John Butcher, the patriarch of one of New Zealand racing's most successful families, has died.
The Cambridge horseman passed away, aged 80, on Tuesday night after battling illness.
Butcher was a hugely accomplished horseman during a 60-year training career in harness racing which started after he was told he would be too heavy to be a jockey at the age of 16.
He sought work in a harness racing stable and just four years after first touching a racehorse he was competing at the Inter Dominions.
Butcher was quickly a regular winner at the then grass Alexandra Park track, one of his favourite memories training a trifecta there in which he drove one horse and Roy Purdon and Noel Taylor drove the other two stable runners.
John was rarely without a good horse but listed Tobias, Abdias and Samarias as his best three, with Tobias good enough to start favourite in a New Zealand Cup.