Plenty behind the emotion we saw from Ray after Copy That’s brave trotting cup win

Ask Ray Green about the emotions which bubbled over after Copy That won his second IRT New Zealand Trotting Cup at Addington today and he’ll try to tell you it was mostly relief.

But for the man we all watched struggling to get out even a few words when interviewed on Trackside TV there was so much more going on behind those tears.

Sure, the pressure had been on Green after his unorthodox road to the cup, which saw a detour to Melbourne as he tried to get the miles into his charge’s legs after eight months sidelined with injury.

But when Copy That bravely held off all challengers in the run home to go within a second of the race record, it released a floodgate of feelings for the 77-year-old from Tuakau.

Not the least of them was how both he and the little horse he calls Jip came to be here, lauded in the centre stage on harness racing’s biggest day.

Green might today be at the helm of Lincoln Farms, one of the country’s most powerful racing stables, but he came from the humblest of beginnings.

“For years it was a real struggle to even say in the game,” says Green.

“When Deb and I got back from America in 1981 we had a bit of money left and bought a horse. But my partner couldn’t pay for it and we had to find someone else. We did all right with it, made money, and paid the bank manager what we owed.

“But we were living hand to mouth. I built garden sheds for five years to turn a dollar. I made horse feeders out of used tyres - it was hard going.”

Copy That and Blair Orange are holding their rivals at the finish of today’s New Zealand Trotting Cup. PHOTO: Ajay Berry/Race Images.But Green was never without a horse, shoeing, breaking in and jogging up for other people and sieving for the cheap dregs at the sales.

“One year I went to the sales and came home with five. But I couldn’t afford to buy a beer at the bar, that’s how hard up we were.

“The odd one would get to the races, which would help get you into the next one. I’m sure there were lots of people out there like us but many don’t get out of their hole.

“Everybody needs a leg up and we were lucky to run into John Street and then it became a new ball game. We could shop at the top end, but I still looked at the cheapies.”

Copy That was one of those cheapies and, while we were all admiring Copy That’s rippling muscles, flowing gait and gleaming coat today, Green was getting choked up thinking about the day they bought the cheeky little weanling.

“Deb initially picked him out. He was only little but his conformation was perfect. And he was a great walker, a beautiful loose-moving horse with a great shoulder.”

Green says the American Ideal colt ticked all the boxes they wanted and they happily took him home for $7000.

You just take a punt

“You just take a punt. They don’t all turn out to be any good but they’re cheap horses. You go through them and hope to get one like this. It’s something we’ve been doing for a long time.

“It’s always been young horses for me, since I was a kid. Someone would sell one to me for bugger all, and I’d break it in and try it. You start developing an eye for them and get a system going.

“The most important thing is acquiring the right type of horse.”

Wherever Green has been in the world he says he’s studied the conformation of good horses, developing some common denominators.

“It’s not something someone can sit you down and teach you in five minutes. It takes thousands of horses, it’s a long process.

“We’ve ended up with some pretty nice horses, not just our own, but the ones John’s paid for. But all our good horses have been ones we’ve developed ourselves from weanlings and yearlings.”

Merv and Meg Butterworth hoist their third New Zealand Cup after Copy That last year and Arden Rooney in 2015. PHOTO: Ajay Berry/Race Images.While they sold Copy That to Melbourne owners Merv and Meg Butterworth after he won his second race, Deb Green says they still think of him as their own “baby,” another trigger for the post-race emotion.

“It’s almost like we haven’t sold him because we’ve still got him.”

Green admits he used to lie awake at night thinking what might have been had they not sold Copy That, now the winner of $1.35 million.

“But we’re over that. If you don’t sell them you end up with a paddock full of horses. It put a huge hole in our mortgage at the time and it’s great to have been able to keep him and still reap some of the benefits.”

Green says he started getting a bit choked up when the crowd cheered Copy That as he came out onto the track. Just 11 months earlier nobody really knew if he’d make it back to the big stage after he fractured a splint bone in a hind leg and had to be boxed for four months, an ordeal Green shared with him during his Covid stranding in Victoria.

“And it gave me a real buzz when they were really pleased to see him win. That was great for the horse. He’s got a little bit of a cult following now with fans and the punters, they’ve really warmed to him.”

It took Green quite a while to warm to Copy That who proved so frustrating in his early education that he admits when he wasn’t wanting to cut off the horse’s head he would gladly have quit him for $10,000.

Ray Green with wife Debbie, who selected Copy That as a weanling. PHOTO: Ajay Berry/Race Images.“It’s just what you go through with a lot of them. But it makes you wonder how many horses have been thrown away that could have morphed into something. He always had the speed, he just didn’t know how to behave.”

Watching Blair Orange warming up Copy That today, Green says you wouldn’t credit it was the same horse.

“He was just gliding along, relaxed as hell. Nothing fazes him, he didn’t bat an eyelid at anything, even the crowd. “He’s the consummate professional. He’s got speed, a great gait, he’s tough, he has a great constitution, a terrific heart rate and recovery. He’s got it all.

“Some horses have some of those qualities but not often you get one with all of them. We’re very lucky to have him.”

No Free-for-all

Green isn’t about to get greedy though and has already ruled out backing up Copy That in Friday’s New Zealand Free-for-all.

“Blair said the horse was absolutely stuffed at the finish today.

“I didn’t realise how hard he had to burn to get across to the lead. Blair said he was worried that might leave him a bit vulnerable but the horse was classy enough to carry on. A lot of horses would have curled up. It was a great effort.”

A job well done. Blair Orange rated Copy That to perfection, clocking 3:54, nine-tenths of a second outside the record set by Lazarus. PHOTO: Ajay Berry/Race ImagesCopy That will be home by Friday after which Green says he and Butterworth will be choosing their next move carefully.

“The Interdominion is off the table. That series is a joke. Four races in two weeks with a load of travelling to Shepparton and Ballarat would absolutely gut him. There are plenty of other races.

“There might be a race for him at Auckland over Christmas. There’s the Miracle Mile, the Hunter Cup, all sorts.”

One thing’s for sure, Copy That will keep Green feeling like “77 going on 40”.

“I might get a bit stiff when I bend down to put on some gear but I reckon I could still shoe a horse if I had to.

“Age is just a number. A lot of people half my age are buggered but I’ve always been blessed with good health. I’ll keep going until I start to break down or feel I’ve had enough.

“Who knows, we might win three New Zealand Cups yet?”

Now there’s a thought. The extra practice might see Green able to get out a few more words in the post-race interview.

Yeah, nah.