Tony Furness will head to Otaki with family history on his side when he tackles the Listed Phils Electrical and Gipsy Caravans Ryder Stakes (1200m) with his promising juvenile Reconvene on Saturday.
His father, Bert Furness, won the race with High Saint and Furness would dearly love to repeat the feat.
“Dad won the race 50-odd years ago, I was 14 or 15 back then,” he said. “I won a couple of trials on the horse myself, but I think Bob Skelton was a wee bit better than me.
“He wasn’t a bad little horse, he went on to win the Foxbridge (Plate) after that.”
Furness’ representative in this year’s edition will be Derryn gelding Reconvene, who has finished runner-up in his last two outings, including last start behind Saturday race rival Spandeedo.
“He has been going well, so it is worth a crack I think,” Furness said.
“He made up a lot of ground on him (Spandeedo). He wasn’t copping the track as good as I thought he would, but every track is different, and he got through it still.”
Furness happened on Reconvene by chance after asking Grangewilliam Stud’s Mark Corcoran if he had any young stock he was looking to sell when having one of his mares served by resident stallion The Bold One.
“I got one of Dan Myers’ mares, who I had won a couple of races with, and went to The Bold One,” Furness said. “I asked him (Corcoran) if he had any I could look at and he said he had this little fella there. I went and had a look and off we went.
“He is a neat little horse. He is quiet and travels by himself. He is a dream horse really.”
A dairy farmer, Furness has trained a couple of horses at a time over the last 30 years, and he said it’s a nice distraction from the farm.
“I milk cows, so I do one or two,” he said. “I have been a bit lucky to train a few for Dan Myers, who is just up the road from me. I have trained three for Dan and they have all won, we have had a bit of fun.”
Furness also spent some time as a jockey and said he had a memorable day in the saddle at Ellerslie in his youth.
“I had a horse bolt on me and rode a winner at Ellerslie. I got two hot dogs and a snow freeze down the straight it was that wide,” he quipped.
“I only had a handful of rides as a jockey, I was pretty big and heavy. It was good to have a win at Ellerslie, but that was about it.”
Things are ramping up on the farm for Furness and he said Reconvene will head for a spell following Saturday’s run.
“He will be going out as I have got all my cows coming in, so I am getting busy,” he said. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
