A pair of Group winners take pride of place so far in the training career of David Greene who this week hit a notable milestone.
The Te Rapa-based horseman sent out his 100th winner on Wednesday when Goldiluxe scored at Ruakaka in the style to befit the occasion and, for good measure, stablemate Flamboyance finished runner-up.
Ghibellines mare Goldiluxe was sent out at less than even money in her 1400m maiden contest and won accordingly, romping home in the hands of Sam Spratt to bring up Greene’s century.
“To be honest, I haven’t really given it too much thought, but it is nice and a reflection of an awful lot of work that a lot of different people have put into the stable over the years,” he said.
Greene was involved in the industry on a smaller scale before concentrating on training.
“I’ve been full time at Te Rapa for 12 years and we played around with a couple of horses before that,” he said.
“We were out on the farm at Tahuna (about 15 minutes out of Morrinsville) and Heidi (wife) and I were mainly pre-training and spelling horses back then. Heidi has been key to everything.”
In the ensuing years, the stable’s flagship performers have been top-class mare Stolen Dance and the well-performed stayer Justamaiz.
A daughter of Alamosa, Stolen Dance was successful on nine occasions and placed a further six times from 21 appearances for Greene.
She claimed top honours in the Gr.2 Cal Isuzu Stakes (1600m) and the Gr.3 Eagle Technology Stakes (1600m) and consecutively finished runner-up at Group One level in the Zabeel Classic (2000m), Thorndon Mile (1600m) and Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m).
“She’s been my favourite horse so far, she was very special to me and the stable,” Greene said.
Following a change in the ownership group, Stolen Dance joined the now retired Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman and the mare signed off her career with a deserved success by going one better in the Thorndon.
Justamaiz was a tough staying son of Guillotine who won eight races with his most notable successes on his home track at Te Rapa.
“He won the Waikato Cup (Gr.3, 2400m) and also won the Counties Cup (Gr.3, 2100m) when it was held here so it was two local Cups for us,” Greene said.
“You’d love to have a stable full of geldings like him that can have long careers and he was another real favourite.”
Justamaiz also finished third in an edition of the Gr.3 Wellington Cup (3200m).
Greene’s most recent winner Goldiluxe broke through at Ruakaka at her fifth appearance.
“She had been knocking on the door of late, she was pretty close to breaking her maiden at Pukekohe and then got tripped up by a track that was wetter than we expected at Rotorua,” he said.
“It was a well-earned win for her, and the other horse (Flamboyance) is progressing well and keeps getting better with every start.
“He has been a bit of a slow learner, but it looks like he’ll make the grade.”
