Colin Jillings

An "Ellerslie boy", Colin Jillings became an apprentice jockey at the age of 12 (1943). He would catch the train to school St Peter's College, Auckland each day after earlier riding trackwork at the Ellerslie Racecourse.[3]

He was a successful apprentice jockey before increasing weight brought a premature end to a promising career.[3] His biggest success as an apprentice was the 1946 Railway Stakes aboard Royal Scot, (a race he would later win 3 times as a trainer).

When he retired he had amassed a total of 1327 NZ winners, 703 of those with long time training partner Richard Yuill.[2]

When asked to name the best horse he ever trained Jillings had no hesitation in labelling Stipulate, the champion stayer of his era in the early 1960s. The fact that he had no hesitation in labelling Stipulate speaks volumes for the regard Jillings had for the horse given that he also trained the super little horse of the early 1980's - McGinty.

Jillings biggest success came when he trained The Phantom Chance to win the 1993 W.S. Cox Plate. Although operating with a smaller team, than most other trainers, Jillings managed to keep producing top horses year after year.[4]

He trained the first of 4 Auckland Cup winners in 1956 Yemen, followed by Stipulate (1963), Perhaps (1976) and Irish Chance (in partnership with Richard Yuill) in 1999. He also achieved the unique record of training a Derby winner in each of the last 5 decades of the 20th Century: his first Derby winner being Lawful (1958) followed by Stipulate (1960), Uncle Remus (1977), I'm Henry (1983) and The Phantom Chance (1992).

Notable horses he trained included:

• Athenia, winner of the New Zealand Oaks for his good friend T.J. (Tommy) Smith.
• Beauzami, winner of the New Zealand Cup.
• Diamond Lover, winner of the 1987 Railway Stakes.
• Gay Filou, winner of the Wellington Cup.
• I'm Henry, winner of the New Zealand Derby, Avondale Guineas, Great Northern Guineas, Wellington Derby and Waikato Guineas in the 1983/84 season.
• Old Son, winner of the Ellerslie Sires Produce Stakes for himself and his good friend, Pukekohe market gardener, Pabu Daya.
• Pipe Dream, winner of the 1962 Railway Stakes.
• Sharivari, winner of the 1971 Railway Stakes.
• Sugaratariat, winner of the Ellerslie Sires Produce Stake.
• The Phantom Chance.
• Tycoon Lil.
• Uncle Remus.

The son of One Pound Sterling was the winner of six Group One races and a total of 14 races, McGinty was trained by Colin Jillings for race commentator Keith Haub and co-owner Barney McCahill.

He was the top-weighted horse on the NZ 1981-82 Two-Year-Old Free Handicap and was top colt on the 1982-83 NZ Three Year Old Free Handicap. His Group One wins came in the Air New Zealand Stakes (twice), Rawson Stakes, Canterbury Guineas, Caulfield Stakes and George Adams Handicap.

He began stud duties in 1984 and his leading progeny included Auckland Cup/BMW Stakes winner Miltak, New Zealand Derby/Air New Zealand Stakes winner The Gentry, Adelaide Cup winner The Hind and Australian Guineas winner Jolly Old Mac. For all of his Group One success as a racehorse, and then as a stallion, his standout moment was when he beat the champion Australian 2YO Marscay in the Todman Slipper Trial. Not only did he beat Marscay, who went on to win the Golden Slipper and was subsequently crowned Australia's Champion 2YO, he beat him on 3 legs, having cracked his cannon bone at the top of the straight.

In his earlier years from limited runners, he was also a noted trainer of jumpers, winning 1959 Grand National Hurdles with Armed (owned by himself); the 1971 Great Northern Hurdles/Steeples double, and 1972 Great Northern Steeplechase, with Brockton (for great friend, Wellington businessman, Doug Tse) and the 1987 Great Northern Steeples with DeductAble, in partnership with Richard Yuill (with both sharing the ownership).

Jillings was also a noted mentor of apprentices the best being his long time stable jockey Bob Vance who was the rider of:

• McGinty.
• 3 of Jillings' New Zealand Derby winners - Uncle Remus, I'm Henry and The Phantom Chance.
• The Phantom Chance in the Cox Plate.

In addition to his 3 Derby winners for Jillings, Vance also won the race on Isle of Man. Vance won the NZ Jockeys Premiership, as an apprentice (1977/78) and had a successful career riding internationally in Hong Kong and Macau.

One of NZ's most successful female riders of the 2000s, Samantha Spratt, was also a graduate of the Jillings academy as were Mark Sweeney (2 Auckland Cup wins) and Daniel Southworth (New Zealand 1000 Guineas, Railway Stakes).

• Thoroughbred racing in New Zealand

• Glengarry, Jack (1983). The Great Decade of NZ Racing 1970 – 1980. Auckland: Collins.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Glengarry, Jack (1990). Another Great Decade of NZ Racing 1980 – 1990. Auckland: Collins.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)