Interesting twist in premiership battle

The two stables locked in battle for the New Zealand harness racing premiership are about to see a remarkable personnel change as Team Telfer looks to increase its huge footprint in industry.

The brother and sister training team of Steve and Amanda Telfer will be joined in partnership in January 1 by Hayden Cullen, who at present trains in partnership with champion trainer Mark Purdon at the All Stars.

Team Telfer lead the Purdon/Cullen stable by one win with just over two weeks of the harness racing season to go, that season having moved to a calendar year so ending on December 31.

With more horses lining up at more meetings in the next two weeks Team Telfer looks set to win their first trainer’s premiership but that is only the beginning for a stable that will grow to over 120 horses in work next season.

That is where Cullen will come in, helping with the expansion of their southern team which will eventually become two stables on the same property.

Cullen will leave his enormously successful partnership with Purdon on December 31, with Purdon yet to announce exactly what names will be on his stable stationary next season.

“My wife Amanda and I can’t thank Mark and Natalie (Rasmussen) and the owners for all the opportunities we have had but I think the time is right to move on to a new challenge,” says Cullen.

“We have been offered a great new career path by Stonewall Stud so we are excited about that.”

Team Telfer is overseen by Stonewall Stud boss Steve Stockman, who has not only been a prolific spender at the yearling and weanling sales but a huge breeder of quality stock.

He has consistently grown the stable to the point where senior trainer Steve Telfer oversees the operation of both the northern stable in Clevedon with the Canterbury stable temporarily based at Dancingonmoonlight Farm.

But Stockman is building a two-barn training establishment at the property formerly owned by the late Jack Smolenski and that is where Amanda Telfer and Cullen will train a team each next season.

The trio of Telfer, Telfer and Cullen will enter into an official partnership from January 1 that will quickly be known as Telfer/Cullen.

Stockman says while the harness racing industry faces its challenges, the clearly successful businessman believes these are cyclical and he wants breeders and other owners to know Stonewall’s investment in the industry will continue and possibly even grow.

Telfer, who turns 52 on Boxing Day, says the new challenge of overseeing one of New Zealand’s biggest stables of either code is exciting and preparations are well in hand.

“We have put together a great team of staff in both islands and Hayden and his wife Amanda will bolster that,” says Telfer.

“They will spend some time both down south and then up here initially to see how he does things and add their own knowledge.

“We are looking at sending a four-horse team to Menangle for February and March which Amanda (Telfer’s sister) will travel with so Hayden will be in charge down south during that period.

“The new property will be finished next year and Steve (Stockman) has purchased two nine-horse trucks so we can also attack racing in Southland, where Steve even considered setting up another property but decided a bigger Canterbury base was the better option.

“We are going to be using a lot of the new technology available, the stuff being used by the big Australian thoroughbred trainers, to collect data off the horses and we want to keep improving.

“So it is an exciting time and it is great to have a couple of Hayden and Amanda’s experience come on board.”

Team Telfer starts this week’s racing as the TAB’s $1.42 favourites to win their first trainer’s title.

The way they are growing, they could start next season even shorter to win the 2023 premiership.

by Michael Guerin, for Harness Racing New Zealand