David Butcher trained his first group winner in 24 years at Alexandra Park tonight (Friday) and then quickly deflected the praise on Sunny Ruby’s South Island trainer, Sam Smolenski.
“All I did was put the colours on. The mare has only been with me 10 days and I haven’t done much really. All the hard yards have been done by Sam. All the credit goes to him,” the ever-modest Butcher said.
The 52-year-old Waikato horseman drove Sunny Ruby a treat in the Group Two $40,000 Rosslands Lyell Creek Stakes Trotters Free-For-All. Sure they got the cosy trip, but it was Butcher’s timely drive that got the daughter of Sundon home in New Zealand record time.
Sunny Ruby trotted the 2200m mobile in 2:42.9 – 1.8 seconds faster than Belle Galleon’s long-time New Zealand mares record set at Alexandra Park back in June 1991.
The 5-year-old’s time was only 0.5 of a second outside Sheemon’s national record set in last year’s Group One Anzac Cup, also at ‘The Park’.
The Group Two victory was Butcher’s first major training triumph since he and his late father John trained Abdias to win the Group One New Zealand Messenger Championship in April 1992.
The father and son duo also trained Abdias to win the Group One Noel Taylor Mile and the Group Three Cambridge 4yo Classic that year.
“I’m always thinking of Dad, but more so after tonight’s win. It was a bit special. It would have been nice to have his name in the racebook as well. I’m sure he was with me,” Butcher said.
Butcher Senior passed away in early September after battling illness. The duo trained with 343 winners and won just under $2.5m in stakes since joining forces in 1989.
Butcher provided Sunny Ruby with her 15th win in 52 starts and took her stake earnings past the $210,000 mark.
They drew six and Butcher situated the mare in the trail behind Idle Bones and Brent Mangos. They were then three deep when Marcoola and Ken Ford took the lead at the bell.
In the lane Butcher threaded his way through the pacemakers to win by three quarters of a length and a head from the 11th and ninth favourites – Belle's Son (Tony Herlihy MNZM) and Idle Bones (Brent Mangos).
Sunny Ruby was the $22.70 sixth favourite. The trifecta paid a whopping $7,489.90. She trotted a 1:59.1 mile rate and came home in 58.4 and 30 even.
Butcher said the mare would have four races in the North Island and then he would talk to Smolenski about her future.
"She will have races at Cambridge on Christmas Eve and January 6 and in between them she will target the (Group One) National Trot here (Alexandra Park) on December 31.
"She felt real relaxed before the start of tonight's race and at the time I didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing. She's a quality trotter and I'm just rapt to have her in my stable," said Butcher who works a team of eight at Cambridge.
“She had to be good to come over the top of them in record time. I’m delighted for all the connections,” he added.
Sunny Ruby is owned by Smolenski and Fred Fletcher, and was bred by the latter.
The $1.35 favourite Marcoola would have lost no admirers after copping a flat tyre 100 metres into the race. He then recovered to finish a one-and-three-quarter length fourth after going around to the lead at the bell.
Duane Ranger
