Maori Miss becomes 13th Legend in Hall of Fame awards
One of Australasia’s greatest mares Maori Miss has finally achieved recognition for her wondrous exploits when she was named the 13th Hall of Fame legends at Melton on Saturday evening.
Other famed stars to join Maori Miss on the evening were Royal Gaze, Sokyula and Sundon’s Gift who were inducted into the Hall Of Fame.
Maori Miss won as a two-year-old pacer at the Showgrounds for Hall of Fame Legend trainer George Gath. Converted to the trotting gait, Maori Miss won the George McNamara Memorial at Geelong and two heats of the Inter Dominion Championship at Harold Park and in her last heat Maori Miss defeated eventual Grand Final winner Yamamoto by 32 yards.
Retired to stud, Maori Miss was an instant success as a matron with winners such as –
Maori’s Gift
Maori’s Pride
Derby and Australasian Trotters Championship winner Maori Monarch
Victoria Breeders Plate winner Maori’s Wonder
GTV9 Cup winner Maori Mara
Maori Way
and of course the Hall of Fame Legend Maori’s Idol.
Maori’s Idol became the first horse to trot a mile in two minutes or faster in the Southern Hemisphere when he clockled 1:59.3 at Moonee Valley.
Maori Miss was acclaimed as Australian Broodmare of the Year in 1977, 1978 and again in 1979.
It was then time for the second generation to take centre stage and the first to do so was Maori’s Glory who was named Australian Trotter of the Year in 1992.
Next came sensational juvenile Noopy Kiosk who was named as Australian Trotter of the Year in 1996 when just three years of age. He was the first trotter ever to win the Sires Stake at ages two, three and four.
Noopy Kiosk’s dam Maori Trump was named Australian Broodmare of the Year in 1996.
Maori’s Idol missed out on an Inter Dominion title, however, third generation Sumthingaboutmaori gave Ric Healy the coveted trophy in 2004
Five years later Maori’s Idol was inducted into the Victorian Hall of Fame and then the fourth generation kicked in when Blitzthemcalder posted the first two minute mile by a two-year-old trotter in Australasia. He also defeated the Kiwis in the Great Northern Derby.
The fourth generation kept on dominating with Maori Time posting the fastest ever mile in the Southern Hemisphere with a 1:51.5 effort at Menangle while a couple of years later her half brother Maori Law won the 2021 Inter Dominion.
Then when the fifth generation arrived it was a matter of even better trotters – 1:55 trotters Pink Galahs, Jilliby Ballerini and the incredible Keayang Zahara who in one of her 28 wins (from only 29 starts) equalled Maori Time’s Australasian mile record of 1:51.5.
The dynasty of Maori Miss has to date produced 105 individual 2:00 trotters, 95 Group One victories, 58 $100,000 winners and has amassed just over $25 million in stakes. Maori Miss was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.
The Hall of Fame salutes its 13th Legend Maori Miss.
Bred and owned by Keith Stiles and officially trained and driven by Ken Pocock, Royal Gaze is best remembered for being Victoria’s flagbearer in the seventies.
At three years he was outstanding winning 15 races including the Victoria Sires Produce and was the second richest 3YO in Australia behind Paleface Adios.
Coming back at four Royal Gaze stunned onlookers at the small Nyah track when he won a free-for-all in two minutes flat, the first time in Australia that there had been a two minute racemile posted outside the metropolitan area.
The following month he defeated Paleface Adios in the Shepparton Gold Cup and then travelled to Perth where he ran third in his first ever Inter Dominion.
At five years Royal Gaze was victorious in Victoria’s flagship race, the 1975 A.G. Hunter Cup defeating Paleface Adios and Hondo Grattan after racing in the death for the last mile.
That same season he won another Shepparton Gold Cup plus an Inter Dominion heat in Auckland and his combined Australia and NZ earnings made him the richest Australian horse of 1974/75.
In 1978 Royal Gaze once again won a heat of Inter Dominion and made his fourth Grand Final out of four series, becoming the first Victorian trained horse to achieve that feat.
Ken Pocock decided to provide an opportunity for daughter Roma after the 1978 Inter Dominion to shine on the national stage in a time trial at Lords Raceway, Bendigo in 1978.
It proved to be a seminal moment in Australian harness racing history as Royal Gaze stopped the clock at 1:58.3, a Victorian record, but more importantly the first time a female had been involved in a two minute performance in the Southern Hemisphere.
Royal Gaze retired with 49 wins and was hailed as Victoria’s best of the 1970s ,meeting and defeating the interstate greats Paleface Adios, Hondo Grattan, Pure Steel, Don’t Retreat and Markovina.
The Hall of Fame welcomes Royal Gaze.
When Lance Justice made the monumental decision to move from South Australia and Victoria he knew he needed a headline horse to ensure success and to attract new owners.
Sokyola was that horse, however, he was not just a headline horse he became an absolute warrior and superstar.
He swept all of Victoria’s four and five year old classics – the Bonanza, Melton Plate and four and five year old Championship.
The following season he went on a tear with 12 successive victories including the Queensland Sunshine Sprint and Winter Cup but also the Mildura Cup, a race that Lance had coveted for years.
Victory in the Legends Mile earned him a spot in the Miracle Mile and he duly saluted before embarking on an interstate campaign that netted an Inter Dominion heat in Perth, another Sunshine Sprint in Queensland and a second in the South Australian Cup.
After a brief spell of just two months it was a case of déjà vu for Sokyola as he once again saluted in the Legends Mile and then entered rare air back then inhabited by only Westburn Grant, Village Kid, Chokin and Holmes DG by winning his second Miracle Mile.
Coming back home Sokyola then won the Victoria Cup and later that season won the Shepparton Cup, Terang Cup and his third Mildura Cup in unbelievable fashion by sitting almost three wide throughout.
Those performances saw he voted in as Australian Harness Horse of the Year for the second successive season, joining Gammalite as the only Victorian trained pacers to do so.
Fittingly Sokyola bowed out as a winner at Moonee Valley thereby creating an alltime record of 29 wins by a pacer at that circuit.
The Hall of Fame welcomes Sokyola.
Sundon’s Gift
West Australian based owner Neven Botica purchased a colt by the legendary trotting sire Sundon out of Landoras Gift who had been NZ’s 2YO and 3YO Trotting Filly of the year and whose dam had won a Dominion Handicap and the Rowe and Dullard Cups.
Six unplaced starts in New Zealand did not match the pedigree, however, when Neven contacted Chris Lang, Chris thought there was untapped potential.
And he was right. Sundon’s Gift opened up in his new home with five wins in succession and completed his first season with 14 victories.
That had him on the cusp of open class and the next season he won the Freestone Cup, the George Gath and his first Australian Grand Prix.
From there it was simply onwards and upwards. Three more wins in the Australian Grand Prix, plus two hometown Inter Dominions preceded Sundon’s Gift becoming the first 1:55 trotter in the Southern Hemisphere with a 1:54.3 mile at Menangle.
With a Rowe Cup in New Zealand as well the honours kept coming for Sundons Gift – twice Grand Circuit champion emulating Lyell Creek and Take A Moment and three Australian Trotter of the Year titles, something that only True Roman and Scotch Notch had achieved previously.
During that time the dream of having his own trotter in the Elitlopp also came to fruition for Neven with Sundon’s Gift finishing sixth in a heat despite trotting a career best 1:53.8 mile.
Incredibly Sundons Gift almost won his fifth Grand Prix finishing second in 2011, however, in his second last win he achieved the rare feat on winning a race named in his honour
Sundons Gift retired as the richest Australian trained trotter in history with earnings of $1,275,264 and became the first standardbred to take up residence at “Living Legends”
The Hall of Fame welcomes Sundons Gift.
Harnesslink acknowledges the Historical backgrounds kindly provided by John Peck
By Tony Milanese for Harnesslink
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