Todd Howlett was in buoyant mood on December 2nd last year as he parked his four horse angle loader at Rosehill Gardens. The float was occupied by his trio of TAB Highway runners Tanglewood, King Rupert and Talons. It had been a trouble free run down the freeway from the Hunter Valley, and all three horses looked to be well placed in the 1100m event.
“We were just about to unload the horses when all hell broke loose,” said Todd. “Tanglewood who was positioned at the front of the trailer went into panic mode when he kicked out and got his near hind leg over the dividing rail. I’ve never heard a horse squeal the way he did when he found himself straddled over the rail. People came from everywhere to help. Even one of the Clerks Of The Course lent a hand.
“We got the other two horses off quickly but had to remove the dividing rail before we could free Tanglewood and that wasn’t easy. With most of his body weight on the rail, we struggled to release the anchor pins. It was a big relief to finally get him back on his feet but you should have seen the amount of skin he’d lost. Subsequent examination also showed pretty significant bruising to the cannon bone. King Rupert helped cover some of the exes by finishing third in the race, while Talons was unplaced. To add to our frustration Tanglewood had his foot right on the till and would have started favourite in that Highway.”
Strapper Macey Howlett was shattered when Tanglewood was a late scratching at Rosehill in December. The smile said it all at Newcastle on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photography.
The Smart Missile gelding was having his third race start when he blitzed the opposition to win a Taree maiden by almost six lengths in June of last year. He followed up twelve days later by strolling home in a Class 1 at Grafton. The ease of those two wins prompted Todd to give him a crack at a 3YO BM 64 at Canterbury in which little went right. After bumping heavily with another runner soon after the start, he was obliged to race wide without cover before finishing sixth 3.6 lengths from the winner Silentsar. The astute trainer decided Tanglewood had done enough and put him away immediately.
The horse had furnished considerably by the time he resumed with a Beaumont trial win three months later. Tanglewood followed with a casual fourth in a Wyong trial after which Todd aimed him up for the TAB Highway on December 2nd - the day of the float accident which was to put his career on hold for many months. It was nine months in fact before he returned to the races in a Rosehill TAB Highway on April 27th, ridden for the first time by Josh Parr. Never on the track from a wide gate, the gelding did well to beat all but Martini Mumma in the 1100m contest.
With that run under the belt it was no surprise to see Tanglewood start a clear cut second pick in Saturday’s Highway at Newcastle. Josh Parr retained the ride and quickly had him in the box seat one horse off the fence. He was shuffled back slightly when a couple of horses improved to his outside nearing the turn, and they were well in the straight before the four year old found clear running. Despite laying in for a few strides at the 200m, Tanglewood got home over the top of leader Ramones, and was strong to the line. “He’s still doing a few things wrong, and I’m sure he’s not completely happy on ground as heavy as it was on Saturday,” said Todd. “Let’s not forget the horse has had only seven starts. He’s still working it all out.”
Tanglewood was strong on the line in Saturday's TAB Highway at Newcastle - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.
It’s coincidental that Todd Howlett had Tanglewood’s dam Vincere Lass in his stable a few years ago. He remembers her as a very attractive daughter of I Am Invincible from the Jeune mare Charming Lass with some talented horses back through the pedigree. “Sadly, we never got to find out if she’d inherited any of the family ability,” said Todd. “She was troubled by epiphysitis in both knees and was lame on and off through a couple of preparations. Her owner Ross Dillon decided to call it quits and send her to Smart Missile, who already had a good number of stakes winners. The foal was Tanglewood, and I was delighted to get him to train down the track.”
Not only did Todd get to train the first foal of Vincere Lass but he also shares in the ownership with Ross Dillon, Dale and Cherie Dalton and Kel and Ann Adamson. In selecting a name for the Smart Missile colt, Ross drew on his background as an importer of musical instruments. “Tanglewood” just happens to be the brand name of a popular acoustic guitar designed and manufactured in the UK and sold all over the world. “The four legged Tanglewood took a bit of tuning up,” says Todd. “He’s always been very quiet around the stables, but could get himself worked up at the races or the trials. He’s still far from perfect but getting better.”
When Todd Howlett first started to dabble with thoroughbreds he was working as a parks and gardens foreman for the Singleton Council. He experienced the unforgettable thrill of winning with his very first runner as a hobby trainer. By an amazing coincidence the horse in question was also having his first race start. It was a Vain Karioi gelding called The Moonster in a 1000m maiden on August 1st 2000. Todd’s judgment was evident even in those early days because he was quietly confident The Moonster could win. He had the horse tethered in the Muswellbrook horse stalls bright and early and began counting the minutes. “In order to increase our punting bank slightly, my wife Anika and I took a cut lunch to the races,” Todd recalled. “The jockey was Terry Jones who was just as worried as we were when The Moonster got much further back than expected. Thank goodness he stormed home to win, giving us a dream result. That horse got us up and running. He finished up winning nine races including one at Canterbury.”
This one was taken at Rosehill in Todd's hobby training days. With jockey Kanichiro "Joe" Fujii" after a win with Our Liam in 2006 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Todd continued with the Singleton Council for another six or seven years, getting his small team of horses worked before it was time to hurry off to his day job. He made the decision to go full time in 2007 - a decision he hasn’t regretted for a minute. He’s currently training a team of thirty two horses on his well appointed property at Lower Belford between Branxton and his hometown of Singleton. Todd’s cousin Sean Dyson is currently developing a five hundred acre spelling and pre- training base closer to Singleton. “Sean intends to put in a 1000m straight gallop and will have a water walker on the property,” says Todd. “I’m hoping to train from that property in the future but for now there’s a lot of paperwork to be sorted out.”
Howlett has had several smart horses in the stable in recent years, but rates Star Of Octagonal as the best of them. The gelding’s five wins included the Gr 3 South Pacific Classic with Glen Boss in the saddle, and the Hawkesbury Rowley Mile under Robert Thompson. Star Of Octagonal retired with a healthy prize money tally of $840,000.
Todd rates Star Of Octagonal as the best he's trained to date. Here's a Rosehill win with Robert Thompson in 2010 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Todd is justifiably proud to have contributed to the stellar career of young jockey Aaron Bullock who spent his entire apprenticeship with the Howlett stable. Bullock’s amazing tally of 207.5 wins last season gave him the state and national riding titles. He carried the form and focus into the 2023/2024 season, and with 113 wins on the board currently leads Ashley Morgan by 1.5 with Tyler Schiller breathing down their necks. Another successful apprentice to come through the Howlett stable is Mikayla Weir, a popular “go-to” jockey for many country and provincial stables. This season alone Mikayla has posted 59 winners on NSW tracks, with more to look forward to between now and July 31st.
Todd and Anika are the proud parents of Aiden 21 and Macey 20. Aiden shows minimal interest in racing, but Macey is deeply involved. She’s a valued trackwork rider and plays a key role in the day to day running of the stable. She acted as Tanglewood’s strapper on Saturday and struggled to contain her delight after the race. With ordinary luck she might be smiling just as broadly when Tanglewood contests another Class 3 TAB Highway at Randwick on May 25th.
Todd with his former apprentice Mikayla Weir after a Warwick Farm win with Nic's Vendetta 2017 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
(Banner image - Josh Parr returns to scale on Tanglewood at Newcastle - courtesy Steve Hart Photographics.)