Connections of Tims Portrait celebrate the debut victory.
There were tears and cheers aplenty at Gloucester Park last Saturday night when a joyful band of owners celebrated the debut victory of Tims Portrait in a minor event.
They had gathered together in the determined hope of honouring the wish of Tim Earnshaw, who died at the age of 43 last February after losing a gallant fight against cancer.
Emotional scenes from nine of the ten part-owners followed Tims Portrait’s all-the-way win in a $3000 R0-class event. They were ecstatic that the WA-bred four-year-old gelding, trained by Kevin Keys and driven by Gary Hall jun., had won and realised a dream hatched by Earnshaw almost four years ago.
The New Zealand-born Earnshaw settled in WA about 25 years ago and he quickly made his mark as an astute trainer and reinsman.
Earnshaw gained Tims Portrait as a yearling from breeder Mick Cunnold and at the time he said that he had no intention of racing the pacer until he was at least four years old. He wanted to give the youngster every chance to mature and fill out.
This was because Tims Portrait’s dam Just Helen’s previous foals had all been finely built and lightly framed. They had all taken time to develop and five of her first six foals had all been winners. They included Menelaus of Sparta (21 wins and 29 placings for stakes of $176,536), Ultimate Hanover (six wins, four placings and $47,674) and Twisk (nine wins, 17 placings and $42,365).
Serpentine trainer Jarrad Humphries, a friend of Earnshaw for many years, said that shortly before his death Earnshaw had said it was his dream that Tims Portrait would develop sufficiently to be able to race.
“Grant Bracken owned the horse with Tim and I decided it would be great to get a group of Tim’s friends together to take a small share in the pacer,” Humphries said.
Bracken, the major shareholder was away working and missed Tims Portrait’s first-up triumph. But the other owners, Humphries, Earnshaw’s widow Karen, Nick Bidner, Colin Lavin, Mark Maguire, Brad Seinor, Lewis Maxwell, Graeme Smith and Lannie Bell, were at Gloucester Park to cheer the horse home.
Humphries said that Keys had done a fantastic job to produce Tims Portrait in such fine fettle to achieve victory at his first start.
“And credit is also due to Phil Duggan, who gave the pacer a good preparation before the gelding went to Keys,” Humphries said. “This was an important stepping stone. Tims Portrait is still very green and Kevin did a marvellous job to get him right for his first-up win. He certainly knew how important it was for the horse to realise Tim’s dream.
“All of us were on course for the win and it was a pretty emotional time. This took a lot of pressure off and now whatever the horse does will be a bonus. It was also a special moment for Karen, who has had health problems in the past year.”
Tims Portrait, a black gelding by American sire Modern Art, is the seventh foal out of Just Helen, a mare by American stallion No Fission. Just Helen managed three wins and five placings from 20 starts for earnings of $10,623. Her dam Happy Helen (by Judge Hanover) was a handy performer in WA, with her 98 starts producing 18 wins and 29 placings for stakes of $59,310.
Earnshaw, born in Melton, not far from Christchurch, gained his licence to drive and was only 16 when he landed his first couple of winners in the south island of New Zealand. He also was a highly-promising rugby player.
He took an immediate liking to Perth on a visit to WA as a teenager and he decided to settle here. He worked in the stables of prominent trainers Bill Horn (for 12 months) and Trevor Warwick (for six months).
Early in 1993 he got his first pacer, Majuka, from trainer Colin Brown, and at his first start for his new trainer Majuka was narrowly beaten in a race at Wagin on April 24, 1993.
Then for the next eight years Earnshaw worked diligently as an underground miner, drilling for gold in the Northern Territory, The Simpson Desert and in Kalgoorlie and for diamonds at Argyle.
It was while living in Kalgoorlie for six years that Earnshaw regained his interest in pacing. He telephoned Humphries, who sent him Mister Recall and Duke Humphrey. And at his second start for Earnshaw, in Kalgoorlie on October 5, 2001, Duke Humphrey gave Earnshaw his first winner in Australia when he raced three back on the rails before charging home along the sprint lane to beat Zalambi. That win came 3086 days after Earnshaw failed by a nose, first-up, with Majuka at Wagin.
This was followed by a stream of winners in Kalgoorlie with Mister Recall (two), Eight Ball (two), Striking Fella (four), Classiconia, The Little Hill, Gretskie, Panjandrum and North of Virginia.
Striking Fella, trained by Brett Snell, and driven by Earnshaw, gave an outstanding performance to win three feature events over vastly different distances in the space of eight days.
First came a four-length victory over Double Your bet in a mobile 1718m sprint on November 30, 2002. Then, three nights later, Striking Fella galloped from the 50m mark in a 2518m event before he finished powerfully to win from Straight There.
The remarkable hat-trick came up four nights later when Striking Fella started from 40m in the 2918m Kalgoorlie Cup and he won by a head from Sovereign Heir.
Soon after that Earnshaw left Kalgoorlie and set up stables in Banjup. Neighbouring trainer Ian Davie gave him the drive behind Harkin in an event for fillies in Bunbury. Harkin raced in the breeze before bursting to the front in the final stages to win from Go On Tempt Me, paying the massive straight-out dividend of $101.80.
More winners followed and Earnshaw enjoyed considerable success with Long Shot Lou, winning 13 races with him in the mid-2000s.
