Peace Officer’s stylish win in Saturday’s Rosehill Midway completed a week of high elation for Warwick Farm trainer Clarry Conners. Only a few days earlier it was confirmed that the multiple Gr 1 winning horseman will be among this year’s inductees into the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame. From the moment the veteran horseman arrived at Rosehill on Saturday he was the recipient of congratulatory handshakes from well wishers. He didn’t expect the day to get much better, but Peace Officer put the icing on the cake when he overcame a three wide trip before dashing clear at the 200m with the race in his keeping. Despite a tough run he comfortably held Victory Lane and Bend The Knee. It was a special moment for Clarry who’s loved this horse from the moment he first saw him at the 2021 Inglis Classic Sale.
The trainer was working his way through yearling inspections when he spotted a brown colt being paraded at the request of other interested observers. To this day Clarry isn’t sure what it was about the colt that instantly grabbed his attention. “He was some distance away when I first caught sight of him,” he said. “I quickly moved closer and could see he had great presence. He looked more mature than most yearlings, moved beautifully and had a commanding head. You only had to watch him for a while to see he had a lovely temperament. I watched him walk back into the barn occupied by the Lime Country Thoroughbreds draft, before going straight to Lot 550 in my catalogue,” said Clarry.
“I don’t mind admitting I knew little about the colt’s sire Iffraaj and was unfamiliar with his distaff side. I liked the fact that his dam Coyote Miss was by the very good sire Commands, while his second dam Miss Alabama was by Woodman and had left a number of winners. His third and fourth dams were overseas mares with plenty of winners between them. To be honest his pedigree was secondary because I just loved him as a type. I went over him thoroughly, checked out his x/rays and scans and waited for him to come into the ring. I was thrilled to get him for $90,000. Several existing clients liked him as much as I did, and a few new ones came on board as well. We soon had a lovely little syndicate together to race him as Peace Officer.”
This is the yearling to catch Clarry's eye at the 2021 Inglis Classic sale. Peace Officer ticked every box - courtesy Sharon Chapman FastTrack Photography.
Nowadays of course Clarry is well aware that Iffraaj is a highly respected dual hemisphere stallion who shuttled to New Zealand’s Haunui Farm for an amazing twelve seasons. He’s currently the sire of eighty one world wide stakes winners including twenty six in the southern hemisphere. Eleven of his stakes winners have prevailed at Gr 1 level. He got away to a “flyer” in England when he produced the champion first crop juvenile Wootton Bassett, now a member of Coolmore’s Australian stallion ranks. His southern hemisphere progeny includes top class sprinter miler Turn Me Loose, a NZ Gr 1 two year old winner and later winner of the Emirates Stakes and Futurity Stakes in Australia. Another of Iffraaj’s sons Gingernuts won a Gr 1 NZ Derby and the Gr 1 Rosehill Guineas in Sydney. Jon Snow did his sire proud by winning the ATC Australian Derby, while Western Empire was dominant in winning Perth’s famous Railway Stakes at the elite level.
Peace Officer has a long way to go to reach the lofty heights achieved by the aforementioned, but his astute trainer has liked him from the moment he went into serious work. “I honestly thought he was going well enough in the autumn of last year to test him as a Slipper candidate,” said Clarry. “He was unplaced but not far away in races like the Pierro Plate, the Skyline Stakes and the Pago Pago Stakes. He had a few niggling little issues and we had to abandon our plans. We brought him back for a preparation in August of last year but had to pull up stumps again after just one run. He ran third in a Hawkesbury maiden after which those old issues returned. We decided to leave him out for an extended period.”
With the horse still growing into himself, the experienced trainer resolved to give Peace Officer a very light preparation next time in. He finally bagged his maiden at Hawkesbury in February with Tom Sherry on board. Clarry gave him a “tick over trial” before lining him up again in a fairly competitive provincial midway at Wyong on April 6th in which he beat all but Oakfield Twilight. He then stepped up to a BM 68 on the Kensington track finishing a creditable third to recent Gr 3 winner Rediener. Clarry was more than satisfied and promptly returned his favourite horse to the paddock.
Peace Officer opens his account with a Hawkesbury maiden win in February - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
The trainer’s trademark patience might now be yielding results. On September 1st he put a small field away with ease in a Wyong 3&4YO BM 64 called the Da Vinci - the race in which James McDonald was dumped by Razors coming out of the barrier. Clarry repeated his practice of giving the horse a quiet trial on September 12th with last Saturday’s Midway his next assignment. Nash Rawiller who rode him at Wyong was delighted to retain the mount, and the professional punters wouldn’t hear of him being beaten. Peace Officer dominated the market from the outset, eventually starting a pronounced favourite at $2.40.
The Iffraaj gelding completed an amazing double for his popular trainer. A Hall Of Fame induction and a metropolitan winner in the space of a week left Clarry in a state of disbelief. “I first heard from the Hall Of Fame people about three months ago,” he said. “They obviously asked if I was agreeable to receiving the induction and requested that I treat it with complete secrecy until further notice. I was in a state of shock. Never in my entire career did I imagine that such an honour would ever come to me. The thrill of training good horses and winning major races was ample reward. Not for one moment did I imagine myself worthy of such a massive honour.”
Peace Officer (Nash Rawiller) completed Clarry's fairy tale week with a Midway win at Rosehill -courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Very few Hall Of Fame inductees have a background story more inspiring than that of Clarence Edward Conners. In the mid 1960’s he was strapper and work rider for his father Clarry Senior. Veteran Cessnock racing fans might remember the “Steptoe And Son” duo occupying three old stables which backed onto the Town Hall building. “Our only two horses Fugitive and Jacquard occupied two of the boxes, and we slept in the other one on two old bunks,” said Clarry. “I worked out a very important deal with the Town Hall janitor who happened to be a keen gardener. In exchange for an unlimited supply of horse manure he would accidentally forget to lock the Town Hall toilet door when he finished work. Dad was a remarkable old trainer. Do you know Fugitive won eight races, and Jacquard eleven including one at Randwick. They kept us afloat for a few years.”
A lifetime of hard work and a frugal existence did Clarry Snr no harm. He lived at his son’s Warwick Farm property in his later years, passing away in 2014 at the amazing age of 98. “He did odd jobs around the place for a number of years and never stopped observing the characteristics of the many horses to come through the system. I was always happy to listen to any suggestion he had to offer. To this day I do things that he taught me in the early days.”
Clarry and Maree with Clarry Snr at Rosehill way back in 1991 - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Clarry Jnr won his first race with a speedy little mare called Coney Princess at Kembla Grange in the late 1960’s but found it tough going for the next fifteen years. He battled away with the odd handy horse, but owners were hard to come by, and it seemed his first good horse would never walk into the stable. In 1984 a chestnut colt called Victory Prince changed the course of his career. The son of Imperial Prince won only two races from eleven starts but one of them was the Gr 1 AJC Sires Produce Stakes with Tony Marney in the saddle. The elite level win didn’t exactly put Clarry’s name up in lights but it lifted his profile to a large degree.
I’ll be surprised if Victory Prince’s sire Imperial Prince isn’t Clarry’s all time favourite stallion. The Irish import also sired the filly destined to catapult the Warwick Farm trainer onto racing’s biggest stage. Research was foul tempered and unpleasant to be around, but enormously talented and as tough as teak. Clarry worked around her many bad habits and guided her to nine wins including four Gr 1’s, seven placings and almost $1.9 million in prize money. By a twist of fate he retained a quarter share in the filly which enabled he and Maree to build a brand new house on their Hope St property at Warwick Farm. “Not only did she give my career a huge boost but she gave us a new two story brick home,” said Clarry. “It happened in the nick of time because the old fibro joint was about to fall over.”
The talented horseman bounced off the Research era into the best years of his training life. New owners came out of nowhere and so did a succession of outstanding horses. By this stage of his life the gifted horseman had reached the peak of his powers. He was confident he could bring the best out of sufficiently talented horses, and his ever increasing clientele rallied to support him. The achievements to follow are the reason for his upcoming induction into the Hall Of Fame. His crowning glory is unquestionably his spectacular Golden Slipper quartet. His first two Slipper winners Tierce and Burst went on to complete the Sydney two year old grand slam by winning the Sires Produce and Champagne Stakes. Clarry’s 1998 Slipper winner Prowl didn’t achieve the same dizzy heights. He won only three from eleven starts, but was at his best on the right day to give his trainer a third Slipper triumph. Belle Du Jour’s win in 2000 is widely touted as the best performance in the history of the race. Even Luskin Star fans agree the Dehere filly did the impossible after almost losing her rider at the start. Belle du Jour trained on to win a Gr 1 Newmarket three years later.
Clarry was worried when Mick Dittman led on Research in the 1989 AJC Derby but Mick knew best. The cantankerous filly scored a comfortable win - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
Almost certainly the lowest point in Clarry’s career came in the 1996/1997 season. He was training a massively talented three year old called Mouawad who’d won seven out of eight and was going into the Doncaster off three consecutive Gr 1 wins. “He was a near certainty at the weights,” said Clarry. “On the Good Friday we discovered a tiny bubble on his off fore tendon, probably the result of a little bump in his box. It looked harmless and he was as sound as a bell on that leg but I knew it was enough to rule him out of the Doncaster. I was devastated when they scratched him. He was the best horse I ever trained and Grant Cooksley was adamant he was the best he’d ever ridden. To think they scratched him to protect his stud future, and he turned out to be infertile.”
Apart from the aforementioned horses, several others have helped establish the profile that has taken the Warwick Farm trainer to the hallowed corridor known as the Hall Of Fame. There’s Dear Demi who won a VRC Oaks for Clarry, Singo and Jim Cassidy. Mirror Mirror won a Magic Millions 2YO Classic, Rose Archway (AJC Oaks), Apercu and Mossman both won a J.J. Atkins and Viking Ruler a Spring Champion Stakes. Zagalia and Allow both won the Queensland Oaks and Air Seattle the Queensland Derby. Pins won the Australian Guineas, while Only A Lady won the Flight Stakes. The bonny mare Staging failed to win a Gr 1, but she reeled off four Gr 2 wins. Not to forget Arborea with whom he notched a marvellous spring treble in 2003 - 1000 Guineas, Wakeful Stakes and the VRC Oaks. Training records credit Clarry with around 1650 career wins, 39 at Gr 1 and another 52 wins at Gr2, Gr3 and listed level.
Clarry and Maree after Peace Officer's Midway win on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
It’s well documented that he’s scaled back significantly in the last few years. Clarry sold his well appointed Warwick Farm training complex to prominent owner Ottavio Galletta almost three years ago, and moved his team of twelve horses to nearby stables owned by son Marc. He has no idea how long he’ll continue in the only job he’s ever known. He still enjoys the special feeling a single win can bring, and the glorious uncertainty of horse racing. He enjoys telling the story of Our Maryanne, who was an unraced three year old filly when she arrived from John Singleton’s Strawberry Hills farm earlier this year. “She’s bred to be anything by Frankel out of This Time Bridie a member of the celebrated Denise’s Joy family,” said Clarry. “Just when she was starting to show me something, Singo announced that she was going to the Magic Millions June tried stock sale. I couldn’t persuade him to change his mind.”
“She was snapped up for $55,000 by Tony Santic of Makybe Diva fame. I couldn’t get to him quickly enough to tell him the story, and I was delighted when he agreed to let me keep her in training. To date she’s had six runs for wins at Newcastle and Canterbury and a couple of seconds. She’ll run in the Midway at Randwick on Saturday after which she’ll probably have a break. She’s had every chance to develop and that pedigree is very deep. You just never know. Tony has since sent me an unraced four year old mare by More Than Ready out of Makybe Diva herself. She showed little in one previous preparation but Tony wants to have one last throw of the dice. These are the reasons I still enjoy getting out of bed before dawn.”
Our Maryanne (Andrew Adkins) wins at Canterbury in the legendary Makybe Diva colours - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Clarry Conners is acutely aware of the magical ride he’s had in one of the toughest games on earth - tougher now than it’s ever been. NSW racing has never been healthier and prize money has reached undreamed of levels. The problem is more and more people are chasing it, many of them with unlimited financial ammunition. Now in his mid seventies Clarry doesn’t need to concern himself with the intensity of running a commercial training operation. He can simply use the knowledge acquired over more than six decades to hone the talents of his small team of horses. The few tensions that may come along will be expertly defused by his life’s partner and greatest supporter Maree Conners. His most confronting task for the moment is to get Peace Officer’s benchmark up enough to bring him under notice for a certain $10 million dollar four year old race scheduled for November 4th. Clarry knows a place in the Golden Eagle field at this stage is little more than a pipe dream. Then again, he didn’t expect a place in the Hall of Fame either.
One from the archives! Clarry with the late Jack Ingham at a Warwick Farm presentation - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner Image - One of three wins for Nash Rawiller at Rosehill. Peace Officer made light of a 3 wide trip to score an emphatic win in the Midway - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)