karrotsishere Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 1. Could you tell us a lil about yourself e.g. how are you involved in the industry? I am part of the executive team at Arrowfield Stud specifically responsible for pedigree analysis, stallion selection, matings and research. I was previously co-founder and General manager of Stoney Bridge stallion farm at Karaka and prior to that was a bloodstock consultant/agent and a member of the NZTBA National Council. 2. How long have you been involved? I started following horses at age 11. I learned to ride at 13 and bought my first broodmare and first yearling in 1986 3. You mentioned you had a small involvement years ago in Harness could you tell us about that? I was a registered thoroughbred syndicator and thought a 2-horse syndicate package of a nice thoroughbred and a standardbred would have appeal. I bought a handsome black yearling colt by McGinty out of a half-sister to Champion 3YO Burletta at Karaka 1991. Then a month later with the help of my friend and harness trainer Gary Hackett I selected and bought a terrific Vance Hanover colt out of a former top WA filly named Taipan Trunkey – bred and offered by Sandy Yarndley. The McGinty colt showed promise but got worse with every run and after a few starts we vet checked him and found he had a massive hole in his heart so he became a showjumper. The pacer – named Key Hanover – showed tremendous ability but was very unsound. We only got 8 starts out of him in nearly 3 years but he won 4 (and paid a divvy every time) putting in some unbelievable runs to win. Richard Brosnan drove him a couple of times and assured us he was on a par with Bonnie’s Chance for sheer ability. Unable to keep him sound we leased him to ex-Kiwi Kelvin Harrison in the USA. Kelvin was able to race him on bute and he was sounder up there eventually running 1.52.8 which at the time was among the top 10 fastest times ever recorded by a NZ-bred, winning at the Meadowlands among other tracks. I got to see him again while visiting the USA East coast in the late 1990s once he had retired. His best NZ mile rate was 1.57.5 – remember this was the early 1990s. I also used to do the matings each year for Gary Allen and Reg Caldow, a couple of prominent SB breeders and even purchased a beautifully-bred mare for Reg at the Harrisburg sales who was by Albatross out of a full sister to No Nukes. I also wrote the world’s first ever Standardbred pedigree program. 4. Its been suggested you have run comps for 15 years, how did you get started & where did you used to run them? I started on RC and I will rely on the memory of others but I guess it was at least 15 years. Richie, Jack, Ian, Tom, Pam, Robert – these people were there right from the start as were plenty of others. 5. What was the reason you decided to merge here? Too much BS in the end on RC. It got very toxic. I wanted a fresh start and a better behaved group of people which Pete and Alan have provided here thankfully. 6. How many hours a week do they take you? It’s like this – because of my role at work I, must watch all the major city meetings every week. By running the comps it simply ups the interest for me and I am a competitive bugger no matter what I’m doing plus I like to study patterns and analyse data. I never count the hours because it’s fun. 7. What is the biggest win on the punt? I am not much a punter these days as I have enough emotional investment in the horses I have helped create but like the odd flutter or have a crack on one of my rare days at the races. My biggest win was probably only about a grand and a half when Go Bush, a grey by Three Legs, won the last race at Trentham (Anniversary Handicap) on what may have been Wellington Cup day, 1991. It was one of those days when everything I backed won, so I took out what I had originally arrived on track with and planted the rest on Go Bush which was at 30/1 I think. Trained by John Harris for his father Jock, Go Bush won in a torrid finish with about 5 horses almost level at the line with noses between them but Go Bush got that grey snozz of his home just ahead of Fun On The Run and Olga’s Pal with of course my boyhood idol Noel Harris in the saddle ! Noel later rode a good horse I bred named Galaxy Star to go down only by 2 lengths in an ARC Railway Hdcp and even gave him a mention in his autobiography. I was chuffed. I also once missed a $5200 treble back in 1980 (which was a fortune in those days) by a nose when Sugar Time, the outsider of the field beat Et Tu (brother to Brutus) in the last race of the Canterbury JC Winter meeting on one of the heaviest tracks ever seen at that course – talk about gutted ! 8. How many times have you watched a horse or yours win on replay You Tube or video cassette? A lot ! It never gets boring. My biggest win personally, as a breeder, was Chase Me who won the $1.1m Singapore Derby by 10 lengths (under Jo Moreira) in 2012 and earned me a “Special Recognition Award” as a breeder from the NZTBA. I still get a shiver down my spine each time I watch it. Here it is (he’s in the gold silks with purple seams): 9. What is your fav gallops track? No real favourite. Rosehill and Randwick are great venues, Scone is a lovely country track here in Oz. Trentham was special in the old days. Have a soft spot for Wanganui. My first winner came at Invercargill’s Ascot Park which I have still never been to. Was a steward at Waterlea (Blenheim) for a few years. Other tracks I enjoyed were Ruakaka (great people), Otaki (lived in the house at the top of the straight for a while), Hawera (my grandfather was on the committee there between the wars), Stratford (loved that uphill straight), Tauherenikau and Opaki. Del Mar track is fantastic in California and Keeneland and Churchill Downs are also great. Newmarket is wonderful in the UK and The Curragh in Ireland. 10. Who is your fav horse, could be a horse you have owned or been associated with or any other? Difficult to answer but I guess Dundeel, who I selected and bought for Arrowfield, after convincing John Messara he was the one to have. Since then, I have had the privilege of giving him the most suitable mares we can find and he has rewarded us with 5 Gr1 winners from his first two crops. Many other faves over the years including Glengowan and La Mer (whose box I sometimes use to muck out). 11. What is your most vivid memory in industry? So many so hard to say. Being on track to see Tiz Now beat Giant’s Causeway by a nose ione of the greatest Breeders Cup Classics of all-time in 2000 was very special. Watching Anabaa win the July Cup was terrific. Being able to travel the world and buy mares at Keeneland and Newmarket was always a buzz as was meeting some terrific people involved in the industry. Bob Baffert, Arthur Hancock, George Moore, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Henry Cecil, Burt Bacharach, Cubby Broccoli, the list could fill a page. Meeting such legendary horses as Sadler’s Wells, Nureyev, Danzig, Mr. Prospector and the opportunity to work with greats such as Redoute’s Choice and Snitzel. 12. What is a happy or sad memory or both re industry? In late 1992 I had leased and was owner/partnership manager of a Kingdom Bay filly who was a granddaughter of the great Challen (Champion NZ 3YO). Trainers Garth and Craig Ivil (who had trained a slew of Gr1 winners) said she was the best filly they had ever had. They planned to give her one trial to qualify her and then one debut start, and then straight into the NZ Oaks. We went to Wanganui for the trial and she threw an off fore plate getting off the float. The local farrier re-shod her. Turning for home she moved off the rail where she had travelled midfield, powered to the front in a few strides and was coming away to win by several lengths when the plate spread and in the next stride flicked off the plate sending it flying backwards where it scythed through her off hind cannon slicing her leg in half. She staggered on a few more strides on 3 legs before finally collapsing and sliding across the finish line upside down with the remaining 3 legs in the air. I was on the birdcage fence and immediately ran down the track to try to catch her as she gamely tried to regain her feet. Needless to say, she was immediately put down. Craig phoned the breeder Bruce Mitchell who ruefully told us that she was Challen’s last female descendant and now the breed of his father’s great mare was lost. I drove home to Levin with tears in my eyes the whole way and an empty head collar on the seat beside me. I nearly gave it all up that day. Happy ? Dundeel’s subsequent Gr1 wins after we bought him. I told John Messara in August I thought Dundeel would win the Queen Elizabeth the following April and he did beating Sacred Falls. Big wins from matings I have planned: Estijaab’s Golden Slipper win – a real dream come true; back-to-back Caulfield Guineas wins with The Autumn Sun & Super Seth; Rising Romance’s Australian Oaks; Habibi’s NZ Derby. 13. What is something we don’t know about you your willing to share? I am a co-author (along with many others) of Great Thoroughbred Sires of the World (an industry encyclopaedic reference tome). I have survived two major car accidents, a helicopter crash and three aircraft emergencies (plane hit by lightning, one engine catching fire on a two-engine turboprop and an emergency landing in a private jet with undercarriage failure at Mangere airport). I spent 7 years in the RNZAF as a medic doing helicopter search and rescues (often via winch), hurricane relief in remote Pacific islands and worked on detachment with the SAS. I have flown nearly all the way to Antarctica on a P3-B orion (actually flying the plane for 30 mins !) and circumnavigated the North Island on a RNZN frigate. I once was boss of a quarter horse ranch in Utah – total immersion in modern-day cowboy culture. I was also once offered an unopposed candidacy for the National ticket in Kapiti in 1990. I turned it down and instead Roger Sowry took it and won and went on to be Deputy Nats leader. I have two terrific kids – one a lawyer in Wellington and the other an equine geneticist in Scone. I once held at gunpoint by 5 heavily armed police at Dulles Airport, Washington DC but that’s a whole other story ! 14. Are you based in NZ or Aus? Grew up in Taranaki. Later lived in Palmy, Levin, Otaki, Christchurch, Blenheim, Manurewa, Otahuhu, Pukekohe and moved to Oz in 2008. Currently live in Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley. 12 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turny Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Thanks Karrots, What a great insight on PJ, surely is a knowledge fountain in our great game. Great read, thanks for sharing PJ and go the Dundeels they surely seem extra Tom 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrotsishere Posted December 12, 2021 Author Share Posted December 12, 2021 Agree its a super read 😄🙌 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hesi Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 My estimate, is that PJ puts in about 10 hours per round, on his team comps. That's about 7-8 hours on the day and 2-3 hours prep work during the week. Now, that is a huge amount of time. What was not understood elsewhere, was that free speech is fine, but when people criticise(sideline snipe), at what may or may not be happening, it pisses the people off that make such huge contributions. Something that PJ did not mention, is that for the 15 years of his comps, other than the occasional brief hiccup, they have always been run in good spirit and humour. That is the way it has to stay, or the fun goes and so do the comps With regard to almost standing in the 1990 election, some of you who have come from BOAY may not be aware, but Chief Stipe, stood in the 1984 election in the Lyttleton seat against Ann Hercus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turny Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Drones used all NSW and Vic tracks but largely for television plays via Channel 7, not sure if used as a judicial tool but could be I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown fox Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 Ever considered just sitting down and reading a good book P.J.? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWJ Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 46 minutes ago, brown fox said: Ever considered just sitting down and reading a good book P.J.? I do that every night before sleeping ! ☺️A voracious reader... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown fox Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Me too.At least a book a week.Favourite writer Gerald Seymour.Writes about Cold war spies/mercenaries etc. He used to be a war correspondent until 1976 then used all his knowledge to become an Author. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 Fab interview there... now Max reckons it's time you wrote the book, PJ...after all, you havent got much else to do. LOL MM 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maximus Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 (edited) 9 minutes ago, brown fox said: Me too.At least a book a week.Favourite writer Gerald Seymour.Writes about Cold war spies/mercenaries etc. He used to be a war correspondent until 1976 then used all his knowledge to become an Author. since you're all so curious, MM's favourite author is George MacDonald Fraser and in particular the FLASHMAN series of novels about Harry Flashman. Fast-moving, funny as a fight; essentially Flashman is a terrified coward who always come out of his military scrapes smelling of roses, is irresistible to women. The novels are brilliantly researched, so you feel like you are there with him as he flails his way through some of the great battles of the Victorian era - from the Charge of the Light Brigade to Custer's Last Stand. Flashy was there! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Flashman MM Edited December 13, 2021 by Maximus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VC! Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 That was a great read Karrots actually all your interviews have been interesting Wow PJ you have certainly lived life, some near misses there mate, Jamison in the kitbag One thing I love about PJ is the competitor within, PJ competes in our annual NRL Fantasy comp a select group, he never gives up, by the last 1/4 of the comp his team is as good as any, imagine if he began on terms with us 🤔 Great read champ! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWJ Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 1 hour ago, VC! said: That was a great read Karrots actually all your interviews have been interesting Wow PJ you have certainly lived life, some near misses there mate, Jamison in the kitbag One thing I love about PJ is the competitor within, PJ competes in our annual NRL Fantasy comp a select group, he never gives up, by the last 1/4 of the comp his team is as good as any, imagine if he began on terms with us 🤔 Great read champ! Hey Ian, yes I always make a shit start in the NRL official fantasy comp. I'm a bit better at the football tipping as evidenced by this (in the top 20 of over 6,000 globally in EFL tipping - you guys should join next time !) : 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VC! Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 (edited) 27 minutes ago, PWJ said: Hey Ian, yes I always make a shit start in the NRL official fantasy comp. I'm a bit better at the football tipping as evidenced by this (in the top 20 of over 6,000 globally in EFL tipping - you guys should join next time !) : Go the Gundy Goannas, Woniora Wombats Loving the names, Australian native wildlife Im sure we’ve got a few on this site that might join next season Pete, Steve P, Maria Ray Craig and the like’s I’ll join next season just to keep you honest, in the meantime you go get ‘em bro 17th world wide and 2nd overall 👍 Since I live in Aus as well I’m going to have to come up with a native name Thinking Thinking Thinking Ah got it I’ll be known as the Queensland Quokka Hang on a minute isn’t the Quokka native to WA🤔 I’ll get back to ya😎 Edited December 13, 2021 by VC! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWJ Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 The Quokkas I like ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordy Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 I took this photo a few years back while spending the day at Rottnest island. There were a few of them hopping around the cafe. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globederby19 Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 11 hours ago, karrotsishere said: live in Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley. Great place in the Valley. My wife is a Taree lass and have been all around that district. Nice part of NSW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globederby19 Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 44 minutes ago, Gordy said: I took this photo a few years back while spending the day at Rottnest island. There were a few of them hopping around the cafe. Rotty is nice , but I upset the natives on the way back on the ferry by saying the fauna on the island was abysmal, and it needed some NZ Pohutukawas, flax and native NZ beach plants . We went there the day they had the big swimming contest from the mainland. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brown fox Posted December 13, 2021 Share Posted December 13, 2021 I found someone who had a more exciting life than you P.J. Fascinating character Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWJ Posted December 14, 2021 Share Posted December 14, 2021 1 hour ago, brown fox said: I found someone who had a more exciting life than you P.J. Fascinating character Haha, Graeme ! I always feel I have lived a fairly average life and have done about 5% of what i wanted to. I will watch this with interest. Out of interest this is one of the best books I have ever read: https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Fear.html?id=pdEiDAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description&redir_esc=y You might enjoy it also 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrotsishere Posted December 14, 2021 Author Share Posted December 14, 2021 Looking for the next participate for my Q & A for next week. Thinking will do 1 more then take a break til New Year then start up again. Either Harness or Gallop person. PWJ is a hard act to follow, however a variety is what Im after. Don't want to approach someone thats not keen. So please send me a PM if willing 😄 Some potential candidates maybe ... @Porky @mardigras @Gordy @Gospel Of Judas @Hesi@Happy Sunrise? Again many thanks PJ for participating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karrotsishere Posted January 6, 2022 Author Share Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Gospel Of Judas said: You can interview me if want! Super, thanx G. Will flick you some questions in next couple of days. We can focus on you & your Great Uncle's horses 👍😃 Edited January 6, 2022 by karrotsishere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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