McMillan in Addington ownership double

Mid Canterbury horseman Terry McMillan has held a trainer’s licence since the early 1970s, and in that time, has produced 145 winners—85 of those with trotters.

Throughout his career, the respected horseman has never operated a large stable but has consistently managed to produce a handy horse or two. And while time waits for no one, it’s been no great surprise to see him gradually delegate training responsibilities, especially during the colder winter months. Fittingly, his two most recent winners at Addington reflect that evolution.

McMillan qualified Ocean Of Tears and gave the Downbytheseaside–Crimson Glory four-year-old a few raceday starts before handing her over to Ashburton trainer John Morrison.

“She came in tip-top order with great manners,” shared her new conditioner, who has now guided her to three wins from 15 starts, along with six placings and a tidy $40,000 banked for McMillan.

Her dam, Crimson Glory (Elsu–Crimson Trail), managed two wins for McMillan from 49 starts but did post a race-placed 1:54 mile. Of her five live foals (all fillies), three are now winners, with Ocean Of Tears looking the standout to date. McMillan is currently educating a Sweet Lou yearling half-sister at his Ashburton racecourse property.

The other McMillan winner was Bullit Train, officially in the care of Mark Jones, whose victory didn’t exactly blindside the stable.

Now a six-time winner from 51 starts, the What The Hill gelding has always shaped as above average—and time may well be proving his greatest ally. Out of the Sundon mare Begin (a two-race winner herself), Bullit is, of course, a half-brother to McMillan’s best-ever horse, Tornado Valley (Skyvalley–Begin), who amassed an incredible 39 wins, 34 placings and over $1.03 million in stakes.

Originally trained in New Zealand, Tornado Valley won just seven races here for $71,000 before taking off across the Tasman. Under the care of Andy and Kate Gath in Australia, he scaled the very heights of trotting—winning 32 races (and placing in 13 others) from 55 Australian starts, including premier Group 1 features such as the Inter Dominion and the Great Southern Star Final.

A look through Begin’s pedigree makes for compelling reading. She is out of Bega, an unraced daughter of Lordship, and the only foal of Chesapeake, a freakishly talented young trotter trained by Noel Berkett in Nelson in the early ’80s.

Chesapeake won four races as a three-year-old—each in jaw-dropping fashion—and six in total, along with seven runner-up finishes from just 21 starts before retiring prematurely at five.

That class didn’t immediately shine through in the next generation, but as is often the case, it skipped a beat before resurfacing later on.

In addition to Tornado Valley and Bullit Train, Begin has also left Steel Dust (four wins) when trained by McMillan. Calmbeforethestorm, by Majestic Son, is a qualified trotter who has yet to fire in four outings, while her final foal—an unraced Creatine gelding foaled in 2021—is yet to appear in public.

McMillan wasn’t trackside for either of his Addington winners, instead opting to watch from the warm comfort of home. Not that he’s complaining—both horses appear to be in very capable hands, with more to come, one suspects, from their racing journeys still to unfold.