by Sorrel Hoskin

The starting gun bangs, a harras of horses leaps forward as one. On their backs brightly clothed jockeys urge them forward. Dirt flies as thundering hooves head for the first hurdle. Suddenly, catastrophe - the girth strap around a horse breaks - the rider slips and nearly falls.  The crowd in the grandstand lets out a gasp. But the jockey is an accomplished horseman. He calmly eases backwards off the saddle, grabs the leather seat and slings it over his arm. The galloping horse surges forward to victory and the rapturous roars of the crowd.

It was 1892 and Waitara's Percy Johnson had just ridden his way into the nation's heart.

Percy rode on to become one of New Zealand's top early jockeys and a first class trainer. But who was he?

Waitara days

Percy Johnson was born at Te Henui on 11 October 1871 into a family of eight children. His father Bill was a labourer who had fought in the Taranaki Land Wars (Johnston Street in Waitara is named after him). The Johnson family lived in a house on the site where the Waitara High School now stands.

Not much is known about the young boy and what he got up to in his early years. His father was often away on contracting jobs, leaving his mother, Jane, to look after the eight children.

Percy was one of the first four pupils to attend Waitara Central School when it opened in 1875. At school he picked up the nickname "Stoney" after his habit of throwing stones.

A certificate dated 1881 shows Percy had joined the Waitara Band of Hope, whose members had to promise to 'Abstain from all intoxicating liquor' – whether he kept his promise is impossible to tell.

After horses Percy's great love was rugby. As a young man he played centre and wing-three quarter for the first Tukapa Rugby team. The Tukapa players and supporters knew him as "Massa". Percy continued his fierce support of the team up until his death aged 93.

Born to ride

Percy possibly when he started as a jockey in 1883. Photo: Jean Crofskey

Percy was born to shine as a horseman and he set his feet firmly on the ladder of fame at an early age. Horses were in the Johnson family's blood. Bill was an accomplished horseman and, noticing the trait in his son, taught Percy to ride, then to race horses.

Percy started his winning streak as a 12 year old when he rode Mermaid to success at a Waitara race meeting in 1883.  He had been well tutored and urged the horse home by a head from a horse ridden by an experienced jockey. In the dressing room after the race the beaten rider gave Percy a half sovereign and congratulated him on his win.

Percy left school at age 14 and went to work at Jervis George's stables in Omata. As with all juniors he would have started mucking out stalls and exercising the horses in the early hours of the morning. But he also got to race.

One of his more memorable races was on Lifebuoy at the Opunake Cup – the young jockey couldn't make the weight. The horse's owner Alf Bayley came up with a unique solution. He wrapped a 12kg bullock chain around Percy to increase his weight. Despite their ungainly appearance – the horse and rider went on to win the race.

The Great Northern

Percy rode his way to success in many races, both on the flat and in jumps, around Taranaki and the North Island. Described as a quiet, gentle man, Percy was a skilled horseman and seemed able to build a rapport with horses – urging them on to victory.

But it wasn't until 1890 when he rode a little Puriri mare named Jenny that the young jockey caught the nation's attention.

It was a crisp clear June morning when Percy rode Jenny to success in the Great Northern Steeplechase. But it wasn't a popular win – Jenny had lost a hurdles race earlier in the morning and no-one – not even her owners - were expecting her to win the big event of the day. The bookies had given her odds of £24:1.

From the fall of the flag Percy took the little horse to the front of the pack – and she was never headed. He brought her past the winning post to a storm of protest from the punters in the grandstand, and jubilation from her owners.

Eight years later he again romped to victory – this time on Muscatel, owned by his New Plymouth patron Fred Watson. The following year he repeated the performance, on Dummy. His fourth and last Great Northern Steeplechase success was on Kaitere in 1905.

A winning career

After having trained and raced a team of three horses for Jervis George, Percy moved on to work at Fred Watson's stables at Waitara. It was while working for him that he rode Ionic to four wins in one day at a Waitara race. Another season he rode 33 winners of steeplechases or hurdle races.

Throughout his riding career Percy was to win nine nationals – including the four Great Northern Steeplechases, three Great Northern Hurdles, and the grand National Hurdles. He also won the Wellington Steeples three times, the Wanganui Steeples twice and the Egmont Steeples four times.

Broken bones and lucky escapes

Steeplechase racing brought Percy his share of bad luck as well as good. Horse racing in the early days was fraught with hazards. In the course of his riding career Percy lost count of the number of broken bones he'd received, but once claimed he'd broken four ribs, his leg, his nose, his shoulder, both hands and was knocked unconscious six times.

Other times he could consider himself extremely lucky. In 1897 he was riding The Friar in the Great Northern Steeplechase when the horse fell heavily after jumping a stone wall.

One of Percy's feet was driven through the stirrup iron and when The Friar picked himself up and galloped away Percy was carried off hanging upside-down, bumping along the ground. When the terrified horse was finally caught Percy was untangled – unharmed.

Family life

But Percy wasn't just racing horses. He was also falling in love. He married Ella Eva in May 1893, they were to have four children: Willie, Jack, Hilda and Ella.

Early in 1906 the family moved to Ngatarawa Station, west of Hastings in Hawke's Bay, so Percy could train horses for the station owner. A few months after their arrival Willie, Percy and Ella's oldest child, was killed in a riding accident. The family was devastated. They stayed on at the station for three years, returning to Waitara, and then New Plymouth in 1910 where Percy again picked up the reins and continued his horse training.

There's no record of exactly when Percy finally hung up his riding boots, but he continued on as a horse trainer for many years, finally retiring at age 79 in 1951.

When asked by the Taranaki Herald to recall his favourite horses, Percy named Battleaxe as his best, having won the Great Northern Hurdles, two Taranaki Cups and a Hawkes Bay Cup. According to Percy Battleaxe "died with his boots on" by dropping dead during a training session at his stables in Liardet Street in New Plymouth.

Percy's wife Ella died aged 75. Not long after her death he moved to Waitoetoe to live with their daughter Ella Zimmerman. From there he moved to Rangimare Home. Percy died on 12 October 1964, just one day after his 93rd birthday. He was buried beside his wife at Te Henui Cemetery.

In later years Percy claimed to have trained more winners and horses than any other man in Taranaki and more than most others in New Zealand – it's hard to verify this – but Percy Johnson was indeed one of the country's greatest early riders.

A newspaper reporter felt Percy's skills developed "because of the influence of his father," but Percy explained his success simply: "I was born to ride".