After more than 60 years and a multitude of top-flight success in the role, the Dennis brothers have retired from training.
The family’s successful journey began with small beginnings in 1960, when Tony Dennis and his twin brother Ray followed in the footsteps of their father Harold, who owned several racehorses at the time. Their younger brothers, Martin and Joe, joined the partnership soon after, and they have been based at Woodlands, near Invercargill, throughout the six-decade term.
“Age is the primary reason (for retirement), but the guy who was working for us has gone to learn other things, he was from Ukraine and came to us from there,” Tony Dennis said.
“Ray and I have been training for coming up 65 years, our father had been involved in racing and there was a couple of horses in the paddock that had been in work with another trainer, so we decided to have a go. Six weeks later, we had our first win and two seconds.
“We’re farmers and it was sort of a hobby at the start, doing two or three horses. It got a bit bigger in the later years, we started racing more horses and employing staff, while carrying on with the farms.
“One of the first horses we had was The Wanderer, he won 18 races.”
The partnership’s final winner came on Melbourne Cup Day at Wingatui with The Cluster, one of three horses they have relocated to the Ascot Park stable of Tony’s son, Robert. The other pair include three-race winner The Hangover, and The Radiant One, winner of this year’s Listed Timaru Stakes (1400m).
The Radiant One was among many Group and Listed winners to the brothers’ credit, with The Twinkle producing their elite-level crown in the 1981 running of the Penfold-Chardon Mile (now run as the Gr.1 TAB Mufhasa Classic).
The Twinkle was one of three notable horses mentioned by Dennis, with 16-race winner The Dimple and The Fantasy, who was successful on eight occasions, also among their brightest.
“Usually, it’s the horse that’s going well at the time,” he quipped. “But, to train a Group One winner was good, also the Group Twos and Threes.
“When we first started, there was no Group or Listed races, just stakes races. We just raced horses in the race without targeting black-print races.
“We’ve had horses like The Pearler, she won two or three Listed races as well.”
Alongside their training accolades, the Dennis brothers have established one of New Zealand’s foremost thoroughbred families as breeders, featuring a number of horses carrying the prefix “The”, with several they retained to race with other trainers around the country.
Among the family was 1993 Gr.1 Cox Plate (2040m) winner The Phantom Chance, star race mare The Jewel and more recently, The Chosen One, a Group One winner and Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) and Gr.1 Sydney Cup (3200m) placegetter who now stands at The Oaks Stud.
Their achievements across both sectors were recognised at the 2015 Horse of the Year Awards, receiving the Outstanding Contribution to Racing Award.
While their time training may have come to an end, Dennis indicated the brothers would continue breeding into the future, with a pair of horses set to go through the ring at the Karaka Yearling Sales in January.
“We’ll continue to breed horses, it’s just the training we’ve given up,” he said.
“We’ve bred a lot of horses and sold a lot of horses, quite a few Group One winners as well. I think it’s the good Southland grass, we make sure they’re well-fed. We’ve always had a tendency to go to proven sires, not every time, but typically we like to see their progeny racing first which helps.
“On the breeding side, the best horse we’ve had would have to be The Phantom, who ran second in the Melbourne Cup and The Phantom Chance, he won a Cox Plate. The Jewel was another good horse we had and we also bred a VRC Oaks winner with Brian Anderton.
“It was brilliant racing The Chosen One, but the two years of COVID were very unfortunate as we couldn’t go over to watch him in either of the Melbourne Cups or the Sydney Cup. But, to get a horse as good as him was amazing, and breeding-wise, he’d be the best we’ve bred. We’ve sent two or three mares to him so far, but we’ve got to be careful not to inbreed.
“We’ll have two yearlings at the sales this year, a colt by Savabeel out of The Solitaire, who is a full-brother to The Perfect Pink, who won the 1000 Guineas (Gr.1, 1600m). The other is a filly by Proisir out of The Lustre, who finished third in the 1000 Guineas.”
