-year-old and won the Tasmanian Guineas first-up before finishing fourth in the Tasmanian Derby after receiving severe interference.
He ended his three-year-old season with two wins in Hobart and this season he has yet to be beaten with his winning margins ranging from five to 25 metres.
His latest victory was awesome as he had to work three-wide without cover for 500 metres before rolling to the front and when Duggan asked him to extend turning for home he found another gear and left his rivals in his wake.
Peter Staples for tasracing