poured it on during the weekend between the Golden Slipper and the AJC Sires’ Produce—literally. A whopping 75 millimetres of rain fell at Randwick.5 While it was still a week from Manikato’s next start, it was a significant amount of rain and raised questions as to whether the star two-year-old could handle a slow or heavy track. It was a question that nobody could definitively answer; he’d never seen one—ever.
With grass training tracks being affected, Manikato’s work shifted onto the sand track, but remained light. His work was supplemented by long walks before dawn and after sunset.
Physically, he seemed unchanged in comparison to the previous few weeks. Manikato was bright, eating and comfortable. But the weather was causing consternation within the camp, with Hoysted wanting a serious gallop on the Tuesday to stretch the champion’s legs before the Saturday.
Hoysted flew to Sydney on the Monday, five days from the race and had Willetts for company. Given the expected conditions, Bon wanted to personally oversee any fast work that was to be done the next morning and was relying on his experienced rider for guidance.
The grass was available for trackwork on Tuesday morning. A worried look was carried on Hoysted’s face as he legged Willetts aboard. No instructions were necessary, Willetts had grown up with these conditions in New Zealand. Randwick’s track clockers didn’t even bother clicking their timepieces; times were irrelevant. What was of most interest was whether Manikato was confident in galloping along with the shifting, muddy surface.
The chestnut went from a trot to a slow canter and by the 800 metres was asked to go a bit quicker. Willetts could feel it straight away. It was the feeling of losing control. Briefly, Willetts loosened the tension on the reins. It was a sign for Kato to run faster, but instead of running faster, his head started dipping and his galloping action slowed. Willetts was alarmed knowing that he was on a champion young horse that was not handling the heavy ground at all. The risk of continuing at pace was great, so Willetts started to ease Manikato down at the 400 metres instead of quickening further, which would have normally been the case. They were barely in motion when they reached the finish line. Willetts relayed what seemed obvious to onlookers as he dismounted.
‘I have ridden on some heavy tracks in New Zealand but nothing like this,’ Willetts said. ‘I know the AJC did a good job to give us grass to work on, but I couldn’t take the risk with Manikato. I thought once that we were gone but he kept his feet and I closed my eyes. He couldn’t handle the heavy going at all. I just hope that the weather clears up and the track comes good for Saturday.’6
Drier conditions prevailed for the next couple of days and when the field was finalised for the Sires’ Produce Stakes, there were ten runners. Amongst the main competition to Manikato was Jewel Flight and Jubilee Walk, third and fourth respectively in the Golden Slipper, along with Karaman—the only horse to have beaten Manikato so far.
Although no more rain fell before the Randwick meeting, the track had only improved enough to be rated as slow. This didn’t help Hoysted, Seccull or Willetts in their decision-making process. While Manikato showed he had a dislike for heavy ground, he may have been fine on slow ground. On the other hand, he still may be a ‘duffer’ even on the slightly better track.
Hoysted felt stressed. His choice was to be easy if the track was heavy but now there was indecision. The horse’s health was fine, and he was already in Sydney. Connections walked the track, all agreeing it had dried out considerably since Manikato last set foot on it four days ago. The field was no stronger than the Golden Slipper and even if he was somewhat inferior on wet ground, he may still be able to win.
Hoysted rolled the dice, and Manikato took his place.
* * *
For just under a minute and a half, regret emanated from the grandstand and horseback. It took 1 minute 26.5 seconds to run the AJC Sires’ Produce Stakes at Randwick that day and Manikato was never a hope. Bon Hoysted could see it from the stands within a few seconds, while Gary Willetts felt it within a bound of the gates opening to start the event.
Manikato never found his customary dominant barrier speed. Everything in the race seemed laborious and it wasn’t a comfortable ride for Willetts. It felt more like rowing a boat in rough seas than driving a smooth, push-button luxury vehicle like in previous starts. With their fate in the race sealed a long way from the finish, Willetts didn’t punish his mount at the end of the 1400 metres. The pair completed the event in fifth place but well behind the winner, Karaman, who had taken Manikato’s scalp both times he had been beaten as a two-year-old.
As Willetts steered the favourite back into the enclosure, the toll of the race was evident on the chestnut. His head was distinctly lower. He looked tired and he was breathing heavier than at any other start, despite his high level of residual fitness. Shifting, wet tracks did not match his hefty frame and the force required to push out of it. Try as he did, he wasn’t as nimble as some of the other lighter, fleet-footed youngsters.
It was a slightly disappointing note to finish off a whirlwind autumn. When the calendar turned to 1978, barely a soul had heard of Manikato. Three months later, he was amongst discussions for ‘Horse of the Year’ categories and seemed a lock for at least the two-year-old section after winning the Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper Stakes.
But his two-year-old racing days were now over. Following six starts, it was time for a rest. His temporary home at the stables of Albert McKenna was vacated and he was transported back to Victoria.
A reserved paddock awaited Manikato at Mal Seccull’s Yarra Park property, just beyond Melbourne’s north-eastern fringe. It was a 1.5-acre yard immediately behind and closest to the manager’s cottage. The manager, Rob Bennett, would not need many instructions from Bon Hoysted.
‘Just look after him,’ he was reminded as the horse was led the short distance to the paddock gate.
The yard itself was just a tiny part of the 650-acre complex but offered constant supervision. With the days quickly becoming shorter and colder, it also offered the most amount of shelter from the weather. It didn’t take long for the spark to return.
‘Once he got some green grass into him he was toey and excited for a while, but he’d soon settle,’ recalled Bennett.
By mid-April, just over a fortnight since his last run, he’d relaxed and quietly wandered around the paddock day-to-day. Back at Epsom, the daily grind of being a horse trainer continued for Bon Hoysted. However, he was allowing himself a look ahead in the calendar to start plotting the races Manikato would contest as a spring three-year-old. Hoysted would then calculate when the horse would be needed back in the stable to prepare for those races. All the big races were to be targeted; a horse like this had never graced Hoysted in 37 years of training. When everything was figured out, the last week of May was when Bon thought he would next see him.
What Bon Hoysted didn’t know was that he would not lay eyes on Manikato again.
6
A Sudden Loss
While widely regarded as a professional horseman, there was a different side to Bon Hoysted for those that knew him away from the stable environment. Bon enjoyed a good time and was often seen out socialising at dinners and other events; it was part of the fabric of being known as ‘Bon’ rather than Norman, his given name.
The Blue Diamond Stakes celebrations were inclusive to those around the stable, but the Golden Slipper post-race party had been restricted to those who were in Sydney.
With a busy calendar after returning from Sydney in late March, a date was finally cleared and a function organised to properly celebrate one of Hoysted’s biggest achievements.
On Friday 28 April 1978, a South Melbourne hotel catered for a large gathering of Bon’s friends, staff and clients to rejoice in the campaign of Manikato, particularly his victory in the Golden Slipper. Steak and seafood crowned the menu while beer, wine and spirits flowed and flowed. The banter and laughter made the night go quicker than many had realised, with Bon in the centre of it all. The party not only signified what had already occurred but also the promise of what may lay ahead. Bon now had the horse that