Vale Ian Dobson

New Zealand harness racing has lost one of its most iconic and leviathan owners and participants today, with Ian Dobson passing away in the early hours of this morning on what was his 90^th birthday.

The man who is synonymous with the greatest colonial pacer and stallion ever produced on these shores leaves behind a legacy reserved for only a few in the sport, particularly of those who never worked directly with the Standardbred.

His story is one of great colour, with Dobson born on the wrong side of the tracks during the Depression years. He was reared by foster parents who gave him a wonderful life.

Ian Dobson grew up in New Brighton, half a mile from the New Brighton Racecourse now known as QEII. After school he would wander over and muck out at the stables and jog horses for the likes of George Cameron, Manny & Dan Edwards and the Frost’s.

Dobson recalled an instance where he saw a trainer giving a grown man his life history behind the stables, and established that the lengthy discussion was due to a bad debt, in which instance Dobson vowed to never have a racehorse until he could afford it.

Dobson spent the early part of his professional career first plying his trade as a plumber.

He lived off 10% of his income, saving the rest, and eventually set up his own plumbing business, before moving into buying real estate.

He established a residential property portfolio of some substance before getting out of the residential sector due to the maintenance and tenancy headaches that came with them, leading Dobson to go down the commercial property path.

One of the commercial properties Dobson acquired was a factory making jam jar covers with the old kiwi pastime of making and storing preservatives still very much in vogue at the time. Soon enough the owner of the business asked Dobson whether he would be interested in acquiring the jam cover business, which he did.

Noel Kennard was a member of the racing fraternity who struck a close working relationship with Dobson as his personal accounts manager for the better part of two decades and says he will fondly remember his colleague and friend for the bond they developed.

“Ian must have tracked me down somehow and employed me doing his accounts and wiring out the cheques. Things kept expanding from there and along came Cullen’s retirement which led to me managing that side of things with his stallion career,” said Kennard.

“He was a very prudent businessman and when it came to money, Ian’s motto has always been that as soon as the account walked in the door, it was paid. He would be so embarrassed if an account was not paid immediately,” he said.

In the early 1980’s, the Dobson’s had reached a point in their professional endeavours where they felt they were ready for the financial demands of race horse ownership. This led to his wife, Doreen purchasing him a horse for a Christmas present with the yearling filly by Armbro Del being renamed fittingly to that of Jam Cover.

Jam Cover was raced in partnership with M H Fenton and was trained by Mike DeFillipi. She was an honest race mare, but definitely no star with three placings from 14 starts proving her lot on the racetrack. Nor at stud where she produced 7 foals, for six qualifiers, but only the one winner for Dobson.

With the benefit of hindsight, we can emphatically say that this was not to be Dobson’s lot as an owner, with Jam Cover merely the starting point for a lifelong passion that would endure 98 more pacers and trotters accumulating some 2225 starts over the next 40+ years of his life.

Dobson’s first real success as a racehorse owner came in the Thoroughbred code where as an owner of Royal Creation, he was able to traverse to Australia for some of the richest contests on turf with the galloper winning well over a million dollars in stakes, racing in the likes of the Doncaster Handicap and Caufield Cup.

Having had a taste at the top end, Dobson then went about trying to replicate that success with his true passion of harness racing and struck up a relationship with former North Island trainer, Brian O’Meara.

The first true taste of success at the pointy end of harness racing for the pair came via the deeds of Spirit Of Zeus, who won the 1995 New Zealand Sires Stakes Final at Group One level.

In subsequent years the partnership unfurled many top liners including Open Class pacers Cigar and Panky’s Pacer, but despite that pair winning over a half million dollars in stakes between them, it paled in comparison to that of Christian Cullen.

O’Meara recalled the horse being ‘a proper devil’ when it came time to breaking him in, sometimes refusing to go around the track more than once or twice.

“He would pull up and flick his tail and try and run off and I had five or six people out trying to stop him from running off at one stage and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to leave him a colt,” said O’Meara.

Fortunately they did, as almost overnight, the first crop son of USA import, In The Pocket, was working as good as he looked, and within a few months O’Meara knew he had a special horse on his hands.

“Once he accepted it, he had a flawless way of going and had a tremendous amount of speed. He felt like an older horse and by the time he was two, he felt like he was about four,” said O’Meara.

The official margin of the first trial where Christian Cullen announced himself to the racing world was a five length victory, but those in attendance and with the hindsight of the tape could quite clearly establish the margin was closer to eight or ten lengths at the finish.

“Mark Jones was driving him and it was quite outstanding,” said Dobson at the time, with offers coming thick and fast, the largest of which was around $375,000 for the flashy juvenile.

Somewhat serendipitously, the emerging star of the racetrack bore the name of an emerging star of the rugby field, with history now showing that arguably the greatest New Zealand pacer ever produced and the greatest fullback to play for the All Blacks shared more than just a name.

“I had met John Hart a couple of times, and I told him I had this horse who looked very good and asked him to ask Christian Cullen if I could name a horse after him. I received a fax from Cullen shortly before he left for a tour of Australia and South Africa saying he would be privileged to have a horse named after him and it’s been very successful for both codes,” said Dobson at the time.

In a rugby mad country like New Zealand, it was hard to gauge which Cullen had the bigger public profile in the late 90’s which led to a cartoonist in The Press producing a cracking drawing detailing two horses having a chat in the paddock whereby one said to the other, “I see they have named a Rugby player after him!”

In careers that were in parallel to another, the sonic rise coincided with a premature demise, with both lost to their respective codes before their time some would say.

Christian Cullen wasn’t the only Ian Dobson pacer to bear the name of a storied sport star, with the likes of Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Cambo all named with Dobson’s other great sporting love of golf shining through. The latter of which Dobson raced with the 2005 US Open winner Michael Campbell sharing in the ownership of his namesake.

It would be remiss at this point not to mention that Dobson himself was a very talented and capable golfer playing off a scratch handicap for at least a few decades, representing his storied Christchurch (formerly Shirley) Golf Club for a number of years in the prestigious Canterbury match play scene of Woodward Cup.

“He was an incredible match play player,” said Lee Robinson of the Christchurch Golf Club.

“He was never the longest off the tee, but Ian had a phenomenal short game and could chip and putt with the best of them. He played roughly 240 games of Woodward Cup at a time when the club would regularly win the top flight competition and Ian was an integral part of that success,” he said.

Dobson won a number of tournaments including the Club’s Senior Club Championships on two occasions, once with Sir Bob Charles in the draw and played an integral part in sponsoring the Junior programme for the clubs up and coming golfers.

Back to harness racing and the horse who put Dobson on the map as an owner however.

In a career that yielded seven Group Ones and $1.25million in stakes whilst capturing the imagination like few before him, it’s unsurprising Sheldon Murtha produced a documentary on the superstar detailing the many chapters of his storied career.

Without delving too deep into revisionary history, few will forget a couple of Christian Cullen’s career defining performances which led to two of the most memorable commentary quotes in the history of the great sport.

Firstly the 1998 New Zealand cup where a herculean battle with Iraklis down the Addington straight prompted the legendary Reon Murtha to exclaim “in a galaxy of stars, he’s the brightest of all!”

CHRISTIAN CULLEN | 1998 NZ CUP

Less than a month later, Cullen would exercise the demons from 12 months earlier where a contaminated sample led to him being scratched from the 1997 Miracle Mile as a three-year-old, came out and annihilated the best pacers in Australasia at Harold Park in a track record 1:56.5.

Hilton Donaldson’s emphatic call still rings in the ears of harness fans when he bellowed; “Christian Cullen five, six in front, went through the third in 28.3 and Danny Campbell let him down!” as the pair cruised to a 20m victory.

CHRISTIAN CULLEN | 1998 MIRACLE MILE

Christian Cullen retired in February 2000 after going amiss prior to the Interdominion Carnival and was in the same year enshrined into New Zealand harness racing equine immortality as a living member of the New Zealand Harness Hall Of Fame.

While it robbed racing of its greatest star, it set about the next stage of his career for which possibly only Dobson could envisage in its infancy where Cullen would go on to reshape the history of the New Zealand pacing breed as the greatest pacing colonial sire ever produced.

Dobson initially knew nothing about the breeding side of the business but he was constantly informed that the only logical option was to stand the horse at stud. After buying O’Meara out of his share for a six-figure sum. Initially he began breeding while still racing, with semen collected from the property of O’Meara. Standing for $6,000, a high price at the time for a first season stallion, Cullen struck a snag when nothing he was bred to in the North Island got in foal, resulting in just 46 covers in his maiden season.

From that crop however, the success was incredible. He left Born Again Christian 1:51.2 ($133,130), Likmesiah ($427,965), Roman Gladiator ($318,022), V For ($208,777), Chris Riley ($306,732), Conte De Christo($246,703), Dudinka’s Star ($106,580) and C C Mee ($101,949). Almost every one he foaled had the Cullen “look” about them. That same presence he himself held as a young horse. An enticing possibility for trainers and for breeders.

Incredibly from his first crop of 46, Cullen sired almost half the NZ 2YO Sires Stakes Final field with 5 of the 13 starters, siring the first, second and fourth horses home – and this is despite arguably the best of them and favourite Roman Gladiator performing well below expectations to finish eighth.

It was arguably his second crop that produced the best results though. From it came New Zealand Cup winning mare, Mainland Banner. Purchased for $9,000 by retired Ashburton farmer Ian Sowden, her ability was recognised early on as she made a big impression around Mid Canterbury at workouts and trials. The similarities between her and her sire were remarkable – something that later moved legendary race caller, Reon Murtha to describe her as “Christian Cullen in a skirt.”

Dobson was obviously enraptured by the then filly as well. So much so he went and forked out a six-figure sum to purchase her unqualified through the advice of his then trainer, Robert Dunn. She would go on to win 17 of her 21 career starts, including becoming the first four-year-old mare to win the New Zealand Trotting Cup in 2005 wearing the now famous lime green silks of Dobson’s for his second Cup Win.

If Dobson knew little about the breeding sector prior to Christian Cullen, it wasn’t long before he was one of the biggest players in the industry with Cullen’s popularity soaring.

At the 2008 PGG Wrightson Australasian Classic Yearling Sales at Karaka, Christian Cullen’s yearlings averaged a stunning $89,000(24 yearlings). With 9 $100,000 plus yearlings being sold, Cullen was the sire of 8 0f the 9, including the two $200,000 plus sale toppers. At the Christchurch Premier sale, his 34 yearlings averaged just shy of $64,000, with Cullen setting a modern day record for a yearling colt with the sale of Tuapeka Mariner for $250,000. In the two premier yearling sales combined, Christian Cullen sired an unprecedented three $200,000 plus yearlings, 10 $100,000 plus yearlings and 20 $50,000 plus yearlings. In Melbourne, Christian Cullen also topped the APG Yearling Sale with a $100,000 colt.

Those results, coupled with some serious interest from further abroad, saw whispers around Cullen heading to America to stand for a season and Dodson was inundated with requests from breeders from the other side of the world. Prospective clients came down to see Cullen and Dobson in the flesh and also spent a fair amount of time inspecting some of his progeny.

They were concerned about the declining gene pool and Christian Cullen was even a well-known name in North America. Eventually Ian went to America and hosted a number of top breeders and at the end of the evening had approximately 80 mares booked, however after all the arrangements were made and the stallion sent to America, there was the worldwide financial crash and as a result only about 20 mares ended up getting served. He stood for US$10,000 in that season and although he only produced 26 live foals, 17 of them were winners and his mark is still prominent in America with a large number of Kiwi pacers sold there and performing well.

At one point, Cullen commanded a record $25,000 stud fee which was unheard of in Australasian harness racing circles, yet it didn’t stop the breeders coming in their droves.

After the humble breeding beginnings at O’Meara’s property, Christian Cullen found his niche at Wai Eyre Farm where Dobson’s unforgettable lime green colours made the Cullen brand recognisable on the worldwide stage. In 2013, when Cullen’s fertility issues really began to raise their head, Dobson moved Cullen to Nevele R Stud in an effort to rejuvenate the stallion’s career.

Then in the 2015 and 2016 season Cullen was shifted to Dancingonmoonlight Farm in North Canterbury where he has lived out his days of retirement befitting of his champion status.

Cullen retired from stud as the sire of 1250 individual winners worldwide, with 951 of those coming in New Zealand alone for nearly $85million in stakes just quietly.

His accolades include;

• 5 time leading sire of 2YO’s
• 2 time leading sire of 3YO’s
• 5 time leading NZ Sire of pacers by stakes
• 5 time leading NZ Sire by stakes
• 1 time leading AUS sire by stakes
• Current leading NZ BM sire by stakes last seven seasons consecutively
• 3 time leading AUS broodmare sire by stakes

Cullen would produce five millionaires and although he only sired the one New Zealand Cup winner in Mainland Banner, his daughters have proved just as profitable as the sire himself and having found an incredible niche with Bettor’s Delight, has since poduced four of the last seven Cup winners on the fabled golden cross among many other top line performers as the dam sire.

Dobson’s stallion exploits would see him also stand such sires as In The Pocket whom he acquired in 2010, Peruvian Hanover and Gotta Go Cullen.

Although Dobson was notorious for purchasing stock by the stallions he stood, he made a business decision to pull out of breeding which led him to selling 37 lots including the champion mare Mainland Banner at a 2010 dispersal sale.

“Ian was coming under some flak from breeders who were questioning why they would pay to breed to Christian Cullen when he was breeding a number himself and sending them to the sales. He had accumulated a large volume of mares and foals and made a decision at that time that he would get out of breeding his own stock with a view to purchasing one or two a year for his ownership interests,” said Kennard.

Ironically, the breeding side of things would produce Dobson with some of his greatest recent success in the sport via the deeds of superstar trotter, Muscle Mountain.

The son of Muscle Hill was bred after Dobson secured his dam as a yearling and despite having only raced the one trotter in his lifetime prior, decided she was too well bred not to be tried with the greatest trotting stallion in the world at the time.

The resulting foal would conspire to be one of the fastest trotters ever produced in this country and after the son of Muscle Hill passed in at the sales for a meagre $45,000, Dobson made the prudent decision to retain the striking trotter and the rest as they is history.

A testament to Dobson as an owner was his ability to let the professionals do what they do best, and this flowed through to allowing young junior driver, Ben Hope, continue his association with the star trotter despite it being apparent the horse was headed for the top. Something he allowed the burgeoning late Danny Campbell do with his star pacer two decades earlier.

“Ian had faith in me to drive Muscle Mountain from day dot, and when he realised he was the real deal it would have been easy for him to opt for a more senior driver but it meant a lot that he kept me in the cart. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to drive a once in a lifetime sort of horse so I owe a lot to him,” said Hope.

“Growing up as a young fella he was a prolific owner and to put on those famous colours was a bit surreal. I will always have the memories of putting on the lime green silks for him and the family and obviously had them on for my first group one win, which means a lot to me.

“It’s incredibly sad to hear about Ian’s passing, he was a great man to drive for and my parents have always said that he has been great to train for. He will be a big loss for the industry,” he said.

Muscle Mountain’s ascension in the trotting ranks coincided with the rise of another star juvenile in Akuta, who has since rose to fame in the pacing ranks as the winner of almost a $1million in stakes with his champion trainer, Mark Purdon as the co-owner.

“It’s been wonderful because he was one of the first people to support me when I came down to the South Island,” said Purdon.

“He has asked me to go into horses with him earlier but I had declined. As most will know, I had purchased Akuta and the intended owner didn’t come through with the money. I contacted Ian who told me that he would take him on the condition that I came in the horse with him.

“It was a lot of money for us to find at the time but the rest is history and it’s been a wonderful journey with him. It’s just unfortunate going into the Cup this year he is going to have a wonderful chance to get his third as an owner and he isn’t around to see the possibility.

“Ian was a brilliant owner who let me make the decisions in the best interest of the horses and backed me 100% to do my job. You couldn’t fault him and as far as relationships go from trainer to owner, he was a 10/10. I was lucky enough to go to a couple of birthday parties he put on and he would speak so fondly of his family and his childhood, he will be greatly missed,” he said.

12 months after unearthing Akuta, Purdon unleashed another star of the juvenile ranks in Don’t Stop Dreaming. This led to a memorable day in which Dobson was the owner of an incredible three Group One races in one day with the trio of Muscle Mountain, Akuta and Don’t Stop Dreaming claiming the New Zealand Trotting FFA, Ace Of Spades and New Zealand Derby on the newly minted Grand Prix Day at Addington late last year.

In a twist of fate, the same trio were all in action last Friday night and with Dobson’s health taking a sudden turn for the worst, almost sent him off as another triple race winner on the same track with only Muscle Mountain succumbing in the shadows of the post to deny Dobson a fairy-tale finish to his storied history with the sport.

As the great Meatloaf once said, two out of three aint bad. And for the boy born on the wrong side of the tracks, I am sure it would have brought a wry smile to his face knowing that his legacy in the sport will live on forever in the annals with some chapters still yet to be written.

Below is a list of some of the best from the 99 standardbreds Dobson had an official ownership interest in chronological order.

• Spirit Of Zeus: $243,472
• Christian Cullen:  $1,249,150
• Cigar: $242,905
• Panky’s Pacer: $147,508
• Mainland Banner: $684,579
• Fight Fire With Fire: $151,657
• Gotta Go Cullen: $1,173,343
• Joyfuljoy: $339,612
• Sixpence: $613,977
• Yankee Dream: $277,214
• Muscle Mountain: $682,209
• Akuta: $918,515
• Don’t Stop Dreaming: $420,570

Dobson is survived by his partner Janice, son Stuart, daughter Lynne, four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

Lynne Dobson said today she will remember her dad as a great father and family man.

‘We didn’t have a lot of money in those days – there were no huge family holidays – but we’d go away a lot to the West Coast and the country race meetings.

“He was quite hard on me but very fair and brought us up to show respect. I remember him saying: ‘what you do in life is look after your family and work hard’, which I’ve taken on board,” she said.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink