Darryl Bradley and Miss Sher Nan had the race sewn up a long way from home.
Darryl Bradley and Miss Sher Nan had the race sewn up a long way from home.
An unwanted racehorse, her ageing jockey and one of New Zealand's oldest racehorse trainers are showing you can't beat experience.
When six-year-old mare Miss Sher Nan bolted in at the Woodville races last week, it was more than just a midweek win in a $10,000 race. It was a victory for the good guys.
Like all racing yarns, there is a story that goes with Miss Sher Nan.
Miss Sher Nan is trained at Foxton by Jack Scott, 89, who co-owns the mare with Levin man Percy Young, himself an octogenarian at 82.
Scott and Young have been mates for more than 50 years, but this was the first time they have been involved together in a horse.
Jockey Darryl Bradley, trainer Jack Scott, and owner Percy Young, and horse Miss Sher Nan.
"Percy came to me and said he was bored stiff and said how about we get a horse. I said I was going to Ōtaki to look at one, so he came along," Scott said.
"She had been for sale on auction sites and hadn't had a bid, so Percy said to the chap I'll give you $200 for her, and he said yes. So Percy went into town and came back with $200."
"I took her to the track and a couple of people said to me you've bought a slow one. But she's won three races now. She's not too bad, is she?"
The runaway win of Miss Sher Nan in the $10,000 Lowe Schollum Jones 2100m event was a riding masterclass from jockey Darryl Bradley, who is no spring chicken himself at 54 years old.
Bradley is showing he can still produce the goods. He seized the initiative with a slow pace to take the lead halfway through the race and set the tempo.
Bradley and Miss Sher Nan were lonely in front and had the result sewn up at the home turn. He only had to give the mare a few taps on the shoulder to keep her mind on the job.
The win brought Bradley's career tally to a remarkable 1810 wins, a mark that has him in eighth place on the all-time list for most wins by New Zealand jockeys.
Scott said they were fortunate to have a jockey of Bradley's calibre to ride the horse during trackwork and on race-day.
"He keeps the colours (jockey silks)," he said.
"We're lucky to have him as the racecourse manager, too. He does a really good job. He takes pride in the tracks and because he rides a few in the mornings, he gets to have a good look at them."
Meanwhile, Scott said he'd keep training racehorses as long as he was able.
"It keeps you young," he said.
"I live a great life. If it wasn't for the horses I'd probably be dead."
Darryl Bradley, Jack Scott, Percy Young and Miss Sher Nan.
Scott didn't officially begin training racehorses until he was in his early sixties. He had been around horses all his life and had been a stallion master at stud farms, but left it until later in life to take out a trainer's licence himself.
Like many of his era, he always rode a horse to school ..."it was either that or walk", he said.
Without getting hold of a champion, Scott had trained a couple of handy horses in that time, including Bella's Delight (6 wins) and Kohi Road (4 wins).
Miss Sher Nan had now won three races from 20 starts and $25,700 in stakes. Scott said there was no reason why she couldn't win more races.
"She's taken a long time to mature and goes better on a better track ... she's a bit pushy but you work around that," he said.
The team was now looking towards the races at Trentham on October 25.
