PIC:MARK’S MASTERPIECE
As the Purdon era ends at Rolleston with Hayden and Amanda Cullen taking over until the most successful training base in South Island harness history bows finally to the developers,we asked Mark how and why he came to buy and develop it into the showplace of this harness era.
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“It was through John Seaton initially. John was a stock dealer and was closely associated with Nobby Bussell, a farmer who also dealt in stock and grazed them. He took me out to the property one day. John told me Nobby wanted too much for it but it would make a good place for me if I could get it at the right price.
Nobby wanted $10,000 an acre for 80 acres (about 40ha) and honestly I thought it wasn’t a bad price. Then he knocked some off because part of the property had had a restriction and I thought it it was good price so I decided to go ahead and buy. At that stage we were based at John’s property at Yaldhurst (from 2001) still with connections to the north so there was no rush to develop immediately which gave us some time.
Then I had another stroke of good luck. Il Vicolo was sold as a stallion and my share covered a lot of the price .The timing could not have been better.”
Nobby (Arthur) Bussell had a long history in Canterbury farming and racing in both codes.His father had at one time run the historic Wainoni Park trotting establishment on the Avon River that had earlier been the most famous and successful stud and racing farm in New Zealand under the Kerr family.Later it was a smaller training establishment and for a time operated by a University Professor run as a fun sporting and amusement park-it’s power system run off the engine from the first car that came to Christchurch back at the turn of the century.
Nobby had widespread interests and for many years one of his projects was farming the unused ground at the Riccarton racecourse.It came all up to about 60ha at its peak and his feat in turning a virtual wilderness into a productive farm (originally for $12 an acre per annum) gave rise to the quip that he “was the only man to make money at the Riccarton racecourse”. Big crops of potatoes were a feature and he also grew lucerne and grazed sheep at a handsome profit.It was quite a feat given the stones,broom and old graves of horses that greeted him in 1950.
Nobby,genial,astute, nobody’s fool, raced horses in both codes including top galloper Shakes from Mick Murfitt’s stable and some of his pacing winners were out of Mark’s stable.
Though he had a very keen eye for his own stock Nobby once paid tribute to how remarkable John Seaton was in that regard.
“He would buy sheep at the sale, and truck them out to graze,often with mine mixed in.When he came out weeks later he could pick out all the ones he had bought even though he had only seen them maybe twice.It was uncanny”
Well known racing owner Ray Coupland was on the verge of buying the Rolleston property but negotiations stalled giving Mark his opportunity. Nobby’s son, Denis, farmed the major part of the property for many years until it was sold to the local Council some time ago, to be used as a park facility or similar in the future.
After success at Yaldhurst Mark decided it was time to develop his Rolleston investment.
“ John had passed and there was some uncertainty over the future of Yaldhurst so we went ahead”
The impressive barn,a landmark in the area,was basically designed by Mark himself.
“I drew up plans for the architect combining things I had learned over the years with a layout that would be efficient as a workplace for both the horses and staff. The track and the rest of the layout was fairly straightforward. I decided on a straight track as well instead of a pool because we couldn’t have it all along with the new house. The track came from my trip to Europe with Pride Of Petite. It really proved itself,especially with trotters and was a great asset.”
Mark did regret in later years the lack of a swimming pool but as an extra aid but added a treadmill and other innovations in more recent times.
Quality and practicality were evident right through the property,no effort spared to be the best it could be.
Mark was training with Grant Payne at this time with expert assistance from Blair Orange,and they already had 24 winners for the season when they moved to Rolleston after the 2007 New Zealand Cup meeting.
The first winner officially credited to the Rolleston stable was Mach’s Tempo,owned by Joe Muscara,driven by Mark, who won by a margin at odds on at Addington on December 6 that year.Over 60 followed the stable topping the premiership wth 86 wins from just 313 starts and over $2m in stakes a total only previousl reached (twice) by Roy and Barry in the 1990’s
It is a tribute to Mark’s vision that there has been virtually no alteration to the original design with its roomy stalls using as much natural light and open air options as possible. A key part of the stable success over the years was the environment including latest track technology and ease of operation that both staff and horses appreciated.
Hayden and Amanda know that having a long time association,not only through their own employment there but through Amanda’s father,Gary Barlow, still maintaining the tracks there as he has for many years.
How long this stunning asset to harness racing will continue in that role is open to question.
“At the moment I think it’s possibly early in 2026 but there is a chance for extension and my guess is that that might happen. It’s just a question of what the developers want to do and when” Mark says.
After New Brighton once Hornby , through Ben Jarden’s Islington Lodge and in the 1920’s and ‘30’s James Bryce’s world class facility at Branston, dominated the harness racing scene. Addington was a hotbed of activity until population pressure killed it off. Then the so called “Golden Mile” at Templeton with big names like Jack Pringle,Derek Jones,Jim Dalgety,Jack Smolenski, Don and Barry Nyhan etc cheek by jowl on Trent’s Road, producing a host of champions ,highlighted the 1950’s to 1970’s with the Rhodes and Butt operations not far away. West Melton then held sway through the Butt brothers and many others.Now Rolleston through All Stars,Hayden and Amanda, and the Stonewall operation has assumed leadership as the population moves ever further out from the city. How far out we can now only guess.
In Rolleston’s case,it larely came about through an afternoon drive nearly 25 years ago.
What a fateful one it proved.