Cambridge trainer Gary Alton added to a proud family history at Trentham when he saddled up Historian for a win against the odds in yesterday's group one Harcourts Thorndon Mile.
Just three weeks after the death of his father Ian, one of the major influences in his own career in racing, Alton attained a minor milestone with his 50th win and more significantly, his very first at black-type level. His biggest previous win had been the 2011 Parliamentary Handicap with his parents' horse Brompton.
"I can remember back when I was 11 or 12 coming down here with my father and helping him with a horse called Orangeman," Alton said as he savoured yesterday's big win. "From memory he won the highweight two years running on the first day of the Cup carnival."
Some years before Alton was born, his grandfather Archie Millen had the distinction of being the owner of the champion galloper of his time, Somerset Fair, whose raft of wins included the Wellington Guineas, Trentham Stakes, Gloaming Stakes, North Island Challenge Stakes and Harcourt Stakes at Trentham.
That horse's close relation Dare Devil, whose wins in the Alton colours included the Canterbury Gold Cup, Hawke's Bay Guineas and Clifford Plate, finished second in the 1971 Wellington Derby, while in the same decade Miss Otakiri, who was likewise owned and trained by Ian Alton, won the Pearce Handicap on the track.