Yulestar last NZ Interdominion winner at Albion Park

It’s twenty five years since Taranaki pacer Yulestar (Cameleon) won the Interdominion at Albion Park.

In the $622,000 final, Yulestar had to be good to win. With a lap to run he was trapped away on the inside, well off the leaders, but the gaps started to open when those up front sprinted hard off the back straight and the giant six year old started to roll and got up to beat two Kiwi bred pacers in Atitagain and Pocket Me.

YULESTAR REPLAY

“To me it’s as big as bringing home the Ranfurly Shield,” legendary Taranaki galloping trainer John Wheeler said after the win.

Yulestar was trained at Hawera by Lorraine Nolan who shared in the ownership of the gelding with her husband Ron.

“Winning the Interdominion on Australian soil was special. It was an amazing feeling to represent New Zealand and be able to bring the trophy home,” Lorraine said.

In winning the 2647 metre final in the hands of Tony Shaw, Yulestar broke a twenty four year Interdominion hoodoo, becoming the first New Zealand trained pacer to win since Stanley Rio won in 1977, also at Albion Park.

“He (Shaw) had tears in his eyes, he was just waving to the crowd and all he could say was ‘we’ve won’, ‘we’ve won’. That’s all we could say to each other,” Lorraine told the Courier Mail.

Yulestar was one of New Zealand’s great pacers. He won thirty four races and earned his connections $1.9 million.

Purchased at the Sales for $9,000, his major wins were: the New Zealand Trotting Cup, the A.G. Hunter Cup, the Interdominion Final, the New Zealand Junior FFA, the Franklin Cup, the Ashburton Flying Stakes and the Spring Cup.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink

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