Selwyn Times: September 15, 2021

Selwyn Times Wednesday September 15 2021
18
SPORT
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Negus celebrates 500 training wins
• By Joshua Smith
BURNHAM horseman Bruce
Negus has celebrated his 500th
training win at Addington
Raceway, courtesy of juvenile
filly Apatchofgold.
While he enjoyed bringing up
the milestone 11 days ago, Negus
was more animated about the
performance of his juvenile filly
on debut.
The daughter of Racing Hill
did a fair bit of work to get to the
lead at the bell and she was able
to show her tenacity when holding
off her opposition to win by a
half neck.
Negus was delighted with the
win and believes the filly has a
bright future.
“She has a lot of talent, which
is untapped as yet because she is
still learning. I suspect that she
will become a top filly.”
Reflecting on his career, there
is one victory that stands out
above the rest for Negus – Courage
Under Fire’s record setting
win in the Australian Derby.
“The sixth derby with Courage
Under Fire was the crowning glory
of his campaign,” Negus said.
“If he had only won five of
them it would never have been
the achievement we wanted it to
be, which was a world record of
six derbys.
“When he won the Australian
Derby and set a track record,
that was the greatest thrill of my
career.”
Courage Under Fire proved to
be a once in a lifetime horse and
Negus said it was a thrill to train
an animal of his quality.
“He was as exciting to train as
he was to race because he was
kind of like a hand grenade just
waiting to go off,” Negus said.
“He had an enormous willingness,
if you let his head go just a
little bit he would go from jogging
to high speed and wanting
more, he just loved to run.”
While diminutive in size, Negus
said he had unbelievable speed and
he knew he had something special
on his hands the first time he took
the colt to the trials.
“Like a lot of horses with high
speed, he found it hard to go in
a straight line because he had
so much speed. Once he went to
the trials and he went so well, we
felt we had something special,”
Negus said.
The son of notable trainer
Bob Negus, Bruce always had a
passion for harness racing, but
it wasn’t until later in life that he
decided to follow his passion of
racing.
MILESTONE:
Bruce and
Colleen Negus
with Em Ay. ​
Above –
Apatchofgold
wining at
Addington.
“My father was a trainer and
driver,” Negus said. “He helped
Brent Smith and they combined
to win the New Zealand Cup
with Armalight.
“He won an oaks with his
very first horse called Glint, and
he won a derby with a much
younger brother called Willie
Win.
• Turn to page 21