The Trunkey name has been a stalwart in harness racing Australia wide and it continues with Trunkey Mon Star going two in a row at Pinjarra just seven days apart.
Trunkey Mon Star has been quite the project for Chris Playle, with owner Rob Humphries confirming that the gelding took longer than most to put it all together, and once he did know what it was all about, often over-anticipated and broke, which saw him spend plenty of time at trials.
Whilst he has had 23 starts now for three wins and four placings, he’s had a total of 15 trials throughout that period as well, spanning from November 2022 until now.
Bred by Rob and Kim Humphries, there was never a time in their lives that they don’t remember being a part of the trots, with Rob’s involvement starting in NSW when his father Bob Humphries purchased 1700 acres in a town called Trunkey, 250km west of the Sydney CBD.
Unsure what to call the newly founded stud, it was Rob’s grandfather that suggested Trunkey.
“He (dad) ended up buying a farm, about 1700 acres at Trunkey which is 28 miles south of Bathurst, and set up a stud there and stood a number of stallions,
“He wanted a distinct name to have them as a brand I guess, and it was dads father that suggested, and dad was thinking of a number of things, and he said you’re from Trunkey, and no one else is going to call something Trunkey although there are a number of dogs called Trunkey, but that got put into the names and it was decided that the colts would be called Trunkey ‘something’ and the fillies would be ‘something’ Trunkey,
“And that pretty much stuck all the way through, although some of them that are from mares from Kim’s family side, we haven’t necessarily called them Trunkey.”
Explaining that his father Bob had a number of lower quality broodmares when they first started in the industry, it wasn’t until he purchased Tarcoola who went around in the 1966 Inter Dominion Final in Sydney off of 12 yards, describing her as the ‘foundation mare’ for their family.
Tarcoola was the dam of Tarcoola Frost who won a Spring Cup in 1974, and contested an Inter Dominion in Auckland as one of the favourites.
“And he (Tarcoola Frost) was the sire of Ferrari Trunkey who is the dam of Night Mare (Night Mare Trunkey) who is the dam of Trunkey Mon Star, so I guess the families first step into good horses was buying Tarcoola and they picked her up and took her home after the 1966 Inter Dominion Grand Final.”
“I was about eight at the time, and we lived opposite Penrith Paceway during our childhood.”
Kim Humphries introduction is a similar one, with her family’s involvement dating back to before she was even born, with her father Greg Graham one of the leading trainers in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales for a number of years, as well as Colin Watts her uncle who recently passed away at 97 years of age.
Watts a winner of the 1966 Inter Dominion Trotters Grand Final at Harold Park on board Yamamoto was the son of one of Australia’s harness racing pioneers – Jack Watts.
In 1981, Bob and Helen packed up their family and their horses and loaded 115 horses onto a train to head across the Nullarbor, where they settled in the Southwest of Western Australia on 647 acres near Northcliffe.
“Dad thought that Western Australia was the place that was going ahead most at the time, so we moved them, and we kept the name Trunkey anyway.”
John Graham, Bob Humphries, Rob Humphries, Harold Humphries, Joanne Humphries, Denis Wilson, John Watts, Graeme Watts, Martin Wainscot and three workers from the Trunkey Farm in NSW - Steve Wilkinson, Steve Burgen and Alan Hawksford, as well as the Tarcoola Station Manager.
The ‘Trunkey’ operation has scaled down dramatically in recent years, and with just five or six horses still in the family, Rob and Kim Humphries have just the one racehorse currently, Trunkey Mon Star, and a share in a rising two-year-old with Chris Playle, a Shoobees Place x Chasin Ay Jay colt.
“We leased a mare off Bob Fowler and have mated her this year, we were going to send another, but we’ve had a few issues this year, so we will probably send a couple again next year.”
Rob and Kim currently have Paradisa (Always B Miki USA x Our Lady Luxury NZ) who had just the one start as a two-year-old in 2021. She has been sent to Ultimate Sniper.
"What makes the good times good is that if you've been in it long enough, you're looking forward to other things but at the back of your mind, it may end tomorrow, so when you do get a little win, you appreciate it.
"It is a little bit of a commitment, but you can't imagine your life without them."
A special thank you to Rob and Harold Humphries for the 1981 images of the horses on board heading to the west.
Ashleigh Paikos
Image: Trunkey Mon Star getting the win at Pinjarra. Photography by Jodie Hallows