CHAMPION driver Anthony Butt knows how one horse can change your life.
Butt went from a young gun in New Zealand’s South Island to a megastar of Australasian harness racing through the deeds of Blossom Lady, headlined by her back-to-back Hunter Cup wins in 1994/95.
“I’d driven some nice horses before, but she changed everything for me,” Butt said. "She was amazing, she put my name up in lights, especially in Australia.”
Butt’s since added another five Hunter Cup victories to be the most successful driver in the history of Victoria’s biggest race.
He teams with another great Kiwi mare, Amazing Dream, to chase an eighth title tonight.
Other champion drivers in tonight’s race, Chris Alford and Luke McCarthy, will always treasure that first superstar who took them to the big dance and beyond.
Alford’s breakthrough horse was Golden Reign back in the mid-1990s.
He didn't win a Hunter Cup (he ran third to Blossom Lady in an epic 2005 showdown), but did win a stack of other big races, including that phenomenal 1995 Christchurch Inter Dominion. Alford's since won three Hunter Cups, the latest on Sting Lika Bee in 2007.
McCarthy teamed with his own horse, the brilliant Slipnslide, for a wonderful wave of feature race success early in his career through the early and mid-2000s. Later, Bling It On gave him his first and only Hunter Cup win in 2017. He’s aboard favourite King Of Swing tonight.
And last year, Lochinvar Art changed David Moran’s life, with their juggernaut of success climaxing with victory in the Del-Re National A. G. Hunter Cup.
“He’s changed my life, there’s no doubt about that,” Moran said.
“He’s the sort of horse you dream of getting.
“I said when he got injured last year, even if he never races again, I’ve been one of the luckiest people around to have him.”
But Lochinvar Art is back, albeit on a bit of a rushed preparation, as he tries to defend his title with just two races under his belt since last year’s triumph.
“He’s not the horse I had back then, not yet anyway. He’s getting closer, but whereas he could make his own luck 12 months ago, I’m going to need luck to go my way this time,” Moran said.
“The draw hasn’t made it easy, but I’m really happy with him and you know with ‘Arty’ that he’s always going to give you his all.”
And then there’s Jack Callaghan, the next big thing from NSW, who may have just found his own breakthrough horse in Spirit Of St Louis.
Can Spirit Of St Louis be Callaghan’s Lochinvar Art, Blossom Lady, Golden Reign or Slipnslide?
Butt gave the young reinsman the ultimate praise: “He’s the complete package, from the way he drives, to how he dresses and presents himself. He’s a class act.”
Tune into Racing.com’s Channel 78 (Ch 68 regionally) on Saturday night for a special television event as the Del-Re National A.G. Hunter Cup broadcast is beamed into households throughout Australia. The free-to-air broadcast will be hosted by Michael Felgate, who is joined by an all-star cast including seven-time A.G. Hunter Cup winning driver Anthony Butt, Dan Mielicki, Jason Bonnington, Rob Auber and Nikkita Ross. All the action from 6pm.
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