Hilarious Guest honoured

Hilarious Guest (Hilarious Way) was a trail blazing filly and she’ll be honoured at tomorrow night’s harness racing meeting at Addington.

Trained by Maurice Vermeulen, Hilarious Guest in 1982 became the first filly in eighteen years to win the New Zealand Derby. She was also the first filly to win both the New Zealand Derby and the New Zealand Oaks and one of the few fillies to qualify for the New Zealand Cup at three. On the way there she recorded four New Zealand records.

Derek Jones was instrumental in putting Vermeulen and his partner John Osborne onto the dam of Hilarious Guest, New Guest. Osborne purchased the filly from Alister Kerslake for $5,000. She had two starts for Jack Smolenski before she went sore.

Consequently she was sent to B.J. Stud in Victoria where she was served by Kentucky before visiting Hilarious Way. She was mated with Kentucky for a second time before being sent back to New Zealand in foal to Hilarious Way. Osborne and Vermeulen tossed a coin to see who would get which of her latest foals. Vermeulen got the Hilarious Way filly which he named Hilarious Guest.

Hilarious Guest raced seventy three times winning twenty one races including the New Zealand Two Year Old Championship, the NZ Sapling Stakes, the NZ Oaks, the NZ Derby, the Ladyship Stakes, the Northern Oaks, the NZ Messenger and the New Zealand Standardbred Breeders’ Stakes.

As a three year old Hilarious Guest won ten of her eighteen starts.

She also ran second in the Auckland Cup twice, beaten by Roydon Glen (1985) and Armalight ((1983).

Peter Jones drove her to win fifteen times, Peter Wolfenden won five times on her and Jack Carmichael once.

At stud Hilarious Guest left Goodtime Guest (8 wins) and Hilarious Leigh who won three of her five starts and ran second to Nursemaid in the 2004 Southland Oaks.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink