Racing: 'He'll be very hard to replace'

Bart Cummings
Bart Cummings
Bart Cummings' influence in horse racing spread far and wide - and even as far as Otago.

The legend of Australian racing, who died yesterday in Sydney aged 87, was a frequent visitor to New Zealand yearling sales, which is where former Wingatui trainer Hec Anderton met him for the first and only time.

The pair crossed paths at Trentham in the 1980s, as Anderton tried to get his attention to check out a White Robe Lodge bred yearling.

''I said to him, 'I've got a horse I'd like you to look at, Mr Cummings.'

''I told him what it was by and what it was out of. He said, 'I haven't really got time to look at him.'

''So I said, 'Tell you what, I'll bring it round to you', and he said, I can't go any better than that'.

Anderton going the extra mile appeared to pay off, as Cummings did buy the yearling.

Anderton can't recall the breeding, but said it was a ''big bay'' horse.

''He liked the strong types of horses.''

Anderton puts ''Mr Cummings'' on a pedestal with the late Tommy Smith, the only trainer to train more Australian group 1 winners (278) than Cummings (266).

''The only thing I had about Bart Cummings was admiration - both he and Mr Tommy Smith - [for] the amount of winners and the quality of horses they trained and the way they trained them. They were obviously unbelievable men.

''He'll be very hard to replace, I would think. He had a great sense of humour.''

Cummings' good friend, Sir Patrick Hogan, first met the Australian with the distinctive eyebrows more than 60 years ago.

''I first met him during my Fencourt (Stud) days when he called in on his way to the Yearling Sales at Trentham,'' Hogan recalled.

''That was my opportunity to meet Bart and it was a great ride as I was very much involved with him over the years both as a studmaster, as part of his racing stable and in his home as a friend which has left some very fond memories.''

Hogan also noted the profound effect Cummings has had on shaping local breeding operations.

''He made an enormous contribution to our bloodstock industry,'' he said.

''Bart recognised all those years ago that New Zealand had the right type of product, the classic type of horse and he made it his business to come here and sort out the horses he wanted to take back to race in Australia as part of his stable.

Hogan first raced horses through the Cummings stable in the early 1970s with his most recent being the durable stayer Precedence who has competed in four Melbourne Cups.

Additional reporting by NZ Racing Desk

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