John McDermott – Noodlum, Olga Korbut, Robalan and Ruby

Prebbleton harness racing trainer John McDermott has already surpassed his personal best and we’re just over halfway through the current season.

McDermott whose family is steeped in trotting history, has been training since 2009 and this season has trained thirteen winners. The team has been led by Ruby’s A Delight (Bettor’s Delight) (named after his granddaughter), which has won six races.

“She’s (Ruby’s A Delight) blown me away. In this game you have horses with ability and they let you down. She was disappointing when she started because she was well bred and didn’t show much but she’s just got better and better. She’s as tough as teak and racing doesn’t worry her. The harder they go the better she goes. It’s just the Bettor’s Delight thing. I never saw it coming,” he said.

Ruby’s A Delight’s second dam is Flying Sands (Sands A Flyin) which won eleven races including the Listed Great Northern Breeders Stakes when trained by Peter Cowan.

“She had an accident and broke down. Either Jimmy Curtin or Mark Jones told me that she was the fastest horse they’d ever driven.”

As a broodmare, Flying Sands was a shy breeder leaving Supreme Gem, (Christian Cullen) the winner of eight and Machs A Flyin (Mach Three) which won seven.

“Flying Sands used to put her ears back and bite and that’s exactly what Ruby does at the races. There was a fella that came into the box beside us at Methven and said, ‘what’s that crabby old thing? I told him it was Ruby’s A Delight. He said she can do what she likes. She’s got a bit of a following around the place.”

Seventy four year old McDermott and his wife Christine farm a twenty hectare block at Prebbleton opposite Nevele R Stud.

“When we came here about fifteen years ago it was bare land. We built the house and stables and put in two tracks which are 770 metres. We breed our own horses and walk them across the road to be foaled. Once they’re foaled we put the mare and foal in the float and bring them back here. Of the sixty seven horses I’ve trained to win, ninety nine percent of them we’ve bred ourselves.”

John is helped by Blair Mills and Gavin Cook.

“Blair is my right hand man, a very experienced horseman who has trained numerous winners himself. Gavin the ex-World Amateur Driving Champion has a horse stabled here so he gives us a hand as well.”

John’s first winner was Jack Hinton (Artiscape) at Rangiora in February 2009. His biggest winners have been Ruby’s A Delight (11), Flyover (10), Refine (8) and Supreme Gem (8).

He’s also held an amateur’s license since 2009 and driven seven winners, including three races of the 2016 NZ Amateur championships which he obviously won.

John’s tertiary education was completed at nearby Lincoln College (now Lincoln University) and afterwards he came home and worked on the family farm at the time when his father Eugene (junior) was President of the NZMTC.

“When he finished his term which in those days took a lot of his time, I got into rural banking and worked in that sector for the next twenty five years. Most of that time we were farming deer part time and breeding horses.”

In 1999 John and his brother Maurice took over the family farm following Eugene’s passing and following its sale in 2006 McDermott was able to follow his dream of training horses.

“I learned a lot from Peter and Vicki Cowan. Peter was a very successful trainer and stud master. He’d worked for National Bloodstock. Also years ago when I was at Lincoln I used to help Felix Newfield in the holidays.”

John is the grandson of Eugene McDermott (senior) who suffered a heart attack and died while driving Colonel Grattan (Grattan Royal) in the 1939 New Zealand Trotting Cup.

“He was fifty four. He had had rheumatic fever a couple of months earlier and in those days they didn’t realise what effect it could have on the heart.”

On the breeding front John’s father in partnership with Don McKinley, bred Robalan (Lumber Dream).

“They sold the mare with the foal at foot for eleven hundred guineas against my advice, as he paced everywhere as a foal, rare in those days. But Don wanted out. In 1974 the first year Dad was President of the NZMTC he presented the New Zealand Cup to the owners of Robalan.”

The McDermotts however had a half-sister to Robalan – Gladfield, (Newport Chief) from which they bred American Chief (Regal Yankee). He was trained by Felix Newfield and he won nine races including the Ashburton Cup.

John and Maurice also had success with another member of the Robalan family, Croker, (Falcon Seelster) whose fourth dam was Elsinore, the dam of Robalan.

“We passed him in at the sales and did a 50/50 deal with Colin DeFilippi. After he ran an unlucky third in the Great Northern Derby, we sold him for a substantial figure to Australia. Colin thought he was a Cup horse.”

McDermott says for as long as he can remember he’d wanted to get involved in trotting.

“When I was a kid growing up if anyone asked me what I wanted to do I’d say be a trotting trainer and driver. I was reasonably good at school and Dad wasn’t encouraging me to go into that occupation (laughter). I had the passion from an early age and it’s in the genes because it’s on my mother’s side as well.”

John’s mother’s maiden name was Dugan and her father owned Navy Blue (Man O’War) which won fifteen races including the 1930 Auckland Cup.

“The Blue family was one of the hot families of the 1950s. Free legged pacer Final Decision (Hi Blue) was from that family and Flyover (Live Or Die) goes back to Navy Blue.”

Black Label by Newport Chief out of Rum (U Scott) a granddaughter of Navy Blue, won his way through to Cup Class and raced in the Valencia, Wag, Rain Again, Robalan, Arapaho and Manaroa era.

The McDermotts bred from one of Rum’s fillies, Sailor’s Dream (Lumber Dream) which in turn left Scylla (Smooth Fella) which won two and was the dam of Scintilla (Lordship). One of Scintilla’s foals City Plan (Camtastic) is the dam of Flyover.

But it was the bloodlines of Deft (Captain Adios) that gained John early notoriety.

She won ten races for Derek Dynes and was good enough to run second in both the Easter Cup won by Lordship (Johnny Globe) and the Hannon Memorial won by Orbiter (U Scott).

She was bred and raced by Ann Wilson.

The McDermott property at Halswell became the home of Deft when Andy and Ann Wilson moved north from Southland. Andy was a long serving secretary of the Wyndham Trotting Club.

“The Wilsons grazed Deft at Dad’s place. They were going to pay grazing and Dad asked if they would consider giving me a half share in one her progeny to get me started in the game. They said they’d love to do that. She’d had three colts in a row and when the fourth foal was a colt old Andy Wilson rang and said, ‘John the tart’s had another colt.’ He thought I should take a half share saying she may never have a filly and I’d end up with nothing. I said ’No thanks Mr Wilson, I’ll wait for my filly.”

That colt was Noodlum (Bachelor Hanover) which won twenty eight races including fifteen in a row.

“The following year Olga Korbut came along.”

Owned by Ann Wilson and John, Olga Korbut was put into training with Freeman Holmes.

“She was a big leggy mare and Freeman didn’t think she’d make a two year old. She went to the trials at Methven at the beginning of December and ran fourth and Freeman was pleasantly surprised and lined her up in the Golden Slipper Stakes at Waimate. She jumped the crossing and galloped and ran home for fifth. When he came in he said if she hadn’t galloped he thought she’d have run second or third.”

As a two year old Olga Korbut started fifteen times for five wins, six seconds and a third. Included in her last four wins were the New Zealand Juvenile Championship and the New Zealand Sapling Stakes.

As a racehorse Olga Korbut’s last win was at Addington in April 1977 when she beat Rocky Tryax (Lumber Dream) and Sapling (Young Charles).

“She came down the outside fence and went straight past them. She was the first horse that I raced so I started off pretty good really.”

Her race record read 58-8-9-7 $27,270.

As a broodmare she left minor winners All Gold (Tiger Wave) and Olympic Gold (Out To Win) two wins each, but between 1983 and 1990 she either didn’t conceive or lost her foal.

“She had a difficult foaling with the last foal, got infected afterwards and we never got her in foal again. It broke my heart.”

However, John is still breeding from one of her descendants Stylish Babe, (Badlands Hanover) whose third dam is Olga Korbut.

There are some branches of the family still being bred from. Special Needs (Live Or Die) is out of the family. She won once for Murray Alfeld before heading to Australia where she won another five. As a broodmare she’s left Islandspecialmajor (Art Major) the winner of thirty and Island Rocknroll (A Rocknroll Dance) eighteen wins.

John has eight horses in work and he and Christine continue to breed, recently adding Refine (Highview Tommy) which has won eight races to date to their mares list.

“She’s a lovely mare and a free legged pacer.”

Other horses in work include Jordy, recent winner Flyaway, Bettor Fly and Lily’s A Star (Highview Tommy)

“She’s (Lily’s A Star) named after another granddaughter. She’s had two starts and hasn’t shown what she’s capable of but I’m confident she will.”

Topaz (American Ideal) is another horse John’s got time for. Earlier this season she was trained by Geoff and James Dunn because McDermott was having seasonal issues with her.

“She’s a few weeks away from going to the trials. She is a very promising horse. She seems to have the Flying Sands speed.”

John is also considering putting three yearlings in next February’s sale in Christchurch: a trotting colt named Propellor (Propulsion – Dutchess), a filly called Liqueur (Lazarus – Curve) and Fly High (Bettor’s Wish-Flyover – filly).

“They’re the nicest yearlings I’ve ever bred. I’m tossing up whether to keep them or put them through the sales.”

He’s also got two mares ready to foal – Flyover (Live Or Die) who’s due to foal to Lazarus and Curve (Courage Under Fire) who’s in foal to American Ideal.

Flyover won ten races and ran third in both the Ashburton Cup and the G2 Mares Championship and second in the G1 New Zealand Breeders Stakes to Adore Me (Bettor’s Delight).

As a broodmare she’s left Better Fly (Bettor’s Delight) five wins, Jordy (Bettor’s Delight) five wins, Flyaway (Art Major) three wins and the promising Jeremiah (Lazarus).

John sold Jeremiah to Barry Purdon and Scott Phelan for $80,000 at the 2022 NZB Standardbred Yearling Sales in Christchurch.

“I’m a great Lazarus fan. Flyover is back in foal to him, and I’ll be breeding another one by him this year. They’re just lovely horses to do anything with. They just want to please you.”

Other mares McDermott is contemplating putting in foal are Duchess, Stylish Babe, Refine and Better Fly.

“Christine and I need to sit down and have a chat.  In some respects there’s not a better time to breed horses. Stakes have increased, there’s new opportunities for juveniles, and there’s a looming shortage of horses which should encourage more people to get involved in the industry. Swimming against the tide should be the catch cry.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink