Uncle Remus was trained by Colin Jillings who in his illustrious training career had five Derby victories and was generally ridden by Robert Vance.[2][3]
Uncle Remus compiled an impressive record of 15 wins from just 28 starts. He was awarded the title of New Zealand Horse of the Year for the 1977/78 season.[4]
As a two-year old colt he won two of his five starts: the Regency Handicap at Ellerslie (1400m) beating Misty Brae and the Kindergarten Handicap (1200m) at Te Rapa, Waikato beating Our Grey.
As a three-year old he had 13 wins including an unbroken sequence of 10 between October 1977 and February 1978. His wins included:
Wellington Stakes (1600m) beating Kindled and Bahrain.
Wellington Derby (2400m) beating Disraeli, the subsequent Trentham Stakes winner with Toupet Royale 3rd.
Rotorua Challenge Stakes (1900m) from Serendipper and Tamboura.
In his other three-year old races he was second in the Great Northern Guineas (1600m) behind the Hawke's Bay Guineas winner, Crest Star and third in the New Zealand International Stakes (2200m) behind La Mer and Carlaw when ridden by Tony Williams.[5]
He returned to racing as a four-year old but only managed two second placings due to a larynx disfunction affecting his breathing. He ran his last races in March 1979.
Stud career
Following his racing career he was reasonably successful at stud, but never sired a horse with anything like his own ability.[6]
