Amistozo a retirement gift for Roulston

After forty eight years with PGG, Aylesbury horseman Steve Roulston officially retires next Friday.

“I’ve got horses to work here and people to help out. Nat (wife Natalie) is looking forward to me retiring. There’s enough to do around here, I’ll give you the tip (laughter),” he said.

Steve and Natalie are currently enjoying a great run with their trotting mare Amistozo (Creatine) which has won two of her three starts for Ashburton trainer John Morrison.

Amistozo which is Spanish for friendly, is out of one win Dream Vacation mare Sueno which won one race for Roulston and is a half-sister to Speeding Spur.

“She was a horse with so much ability, but she always used to run her race before she got to the races. She used to shake like hell, even when we took her down to the stud. We’d get down there and she’d be in a lather of sweat.”

Roulston still holds a trainers licence and has trained eighteen winners but decided to send Amistozo south to John Morrison’s Ashburton stables.

“I broke her in, long reined her and did all the pre-training. I was just busy enough at work and I said to Nat we might as well send this one to a trainer. I’ve known Johnny since he was a kid in Ashburton. He’s such a nice young fella and that goes a long way.”

Amistozo isn’t a big mare, but that doesn’t worry Roulston.

“She’s quite small but we noticed the other day when she’s out on the track she holds herself quite well. When she’s going, she’s quite low. She’s got such a huge back end – a good driving force. Her mum’s like that.”

Prior to her winning on debut at Oamaru, Amistozo has been to four workouts and a trial. But despite her talent her owners and trainer think she’s still got plenty to learn.

“When she won her first race and then ran second, she was quite fierce and just wanted to go go go, but Johnny’s done the right thing. She was ready to go six weeks ago but he’s been working her amongst the young horses and getting her to trail up. She’s settled down a lot.”

Since Amistozo, Sueno has left a three year old full sister named All At Once which Roulston is training and a two year old Father Patrick colt which Philippa Wakelin bought at the sales.

As a trainer Roulston gained notoriety in the early to mid 2000s when he trained Fake Left gelding Bobs Blue Boy which won twelve races including the Methven Cup and the G3 Hannon Memorial.

The Roulstons bred Bobs Blue Boy who was by Fake Left out of Soft Rock, the winner of three.

“Nat named him. She worked at a rhododendron nursery at Yaldhurst where Allan Holmes used to train Gold Bar. There was a rhododendron called Bobs Blue and another called Blue Boy so that’s how he got his name. We’re very proud of what he did. He was very similar to me, very laid back. He never ever won a workout or trial, but he knew when it was race day.”

Bob’s Blue Boy also raced successfully in Australia, winning the Geelong Cup in the hands of Greg Sugars, beating Foreal and Howard Bromac.

“We spent six weeks at Melton and six weeks down in Hobart and met a lot of great people.”

Roulston doesn’t come from a harness racing background but has always had a love of horses.

“I started with Jim Lalor, a galloping trainer in Ashburton. I worked for him for five years before and after school. I wanted to be a jockey but I grew and that’s why I had to get into harness racing. I loved horses and we had ponies when I was young.”

Lalor trained plenty of good gallopers when Roulston was there, including Martha Bell which won the 1971 Amberly Cup and Robanna and St James both of whom won the Ashburton Cup.

“He had a great team back then.”

As far as harness racing goes, Roulston is pretty much self-taught.

“I used to go and help out an old guy in Ashburton called Alf Amyes who had a great old trotter called General Link. He taught me how to put the gear on.”

The first horse Roulston trained was Topanno – a Mark Lobell trotter which was out of Batal who was a half-sister to Pitcher (8) and Signor Gabrielli (8).

He was Steve’s first winner at Roxburgh in April 1993.

Roulston has been involved with the stock and station industry for over 50 years, mostly for PGG which morphed into PGG Wrightsons.

“I was away for three months with Bobs Blue Boy in Australia for the Interdominions and the Hunter Cup. I always remember the young guy who was looking after my area, rang and told me that PGG had merged with the enemy Wrightson. I said, you’re fricking joking (laughter).”

He and Natalie have been at their 10-hectare property for 34 years.

“Originally we were from Ashburton. We spent five years in Halswell, then we shifted out here and we’ve been here ever since. We love the place. I’ve got my own track and we run some cattle.”

Steve primarily works his horses at home, takes them to Bruce Hutton’s to work in company or to the old Hororata track.

“I did most of the work with Bobs Blue Boy at Hororata.”

So with retirement fast approaching, Amistozo likely to race through the winter, some trips to Australia and perhaps Europe, there’s plenty for Steve and Nat to look forward to.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink

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