Lyell Creek

Last updated
Lyell Creek
Breed Standardbred
SireRoydon Glen (NZ)
GrandsireSmooth Fella
DamKahlum(NZ)
Maternal grandsire Noodlum
Sex Gelding
Foaled30 November 1993
Country New Zealand
Colour Bay
BreederP H Smith (NZ)
OwnerA M Butt, G A V Bruton (NZ)
TrainerT G Butt (NZ)
Record
113: 56-15-11
Earnings
NZ$2,256,924
Major wins
1999, 2001, 2004 Dominion Handicap
1999, 2000 NZ National Trot
2000 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship
2000, 2001 Vic Dullard Cup
2000 Vic Millennium Mile
2000, 2001, 2004 Rowe Cup
2001 Vic Bill Collins Trotters Mile
2004 NZ Trotting FFA
Awards
2000, 2001, 2005 Grand Circuit Champion
Honours
2000 Harness Horse of the Year (NZ)
2000, 2001 NZ Trotter of the Year
2000, 2001 Australian Trotter of the Year
New Zealand Trotters Mile Record
Last updated on: 26 August 2011.

Lyell Creek (foaled 30 November 1993) is one of New Zealand's best Standardbred trotters. Also known as "Creek The Freak", he had 113 starts for 56 wins, 15 seconds and 11 thirds, including an Australasian record 15 Group One wins.[ citation needed ] His fastest mile rate was 1.52.4 and he won $2,950,224 in stake money, which is an Australasian record for a trotter. Lyell Creek won the 2000 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Grand Final at Moonee Valley in Melbourne, taking home $295,000 for his efforts. [1] He also won New Zealand's two biggest trotting races, the Dominion Handicap and the Rowe Cup, both on three occasions. In the 1999-00 season Lyell Creek won the Dominion Handicap, Inter Dominion Trotting Championship and Rowe Cup becoming the first horse to win the three races in the same season. [2] At the Inter Dominion carnival in Melbourne he won four Group One races including the Australasian Trotters Championship, Dullard Cup and Millennium Mile where he produced a remarkable winning performance after being trapped wide on the track. [2] It was his sixteenth consecutive win. [3] He won 20 consecutive races until being beaten in the New Zealand Trotting Free For All on Show Day in 2000. [4] The defeat came one start after he had broken the New Zealand record for a trotting mile at Ashburton by winning in 1:55.6. [2] Before racing in the Northern Hemisphere he won his second Rowe Cup [5] and the Bill Collins Mile in Melbourne. [6]

On 1 October 2000 he became the first horse to win consecutive Banks Peninsula Trotting Cups. In the 2000 edition he started off 30 metres but won by 4+1⁄4 lengths over Jay Bee Ar with the same distance back to One Kenny. [7]

He also raced in Europe and campaigned extensively in North America and raced against some of the best trotters in the world including Sweden's Victory Tilly. [8] Highlights of his North American racing included a win in the Su Mac Lad, a close second in the Titan Cup and a second in the Classic Series Final [9] and in Europe he finished third in the Copenhagen Cup. [2] He started in the Elitloppet in 2001 but did not advance to the final won by Varenne. [10]

A notable achievement of Lyell Creek was that he won 34 of his 37 starts before his extensive Northern Hemisphere campaign, with his only defeats being his debut (over a year before his second start), when pulled-up at his fourth start and when running third in the 2000 NZ Trotting Free-For-All.

After returning to New Zealand Lyell Creek won his third Rowe Cup winning by 7 3/4 lengths. [11] Then aged 11 he won the New Zealand Trotting Free For All at Addington in November 2004 setting a national record for 2600 metres [12] and the Dominion Handicap. [13] He last raced in 2005. [14]

See also

Reference list

  1. ↑ Lyell Creek at the Inter Dominions
  2. 1 2 3 4 Premier Stables - Tim Butt Racing Archived 2009-09-07 at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved 7 February 2016
  3. ↑ 2000 Trotters Series, Harness Racing Australia, Retrieved 7 February 2016
  4. ↑ A trotting hero gets feet wet when the sun hides, New Zealand Herald, 17 November 2000, Retrieved 7 February 2016
  5. ↑ Idol's Special Send Off, Sunday Star Times, 1 April 2001
  6. ↑ Creek flows away, Herald Sun, 9 April 2001
  7. ↑ "When Lyell Creek came and conquered Motukarara". 21 September 2021.
  8. ↑ Lyell Creeks lags as record blitzed, New Zealand Herald, 4 August 2002, Retrieved 7 February 2016
  9. ↑ Lyell Creek to face Plesac again after world record, New Zealand Herald, 10 June 2002
  10. ↑ Lyell Creek looks at second against awesome Italian, New Zealand Herald, 30 July 2001, Retrieved 7 February 2016
  11. ↑ Lyell Creek wins by country mile, New Zealand Herald, 30 April 2004, Retrieved 7 February 2016
  12. ↑ Lyell still reign supreme, The Press, 13 November 2014
  13. ↑ A night up the creeks, The Press, 20 November 2015
  14. ↑ Lyell Creek farewell feature, www.harnesslink.com

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