Racing: Bonds of brotherhood reunite four starters in HB

Trevor Harrison (left), Tony McGovern, JT Anderson, his niece, Jenni Hastings, and Johnny Humphries, catch up in Havelock North on Monday. PHOTO/Paul Taylor

It was the love of thoroughbred racing that saw their paths cross late last century but it was undeniably something more than words can describe that saw four blokes gather at a Havelock North pub to reminisce this week about life in general.

John Thomas "JT" Anderson, 84, of the Mary Doyle Retirement Village, John Humphries, 76, of Rotorua, Tony McGovern, 61, of Cambridge, and Trevor "Gripper" Harris, 57, of Matamata, enjoyed a drink over a quiet lunch as the three out-of-towners visited their old mate in the village of Hastings.

"It's great. I have some happy memories," Anderson said but Harris outlined how strong the bond of brotherhood was among the race starters and defined the very essence of friendship that went beyond the boundaries of duty.

A former jockey, in 2003 Harris started work as a barrier attendant before going on to become a race starter but there was drama.

In 2002 he had a car accident that left him paralysed for about four months with C3, C4 spinal injuries.

"In all that time I was in hospital for six months JT never missed, whether he had races or not, coming to see me twice a day," he said.

"It's because of JT inspiring me that I'm walking today so I really owe him my life because he's like a father to me."

Harris has known Anderson for almost a quarter of a decade now.

"Even when I was in Waikato for three weeks, Middlemore [Auckland] for two weeks and the spinal unit for six months [Otara] JT never, never missed a day never mind if it was Waikato, Middlemore or Otara.

"I remember him coming to see me after the races at 9 o'clock or 10 o'clock at night. He was the biggest inspiration to me to get up on my feet so I thank him for that."

When McGovern went to Hong Kong in 2003 Harris assumed the duties in the northern zone.

"I didn't think I was up for the job at first but Tony McGovern said, 'What are you going to do? Be a couch potato for the rest of your life or you want to do some kind of job'."

Anderson got behind him as did the racing fraternity to get him to where he is today as a starter.

"JT's always been there for me and I'm so proud of it."These three guys helped me a lot. All the experience I had as a barrier attendant rubbed off on how the races started and I did that from then on."

It was when McGovern returned from his nine-year stint in Hong Kong that he caught up with Humphries and Harris to moot the idea of visiting their old mate in Havelock North.

"It's good to come down to catch up with him. He was my deputy starter until I went to Hong Kong," said McGovern, who took over from Jack Mugford 25 years ago when Anderson was his deputy.

"It was quite seamless for me with someone as experienced as JT there."

When Harris took over as starter Anderson carried on as deputy.

"JT was a very good jockey in his day and a very good horseman so as a starter he had a lot of respect for the jockeys because he was a good rider himself but the jockeys had a lot of respect for him as a horseman and that made the job very easy."

Simply put, McGovern said Anderson made all their jobs seem effortless often having no qualms about lending a hand to Humphries in Waikato.

"The three of us here had JT, at some stage or other, underneath us helping us out so it's been a pleasure to say we all worked with him in our time."

Asked what constituted a good starter, McGovern said while it helped to be equine savvy the mutual respect for each other's jobs with jockeys was crucial.

"We're trying to get the race away in one piece where health and safety comes into it in this day and age so a little bit of patience comes into it.

"You don't want a panic situation to come into it at any stage because you're dealing with an animal because they say animal and children are the hardest to work with any industry."

Hong Kong was a "different ball game" for him after he left New Zealand assuming he had a grasp on any eventuality.

"It's a cauldron up there and a different kettle of fish altogether," said McGovern, who went for three years but stayed for 13.

"I survived there and returned on my terms ... and I left a very good deputy starter when I left there so I was pretty happy because I reached my Everest, because as starters go there isn't a better job in the world."

He kept renewing his licence every year and that was an endorsement to him on how well he was doing his job.

Not one to drink or bet, McGovern occasionally goes out to catch up with starters on racedays.

"I was in racing for 44 years and that's a long time so you make a lot of friends."

Humphries was a starter in Waikato for 22 years before retiring in 2014 and relished interacting with Anderson, even when the latter was a jockey.

"He was very good to work with and there was no skulduggery and he kept them straight," he said.

Two-time Hawke's Bay Gold Cup winner Anderson was dubbed "The Cup King" in his riding career.

He racked up 400 winners, predominantly around the Bay, from the late 1950s to early 1960s.

Born in Blackball on the West Coast of South Island to a coal mining family, Anderson left home for the North Island to carve a racing career after vowing never to end up in a mineshaft like his father.