John Dickie's lifelong racing dream came true at Alexandra Park last night.
Dickie, born into one of New Zealand's great trotting training families, finally trained the winner of the north's biggest trotting race when Speeding Spur won the $150,000 Rowe Cup, almost certainly sealing NZ Trotter of the Year in the process.
"I reckon I have been watching this race since I was a kid, maybe as an 8-year-old, and this is the one I have always wanted to win.
"It means so much to me. My father Ivan trained so many trotters and got me into the industry and right now I am thinking about my mother Gwen and what this will mean to her.
"It was my parents, and owners like Basil Blackwell, who gave me my start and believed in me so it means so much to get our biggest trot.