The thoroughbred racing industry is in mourning following the passing of respected horseman Danny Champion.
The 52-year-old, who hailed from Taranaki, was based in Hawke’s Bay with his partner Kate Hercock, having spent much of his life in Canterbury.
In 22 seasons of training, much of that time in partnership with Kezia Murphy, Champion won 139 races, highlighted by victory in the 2013 edition of the Listed Canterbury Belle Stakes (1200m) with Orovela, who he had sourced as a weanling for just $1,200.
There would be few who knew Champion better than Murphy, who was by his side from the moment he kicked off his training career.
“He was a really significant person in my life,” Murphy said. “I met Danny when I was 17 and he had been involved in racing all his life, but he was looking to start up as a trainer himself.
“I was basically with him from day one when he got his trainer’s license, and we got into a lot of breaking in and pre-training.
“I had no involvement in racing. I loved horses but I had come from an eventing and dressage background. Danny really introduced me to the world of racing and starting young horses.
“When the operation got a bit bigger, we had the opportunity to move to Ashburton. I worked for Danny for quite some time and then her offered me a partnership around 2010 or 11, which I was very grateful for and duly accepted.”
Murphy said Champion had a great eye for horses, and while the stable didn’t have the budget to purchase top-end young stock, Champion was able to secure some bargain buys and got the best out of the horses he trained.
“He had a real gift for finding a bargain. Many of his horses were cheap purchases who went on to do well above what you would expect,” Murphy said.
“The thing that I most enjoyed with Danny was the challenging horses that perhaps some of the bigger stables might not have been interested in. Danny was a brilliant horseman and farrier, and he really liked a challenge, and he definitely instilled that in me.”
While a natural horseman, Champion wasn’t introduced to the animal he would come to love until he went to school and struck up an association with the son of a renowned Taranaki trainer.
“He grew up in a non-horsey family and when he was in primary school he became friends with John Wheeler’s son, Ryan,” Murphy said. “They were best mates and he used to go up to John Wheeler’s and he loved the horses.
“John and his late wife Lyndsey had a huge influence in Danny’s life and he loved going there to ride their ponies, which eventuated into riding track work.”
Champion was intent on a career in the saddle, but it soon became evident that he would quickly outgrow a jockeys build.
“I think Danny was pretty devastated when he got on the scales one day and he was 52.5 kilos and John said to him he wasn’t going to make an apprentice,” Murphy said.
With his riding hopes dashed, Champion turned to harness racing, but the love of the thoroughbred swiftly drew him back and he worked for a number of Taranaki trainers before eventually moving to Christchurch after a successful southern campaign in the early nineties.
“He was working for Max Northcott and he came down (to Riccarton) with a horse called Sir Barton for the Grand National Carnival in 1991, and he won the Grand National (Hurdles).
“Danny did quite a lot of schooling with jumpers, he was quite accomplished in everything he did, he was a gifted horseman.
“When he came down it was apparently really beautiful weather compared to Taranaki, where it rains all the time, and he thought what a great place to be. He went back home with the horses and then decided to move down to Riccarton.”
Following 20 years training in Canterbury, Champion moved to Hawke’s Bay last year to be with his partner Kate Hercock.
“It was bittersweet (ending the training partnership) having been involved with each other for 20 years, but I was really happy for Danny that he had met Kate and he was doing what he wanted to do,” Murphy said.
Champion continued to have success in the north and it was fitting that he was victorious with his last runner to the races, Makkaldee at Tauherenikau earlier this month, with Hercock in the saddle.
Murphy said it was a pleasure to be mentored by Champion and he will be sorely missed.
“He was a strong, courageous and loyal person and had a great sense of humour,” she said. “He was always happy to help a stranger, he loved helping people.
“When he was in a grand mood, there was no one else you would rather be around. He was one of a kind, a really funny guy and had a lot to offer.”
Champion’s funeral is set to take place at 2pm next Tuesday, November 26, at Riccarton Racecourse.
