
The Empress bravely fights off Miracle Moose and Rubens after sitting parked on Friday night. PHOTO: Race Images.
Merv makes an exception buying The Empress - and with her courage, he’s glad he did
The Empress became the sixth individual winner for Australian owners Merv and Meg Butterworth since they started sending horses north to Ray Green at Lincoln Farms when she showed great courage to score at Auckland on Friday night.
But the filly, who sat parked for most of the race and still found the reserves to stave off her challengers, breaks the mould when it comes to the proven Butterworth formula.
Whereas Steam Punk, Zealand Star (2 wins), Just Wing It (2 wins), Governor’s Bay and The Bull Pen were all bought as going horses, The Empress is one of the few Merv Butterworth has bought out of the sale ring.
Merv and Meg Butterworth have won eight races since they started sending horses north to Lincoln Farms last November.“Buying yearlings is not my cup of tea,’’ said Butterworth as he celebrated the win with a nice Aussie red and some barbecued chicken at his Melbourne home.
“I’ve probably only bought a dozen over a dozen years but I was at the sale in Melbourne in 2017 and everything added up.
“I asked Peter Judd of Benstud in Victoria what was the best of his flock and he pointed her out.
“She looked very big but I liked her and her breeding - she was out of a Washington VC mare.’’
The Art Major filly was the first foal of Easton All Action who won 12 races and was a half sister to a 1:49 performer in the United States, Easton Alliance, who won 15 races and $482,000.
With that CV, Butterworth had to go to $70,000 to secure her so it wasn’t surprising he sent her to the best in the business, the All Stars’ Mark Purdon and Natalie Rasmussen.
“But she got a minor fetlock injury so I sent her down to Diane Cornane (at Grove Bush near Invercargill) for a long spell so she could grow up.’’
When it came time to educate the filly she went to Robin Swain, who does a lot of the early work on Butterworth’s pacers.
“She won first-up (last September) but then had a couple of viruses and a bit of bad luck.’’
Zachary Butcher brings courageous winner The Empress back to scale at Alexandra Park.After running eighth in the Southland Oaks in April, Butterworth told Swain it was time the filly left kindergarten and joined middle school at Ray Green’s to see if she would cope with Auckland company.
“Ray fell in love with her from the start. We’d been told she had a lot of speed out of the gate but she showed none last week.
“What she showed tonight is toughness and Zac (Zachary Butcher) learned from his drive last week. If he’d put his foot down in the back straight she’d have beaten Tommy Lincoln.’’
Green wasn’t surprised to see The Empress improve on her close second of the previous week.
“She’s a lovely big filly with a beautiful nature. She’s nice and relaxed and she seems to keep running.’’
Butterworth can see a lot of upside in the rising four-year-old.
“I’ve always held her in high regard. All she’s needed is some TLC and time and patience. She’s still got some maturing to do so we’ll keep looking after her.
“It’s a bit early to say she’s the best of the ones I’ve sent to Ray but I’m sure, in time, she’ll rise to the higher ranks of mares.’’
More news in Harness
The dream’s alive but Nate tells why he’ll wait for ‘Harry’ before racing Eric again
Ray gives reformed Rascal his ‘most likely to succeed’ report from the pole on Friday night
Ray doesn’t pull any punches about Sugar Ray but punters weigh in nonetheless
Partners and pedigree made Johnny Lincoln’s win special - but where was everyone?
Our runners this week: How our trainers rate them

Nathan’s comments
Thursday night at Cambridge
Race 1: Im Not The Maid
5.14pm
“She went pretty well last week considering they came a fast last half (56.3) and she sat parked from the 800. She’s back to the amateur grade, and should get a good run from the two draw, so hopefully we can get a bit of cash.”
Race 4: Dreams Of Eric
6.38pm
“He didn’t handle the right-handed bends at Auckland last week (galloping at the 300) so we’ll stick to Cambridge from now on. There’s a bit of gate speed in the race so Harry (Harrison Orange) should be able to sit in somewhere. I think he’s a good chance to run top three.”

Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Leo Lincoln
5.59pm
“He’s racing very well. He would have run second last week (to American Me) had he not spooked at the winning post. These are tidy horses he’s racing against but he’s holding his own.”
Race 1: Kevin Kline
5.59pm
“He’ll go better back to a mobile start. He did well to finish so close last week after a slow start than having to do all the donkey work when parked for the last lap. Maurice really likes him because he just puts him into cruise control and he keeps going.”
Race 3: Lincoln Downs
6.58pm
“She’s not as good as the other filly but some lift their game when the money’s up so maybe she can pick up a cheque.”
Race 3: Lincoln’s Spice
6.58pm
“She looks a pretty decent chance of winning. She’s a real little tradesman, does nothing wrong, is easy to handle, is a nice drive, tries hard, is great gaited and has the potential to get stronger.”
Race 5: Tyson
7.51pm
“We found out he raced with a virus last time. The next morning snot was pouring out his nose and that’s why he didn’t finish it off as well as we expected. He only whacked away in the run home. With that gone, he should race better.”
Race 5: Johnny Lincoln
7.51pm
“I think he’ll be competitive and he’s the best of ours in the race. He won well last week and has trained on well. He’s promising. I couldn’t go as far as to say he’s a classic colt yet but we’ll find out soon enough.”
Race 5: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.51pm
“He’s doing my head in. He had no excuse for breaking last week. Maurice (McKendry) didn’t blame the wet track. He said he was gliding along, travelling beautifully, when for no apparent reason he put in big steps. I’ll put a hood on him this time to see if it’s a nervous issue.”
Race 8: The Rascal
9.23pm
“All going well, he should win what is a poor maiden field. He’s elevated himself from the transfer list and is going well now. He doesn’t have huge gate speed, so he may not lead but he should get a good trip from one. On paper, he’s our best chance of the night.”