Without You is thriving in the north and will have an outing at Alexandra Park on Friday to prepare her for the $110,000 Caduceus Classic the following week. The Captain Crunch filly looks like adding interest to the juvenile filly features this season on her recent win at Addington.
She belongs to the family one of the most famous mares in New Zealand breeding,Norice, who came to New Zealand as a disqualified pacer from the United States in 1903.Her sire,Charles Derby, was a highlight in the Globe Derby line that would feature so strongly in Australia and New Zealand harness history including our first two minute pacer, Lawn Derby. But he was an outcast among the top tiers of studs in the east of the United States like his immediate ancestors.
Ironically while Norice had her moments,the Globe Derby line owed its foundation to a horse being despatched to the sales ring as a veteran-because he was leaving too many pacers !
Norice was purchased by Christchurch publican and sportsman James Pettie on a trip to California that must have been a doozy socially as well as successful horsewise.
Accompanying him was New Zealand’s livewire leading jockey and now Hall of Famer, “Tod” Hewitt, the nickname coming from the fact he was the first successful exponent in Australasia of the short stirrup riding style American Tod Sloan had used to revolutionise race riding style in England in that era.
Hewitt, also a “silent partner” in our first real pacing champion pacer, Ribbonwood,was recovering from injury at the time and a nice boat ride to America appealed. Also on the trip was his friend Dave Price,trainer and “owner” of Ribbonwood. Price came back with several major innovations in harness gear (spreaders eg) and Pettie came back with one of our most famous racemares.
James Pettie had originally raced trotting ponies in Wellington but in Christchurch was a prominent standardbred trotting fan.He later moved to Te Karaka,near Gisborne in the hotel business and stood a stallion and formed a club,a severe challenge in a non-trotting area, before finally moving to Auckland where he was prominent in trotting circles for many years rarely missing morning trials up until his death in 1934.
It is not clear how much the New Zealanders knew about Norice’s standing when she was purchased.She was very highly bred for her era with Hambletonian 10 close up on both sides of her pedigree and she was a good performer in California. When she went to race in New Zealand and a clearance was needed it turned out she was “under forfeit” and Pettie had to pay a substantial sum to Californian authorities for a race clearance for money owing by previous owners-suggesting even he didn’t know the whole story.
She ran second in the first New Zealand Cup on a skeleton preparation but showed her class more than once on New Zealand tracks.The problem,as it may have been in her home state,was that she did not always live up to her trials on raceday and as a betting proposition could be erratic. This was also due to a leg problem which dogged her and was maybe a reason for Pettie being able to buy her. He brought three other horses out with her so it was not a cheap outlay given the trips involved.
Some of Norice descendants, even in modern times, have not entirely lost her tendencies, one of the most famous being Mount Eden some of whose close female antecedents were extremely fast and often erratic. He is still remembered for his stupendous performances at the Addington Inter Dominions in the 1960’s culminating in a record time trial in tough conditions-but only because he had not made the Final with his antics at the start.
But there have been a huge number of success stories as well,too many to mention here.It is now 120 years since Norice had her first foal and she is probably as famous now as then if not more so.Mabel Duncan managed her at Fendalton while Tuapeka Lodge and Ben Grice were the source of many of the later family stars and in recent years Braeside Star tribe of Braeden and Caroline Whitelock have added their share.
The secret has been the electric fillies Norice’s tribe can produce generation after generation. Maybe not easy to train at times but dynamic at stud. Just to show how great Norice was however is that she also left colts like Nelson Derby who were top tier racers and champion stallions.Nelson Derby sired another great mare,Haughty.
Charles Derby’s sire, Steinway, was another twist in an extraordinary tale proving as so often happens in breeding, fate can be the real link to greatness.
Steinway,who trotted a mile in an American 3yo record of 2.25.5 back in the day (in the fourth of six heats on the same day !) was under suspicion in Kentucky trotting- obsessed breeding ranks. So he was walked across the country from the east to California after a top racing career where he soon became a great stud success.He was there because of the remarkable story of his own sire Strathmore, the true founder of the breed,but virtually ignored in the east for most of his stud life.
Strathmore served only poor quality mares in his first seasons at stud and did not pay his way. The reason was simple.He was foaled a pacer (in spite of no history of pacing in his pedigree) and remained one until his last day, tho made to trot with big weights when young.Many of his get in Kentucky were the same.Not cool.
Breeders seeking only speed among trotters ignored or would not risk him and they had their doubts about Steinway as well. So when 20 years old,without siring one horse on Standard list (2.30) -because none of his foals were allowed to race as pacers there-,and never having served a mare with a Standard record, Strathmore was sent to auction (1879) and sold cheaply to a farm in Indianna.
“Indianna pants” was the name given to the first use of hopples and mid West farmers and breeders preferred pacers. A transformation followed.
Strathmore,who lived until he was 29 without one day of unsoundness,then mounted an amazing record. All of his 35 Standard performers (three times as many as any other son of Hambletonian) were sired after his 21st birthday.Many of them were stars who went on to establish all sorts of records both at the time and historically as fans of the Globe Derby breed well know. An ironic result was that his male line through Santa Claus (also sent to California) was responsible for the first two minute trotter, Lou Dillon.Take that Kentucky!.
Strathmore, like so many of his distant descendants (Lordship eg) was only just 15 hh and a dark brown horse with a lovely temperament. The line has left top trotters,especially through Johnny Globe, but most pace like Strathmore did.Yet but for his owner disposing of him as an old horse he would have been forgotten.
There would have been no Norice or Globe Derby line but for that decision.Sobering thought.
Without You is from the same Hindu Star-Petro Star etc Ben Grice line as many modern Norice form leaders though from a less fashionable arm.
Nobody is suggesting she is another champion descendant of Norice at this stage. But we can just be thankful she and her ilk are here at all.
Pic: The great Lordship with his owner Doris Nyhan-a champion siring descendant of Strathmore