Horse races after trainer dies in crash
Seldom has a racehorse been willed to win as much as Foxton mare Tramore was in the last race at Wanganui last Saturday. Just 24 hours earlier the mare’s trainer Jack Scott died at the scene of a car accident on State Highway 1, just north of Foxton.
Jack Henry Scott had a lifetime of involvement in thoroughbred horse racing, and at 90 years old could have laid claim to being the oldest horse trainer in New Zealand.
Just a few months ago he had joked that he had no plans to retire and training horses helped him to keep fit. Tramore was one of three horses that he was training.
“They keep you young . . . I live a great life,” he had said in a recent article in the local newspaper, the Horowhenua Chronicle.
After talking it over, the connections of Tramore decided she should keep her Wanganui engagement.
Scott’s young grandson Adam travelled with Tramore from Foxton to Wanganui, saddled the horse up, and led her into the birdcage. As the field took to the barriers, all eyes were on one horse.
Jockey Ashvin Mudhoo settled last, looping the field before the home turn. He rode for his life as Tramore hit the front halfway down the straight. It wasn’t to be, but the mare had done her trainer proud in finishing the closest of seconds.
“Nearly, Jack,” race commentator Tony Lee said in his race call, a few strides past the post.
Scott had been around horses all his life. Like many of his era, he rode a horse to school. “It was either that or walk,” he once said.
He had been a stallion manager at stud farms, but left it until later in life to take out a trainer’s licence himself. He didn’t officially begin training until he was 60, and soon trained his first winner — Foxton Flyer — at the Riccarton races in 1991.
Without getting hold of a champion, during his career he had trained some handy horses, including Bella’s Delight, Kohi Road, Drover’s Call and Palace Gates.
His current stable star Miss Sher Nan has won five races from 38 starts and almost $70,000 in stake money.
Scott is survived by his wife Jill, nine children, 27 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
A celebration of Jack Scott’s life will be held on Monday, May 9, at 11am at the Loop Restaurant and Bar in Foxton.