Tyson KOs rivals but Ray floored by stewards’ post-race song and dance over assistant’s help

Tyson delivered the big hit he had been promising at Auckland on Friday night but you could have knocked over trainer Ray Green with a feather over what ensued after the race.

Given how tractable the little colt was in comparison to his previous three starts, trailing and outsprinting his rivals up the passing lane, Green might have thought the stewards were going to compliment him on a job well done when they called him into the inquiry room.

Instead, Green was told the help Tyson got from a starter’s assistant to get him underway when the mobile gate started moving contravened Harness Racing New Zealand’s regulations.

“Apparently, somebody rang them and said how come Tyson gets special treatment?

“Why talk to me and make a song and dance about it? Does the starter know this new regulation and has he not told his workers?

Ray Green … “Why bother having starter’s assistants?”“But why aren’t starters’ assistants allowed to help? If a horse starts doing cartwheels and backflips that’s what they’re there for. Why bother having them otherwise?”

Green pointed out how in the thoroughbred code, starters’ assistants even climbed into the barriers to help unruly horses.

The only reference in HRNZ’s regulations appeared to be that at the one minute call, “as far as practicable the track should be cleared of all starter’s assistants”.

“Who made this rule anyway? Shouldn’t they be considering punters? A lot of people put money on Tyson. Having someone lead him up when the gate pulled away helped punters get a run for their money.”

In his preview of the race, Green told how Tyson had been scared of the mobile gate in his previous start at Cambridge, not wanting to go near it in the score-up then galloping on the first bend when he spotted it pulling up on the outside of the track.

His efforts during the week had focussed on desensitising the horse with repeated practices behind the mobile arm at Pukekohe.

“It helped for sure and so did the switch to pacifiers for the first time.

“Ultimately he’ll get more and more on to it and it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s just a little glitch but he’s actually come to it quite quickly. He’d only been very basically broken in when we got him.”

While still a little tentative in the early stages of the score-up on Friday night, driver Zachary Butcher had Tyson right on the gate quite quickly and was able to make an early dab for the lead, ultimately snuffed out by Turn O The Tide (Captaintreacherous - Juice Brogden).

“But trailing was the better option anyway and he was able to use his speed up the lane.

“He outsprinted that other horse, which they think a bit of, and they cleared out from the others.

“I’m sure that won’t be his last win. He’s a good clean-gaited little fella and he can run. You can make them stronger and healthier but you can’t manufacture that kind of speed.”

Tyson’s time of 2:06.4 for the mobile 1700 metres was nothing out of the ordinary, converting to a mile rate of 1:59.6 but, as Green pointed out, they only really sprinted up the home straight.

“You can do no more than win, you don’t get prizes for breaking track records.”

$12,000 Entain bonus

A prize Tyson did earn was a $12,000 bonus for his first win as a two-year-old, an initiative introduced by Entain where the breeder of the horse gets an extra $4000 and the owners $8000.

Tyson’s breeder and co-owner Pat Laboyrie who asked Ray Green to train Tyson.Green, as a 50% owner pocketed $4000 of that, along with his share of the $8250 stake, but the majority went to his racing partner, Waikato’s Pat Laboyrie, best known as the breeder of former top pacer AG’s White Socks.

Green said he was approached out of the blue by Laboyrie, 72, asking him to train Tyson.

“Pat had sold his Lake Karapiro property and was trying to place his horses. I’ve known him for years and used to see him at the races.

“I went and took a look at him and he was a beautiful looking colt, a real classy type.”

Green said he didn’t place much importance on the fact he was a full brother to the speedy Nicholas Cage, the winner of six races here and, after his sale, another three at Menangle in Sydney, the latest in 1:50.7.

“I knew he had a lot of ability but I never worry much about pedigrees. Good conformation is more important.”

So Green agreed to train Tyson and was gifted 50% of the horse by Laboyrie, also agreeing to take three other young pacers for Lincoln Farms to try on lease.

“We sacked two of them pretty quickly but qualified the other one last week, a two-year-old Always B Miki colt called Kevin Klein.”