Buller’s race ends

FORMER KZN Champion trainer Buller Benton died on Tuesday morning at the age of 81 after a short battle with cancer.

Benton will always be best remembered for his association with one of the country's biggest owners Cyril Hurvitz, for whom he trained many winners.

Benton started out in racing as a jockey in 1949 and formed a life long friendship with the great KZN trainer Herman Brown Snr for whom he often rode.

He had to give up riding due to his weight, but then took out his trainer's license in 1956.

His big break came when his doctor introduced him to Hurvitz, a millionaire businessman who had become interested in buying horses.

Hurvitz, who was powerful in character, build and in business, was behind the Bull Brand trademark and was regarded as the leader of the mighty millionaires, who included Graham Beck and Laurie Jaffee.

He was the backbone of Benton's stable from 1958 to 1970 and again from 1978 to 1984.

Benton was KZN Champion trainer in the 1962/1963 and the 1965/1966 seasons.

Brown recalled that in those days punting was a big part of most stables and of racing in general. He said, "Buller was always under a lot of pressure training for Hurvitz, but when the money was down they won. Buller was known as a shrewdie."

Some of the better horses in his first stint with Hurvitz were Chatham, Belligerent, Reference, Pretty Prize and Laura and three other notable horses were Phareen, Poplin and High Frequency, as they all broke their maidens in feature races.

Benton had many wonderful times with Hurvitz, who loved racing and loved to talk about it for hours. However, there was always the potential to raise his ire through stable information being leaked and eventually the pressure of training for the big man became such that Benton had to be admitted to hospital in 1970 on the edge of a breakdown and with bleeding ulcers.

They parted company, but after Hurvitz next trainer, Fred Rickaby, retired, Benton was back in favour and the partnership was renewed.

In their second stint together Benton and Hurwitz had much success with horses like Have A Fling, Frisky, Rule By The Sword, Abbey Boy and the best of them all Bold Tropic.

One of the most memorable Mercury headlines was on the morning of July 2, 1979, and said simply, "Muis Sleeps as July Fever Soars."

The magic of the country's premier horseracing event, the Durban July Handicap, were perfectly encapsulated in those words and it referred to Bold Tropic, who looked set to give the great jockey Michael "Muis" Roberts his first win in the big race.

Bold Tropic had come into the July with a career record of 9 wins in 14 starts. His recent wins had included the Gr 1 Richelieu (Cape) Guineas and Gr 1 Cape Derby, after which he returned to Durban and beat top older horses like Sun Tonic and Over The Air in the Drill Hall Stakes.

He lost to Anytime Baby in the South African Guineas a month before the July but was still considered a certainty for the big one and was sent off as 22/10 favourite. Alas, he ran a flat race and finished unplaced. However, he went on to win seven races in the USA, including four Gr 2s.

Benton said about this Birch Brothers-bred colt by Plum Bold, “The two qualities which made him rise above his contemporaries were his highly competitive spirit and his superb action.’’

In the 1982 Summer Cup Benton's top filly Frisky was favourite, but was a difficult customer and he knew she was not up to the task with topweight, so he got her scratched in order to get Have A Fling into the race. Kevin Shea was only an apprentice at the time and rode her to victory, landing a big coup for Hurvitz.

After Benton handed in his licence he work as assistant to the maestro trainer Terrance Millard for five years, Ricky Maingard for two years and he assisted his son Craig for two years.

In later life worked as an estate agent and then for the South African Jockeys Academy. He was also assistant and mentor to the country's only black trainer, Bennett Bulana.

Benton and his wife Pam had three sons. Craig is currently a riding master at the Apprentice Jockey School in Hong Kong, Steve was a long time Ashburton-based trainer and Peter, who holds two masters degrees, is the New Business Development and Risk Manager at Phumelela Gaming & Leisure Limited.

Buller was a great raconteur and was always good for a story or two.

He had a phenomenal memory and recalled many a big race and had many stories about the “old’’ days.

He was always willing to give advice when approached and was a thoroughly likeable man. Herman Brown Snr was clearly fond of him and said, “He was a very good rider and I recalled we had a lot of winners when taking horses down to the Eastern Cape. He was always confident and was a very genuine fellow. He became a very good trainer too.’’

The memorial service is yet to be arranged.