Dual code Dobbs gets another harness winner

Orari trainer Lionel Dobbs is a busy man but the 59 year old who still rides his own gallopers in track work and trains a small team of harness horses, has no plans to change down a gear.

“I’ve got an aunty who’s eighty nine and I look after her place. My mother lives with her and I’ve got her place to look after as well as my own. I spend a whole day once a week mowing lawns and with the horses, I’m a busy person really,” Dobbs said.

Lionel has trained 23 galloping winners and yesterday trained his third pacing winner when Betterthandiva (Betterthancheddar) won at Addington.

Driver John Dunn tucked the mare behind pacemaker King Arthur. Once presented with the passing lane, Betterthandiva under a hard drive got in the deciding stride to beat Almighty Clever by a head.

BETTERTHANDIVA REPLAY

It was the mare’s sixth win. Betterthandiva won her first race for Bob Butt and another two for Gavin Smith.

The seven year old mare is raced by Craig Good and Rob Turner and her pedigree goes back to 1957 New Zealand Cup winner Lookaway.

“Those guys keep me on my toes actually (laughter). In saying that, no matter what’s going on they always give me confidence. I said to them after Ashburton that she really raced well in a race where there was plenty of pace on. I thought she was on the improve and would race well (at Addington) and I was right for once.”

Dobbs has been training gallopers since 2010, his best being eleven race winner Emanon.

“I still ride work.”

He’s held a harness racing trainers’ licence since 2015 and in total is working eight horses with his wife Janine booking all the riders and drivers.

“I couldn’t do it without her. I work in with Warwick Coles who’s the track manager at Timaru. He comes out and drives for me.”

The Dobbs weren’t at the races yesterday as they had gallopers booked to race at the Timaru races which were subsequently postponed.

“Alan Edge took her to the races and he did a good job, didn’t he.”

Dobbs remembers the heady days when Orari was a busy track with trainers like his grandfather Lionel Pratt, Ray Pankhurst, Sam Henderson and Denice Ottley all training there at various stages.

Pratt trained around 800 winners including the 1980 Telegraph Handicap winner Flying View.

“I remember when there were fifty to seventy horses trained here. It’s a brilliant track. We could be racing on it. We had 74 mls of rain last week and I worked the horse there this morning and apart from at the 600, there’s hardly a mark on it. I’m the only one here at the moment. I take two truck loads of gallopers over in the morning and then I work the trotters and the pacers.”

Dobbs father Graham Dobbs also trained gallopers. Ya Dreamin Jonesy was one, he won ten races including the Invercargill Gold Cup, and the Queenstown, Cromwell and Marlborough Cups.

“He didn’t start training until my grandfather passed away and I took over just before my father passed away.”

Dobbs who rode work for both his grandfather and father was a silage contractor for twenty years.

“We still grow barley on the farm. The horses were supposed to be a bit of a hobby but at the moment they’ve taken over (laughter).”

Lionel also holds a graduation drivers’ licence and has driven one winner – Betterthandiva.

“I won a couple of workouts, and I thought ‘this is not too bad’. I drove a few at the trials and Warren Stapleton gave me a few drives to get my numbers up. I had a trotter called Ken’s Dream who had fifty starts but couldn’t quite put his foot in the till.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink