By Duane Ranger (courtesy of Redcliffe Paceway)
Logan Village horseman, Jack Butler, has trained dozens of winners for former New South Wales Harness Racing Chairman, Rod Smith, but Wednesday’s (May 1) race 10 victory had more sentiment and emotion than most.
“Any win is great, but when you are going through chemotherapy a triumph like this can lift your spirits. Jack and I go back many decades to when he was a very good and aggressive driver in Bathurst. Then in 2014 Jack and his family shifted north with a few of my horses – and they thrived in Queensland since.
“I was so proud of him when he won the State Training Premiership two years ago. Now after this latest win I’m just so happy for Jack, Tara, and the kids after what they have been through recently. They deserve this second Qbred win. I know Jack would have got a great kick out of it. It’s just the tonic he needed,” said Orange (NSW)-based Smith.
Butler chalked up his 38th winner for the season ($350,256) and 1,502nd ($10.4m) since 2001, when Rock With Nate achieved his second career win in seven starts in race 10 – an RBD Mobile Pace.
The black 3-year-old gelding was driven by Adam Richardson and is owned by Smith. The son of Betting Line was bred by Queenslanders, Lindsay and Mary Vagg.
Earlier this year 47-year-old Butler was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. It has slowed him down, but certainly hasn’t beaten him.
Butler is one of four industry participants doing it tough at the moment. A Go Fund Me Page has been set up to assist Jack Butler, Dan Costello, Greg Elkins, and Dudley Warburton. A link to their GO FUND ME PAGE IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.
Butler said he didn’t mind speaking about his diagnosis:
“We got it early and hasn’t spread out of the tumor. I’ll have another pet scan after next round of chemo. Don’t worry I’ve got this. I have so much more to offer yet,” the ever-positive Butler said.
He then praised Smith saying they had been long-time friends for nearly 20 years.
“Rod is without a doubt a champion bloke and a very big supporter of ours. He really helped us get going, and he was totally behind us when we moved to Queensland. He is definitely one man that deserves a champion in this game,” Butler said.
Butler has trained some nice horses for Smith over the years, and none more so than the older half-brother of Wednesday’s winner, Rock With Nate.
Rock With Sam (1:51.1) was a Group One and Two place-getter, who won 22 of his 125 starts and placed in 39 others for $242,167 in purses. That 2013 Rock N Roll Heaven gelding is the first of seven foals out of the 2006 Modern Art – Ilove Rosie – Fake Left) two-win mare, Mardys Victree.
Rock With Nate is foal five.
“The stats might say that Rock With Sam is the best horse that I’ve had with Jack, but I feel the best horse was the pacer that got Jack started in Queensland. His name was Usane Flash (1:53.8). He won 18 races ($142,983) all-up for Jack in two States. Thirteen of those wins were in New South Wales, including the Group Two NSW Sires Stakes 2yo colts and geldings final at Harold Park in 2010.
“I co-owned Usane Flash with Jack’s wife, Tara. He was a son of Trump Casino, and they all relocated to Queensland in 2014. That gelding is now 16 and competing at Shows and apparently has already won Horse-of-the-Year Show title,” 75-year-old Smith said.
Usane Flash raced at Bathurst on March 22, 2014 (10th) and then lined up at Albion Park on June 28 (sixth). Butler trained him for his entire career, which ended on December 7, 2017 at Redcliffe Paceway with a seventh. His career stats were 18 wins, 17 placings, and $142,983 in purses from 80 starts.
Smith said at his peak, he had 15 horses with Butler when he was at his peak in Bathurst.
“I’ve only got a few up there now because I’m not getting any younger and want to watch them run around here in New South Wales. I watched the race on TV, and always watch my horses wherever they are running. I like Redcliffe. It’s a different track, and that has to be good for racing. It’s a challenge for drivers. Anything unique has to be good for the sport.
“I also like Redcliffe. I’m a big supporter of the Dolphins (NRL team) because I’ve always admired Wayne Bennett,” Smith said.
He said he enjoyed watching his mate train in Queensland.
“I remember clearly when Jack was in Bathurst, and I had 15 horses with him at his peak. He was a very good driver. I loved his aggression, but I don’t know if he would get away with that style now. I’ve always loved his honesty and the way he communicates with his owners.
“He’s straight shooter. If the horse is no good Jack will tell you so. He has now developed from a good driver to a very good trainer. In fact, he’s been one of the best up there for a few years now. It was so good to see him win the State Trainers’ Premiership up there in 2022. I knew how good a horseman he was and this just proved it,” Smith said.
That year Butler recorded a personal best 163 winners and 246 place-getters from 980 starts ($1.33m). That was six more than second-placed Chantal Turpin. This season Butler lies in fourth spot with 11 wins, while last year the Logan Village horseman finished third with 146 wins and a personal best $1.8m in purses.
Smith, who has been married to Julie for 52 years, was born in Orange and educated at Penrith High School, and worked in finance before being employed by Terry Shields Toyota and then Lexus Of Parramatta 31 years ago. Both have been prominent harness racing sponsors at Eugowra, Blayney and Leeton..
Then 18 years ago he bought both companies outright before relocating to Orange three years ago, where he farms cattle on 3,000-acres property. For 40 years he has raced his horses under his Kriden business, but these days uses his own name.
Kriden stands for Kristy and Denai – the first three letters of his two daughter’s first names.
Smith might work with cattle but horses have been his greatest passion for as long as he can remember.
“ I remember when I was a kid I used to go to my grandparents place and they had a friend who had trotters and I got to know them. I thought one day I’d like to get a horse, and now more than 65 years later I’ve had too many. But in saying that I’ve had more than 100 winners and loved the sport so much I just couldn’t sit on the sideline of the critic so I put my hand up to stand at committee level,” Smith said.
In 2012 he was elected to the New South Wales Harness Racing Board and then re-elected in 2016 for his final four-year term. The last two-and-a-half years of his tenure were as chairman. He served on the Board of Harness Racing Australia for four years, and as chairman of NSWHR, he was automatically elected as Deputy Chairman of HRA.
“I stood because I wanted to do something about the industry. While I was there grassroots revenue lifted by 20 per cent. We also bought and relocated the Bathurst Club to its own 1,000m track from the Showgrounds, and did the same with Wagga, which also has its own 1,000m track.
“I feel heartened that these clubs in conjunction with HRNSW now own their own facilities and can operate on their own without paying leases. I’ve always had a soft spot for grass roots racing and I like to support young trainer-drivers like John O’Shea and Amy Rees, who my main trainer-drivers in New South Wales now.” Smith said.
He said he also enjoyed the breeding side of the industry, adding a quarter of his 100-plus winners had come from equine athletes he had produced himself.
“I didn’t breed Rock With Nate, but I did breed a 2-year-old filly than Jack is also training, named Sporty Zara. She’s had two races so far (third and seventh in April), and is by Ohoka Punter, and out of the three-win Art Major (2014) mare, Zaras Dance, whom I raced. I’m also breeding from Zara’s Delight
“Zara, Sam, and Nate are all name after my grandchildren,” Smith said
He said Zara’s Dance had also left a Rock N Roll weanling filly born November 10.
“I think Lady Of Lexus would be the best horse I’ve bred Lady Lexus (1:52.3). She was a 2004 Aces N Sevens mare, who won 25 of her 54 starts and more than $300,000 in stakes and placed in numerous Group One, Two and Three races.
“She was out of the 1995 ten-win Panorama mare, Panoramic Lady,” Smith said.
The link for the Jack Butler, Dan Costello, Greg Elkins, Dudley Warburton GO FUND ME PAGE:
The four GO FUND ME recipie3nts are pictured below:
