Scott Adams was quietly chuffed when Humming Top’s number flashed onto the semaphore after the fifth race at Young on August 2nd. The 58 year old has done very little race driving in recent years, but was surprised nevertheless when he realised his last win in the sulky was behind Four Star Admiral at Penrith in June of 2017. Under normal circumstances Scott’s daughter Seryn would have been Humming Top’s driver, but a mid term pregnancy is currently restricting her to less hazardous duties. Seryn and partner Zac are expecting their first child in late December.
Despite the fact that Humming Top hadn’t raced since March, the pony sized gelding was the medium of strong support and was a solid favourite at $3.00 as the gate rolled. Perhaps the confidence of omen punters was buoyed by the fact that Scott’s older brother Ross had won a race with Loui at Menangle just a few hours earlier. Coincidentally Ross was Humming Top’s original trainer, posting three wins and eighteen placings before transferring the son of Always A Virgin to Scott in November of last year. Humming Top has sustained his consistent form with two wins and eight placings, driven by Seryn in all but one of those races.
Seryn with father Scott and uncle Ross 2013 - courtesy Club Menangle.
“It hasn’t been all plain sailing,” says Scott. “Earlier this year a grass seed lodged in his eye causing a nasty ulceration. It took a long time to clear up and he was in the veterinary hospital for a couple of weeks. He was no sooner back in work when he developed filling in a hind fetlock, and we had to stop again. He had only one trial leading into the Young race, and I must say I was a bit surprised when he came up at such short odds. He hadn’t raced for nineteen weeks. All things considered he did a good job to sit parked and still win.”
The gelding’s lack of high gate speed saw him settle down outside the leader Eastbro Tex, and that’s where he stayed. “He was bolting up the back straight, and I thought he was going to win easily when he headed Eastbro Tex on straightening for home,” said Scott. “His lack of racing told in the last fifty metres and I got a shock when McDreamy Guy flashed through between me and Eastbro Tex in the last fifty metres. I was pleased to see our number go up.”
Humming Top (centre) scrapes home at Young to give Scott his first driving win since 2017 - courtesy Martin Langfield Photography.
With only three horses in work Scott probably didn’t expect to be winning another race just three days later, but he clinched the double with Sangiovese in the final race at a chilly Parkes on Friday night. The American Ideal filly settled down well back from a second row draw, but Scott decided on an early move when the speed slowed suddenly in the second quarter. The filly showed sparkling speed to whip around the field and actually grab the lead approaching the bell. She held them safely in the closing stages to win the maiden pace comfortably from Soldtoyousir and Always Aurora. Sentimental trots fans were delighted to see the famous purple and yellow stripes greet the judge twice in the week - colours introduced to the sport by Scott’s late father Merv.
Scott is the first to admit he’s been a part time trainer for most of his life. He gained an accountancy degree in his twenties, but never actually put it to commercial use. It did however serve him well in later years when he became part owner of Flite Path, a Penrith based company which supplied aircraft spare parts. “Our principal client was the RAAF who operated the nearby Richmond Air Base,” said Scott. “A good part of our business was to supply parts for the famous Hercules troop and cargo transport planes. Hardly a day went by when you didn’t hear the familiar hum of the big Hercules engines on training runs in the skies above Richmond and Windsor. After fifteen years I sold my stake in the business to my brother-in-law Graham Underhill who’d been my partner from the outset.”
Scott has been winning races in the family colours since the 1980s. Here he is winning with Allwoods Chaton at Penrith 1997 - courtesy Club Menangle.
Fittingly Scott incorporated the word “Flite” into the naming of his all time favourite horse. When he arrived at the Bathurst Gold crown Yearling Sale in 2006, Flite Dynasty wasn’t among the handful of youngsters he’d ticked in the catalogue. “I didn’t know he existed until I spotted him early in the day,” said Scott. “I wasn’t familiar with his pedigree but he blew me away as a type. He was big enough, had a great head and faultless conformation. I discarded all of the other possibilities I’d marked in the catalogue, until he came into the ring. I was delighted to get him for $9000.”
Scott raced the John Street North colt with his wife Sue, sister Debbie and her husband Graham Underwood. Business commitments precluded him from training his new acquisition, and brother Ross was given the job. Flite Dynasty was at the races early, finishing a luckless fourth in a heat of the Linden Huntley at Bulli. He missed the final but scored a good win in the Consolation. He was second to Heezgotattitude in a heat of the Gold Crown, before finishing fourth in the Final to Yrubla after a tough run from the second row.
A few weeks later the colt finished second at Penrith and then came a hat trick of impressive wins. Next time out he pig rooted coming out of the gate in a Sires Stakes heat at Harold Park, but still managed a creditable third to two smart horses in Beach Fighter and Four Rivers. He raced outside the leader in the rich Sires Final but was brave in turning the tables on Beach Fighter. Then came the ravages of the dreaded equine influenza outbreak. Flite Dynasty wasn’t seen again for seven months.
Flite Dynasty in the first of 15 wins - the Linden Huntley Consolation on a rain sodden Bulli track 2007.
The Victoria Derby had never been on Scott’s radar for his talented colt, but he was faced with a dilemma when the heat and final of the classic were held over for a couple of weeks. Flite Dynasty won impressively first up at Harold Park and was on the road to Melbourne soon after. He ran a cracking final half mile in finishing second in the Derby heat to Maffioso, before recording his career best run in finishing second to Tanabi Bromac in the Gr 1 Final. “I got flushed out three wide a lap and a half from home, but couldn’t get to the death without burning him,” recalled Scott. “I was stuck out there for the duration while the winner got a cosy run. I thought I was home but Tanabi Bromac was the fresh horse on the scene. Our bloke was super on the night.”
Back in NSW Flite Dynasty won a race at Newcastle before landing the heat and final of the Bathurst Gold Chalice on the old showground track. Scott was charged with causing interference to second favourite Esprit De Kay Jay in the early stages of the final, and copped one of his rare career suspensions. Flite Dynasty won despite the disadvantage of pulling a flat tyre most of the way. Ross Adams deputised for his brother when the colt finished third to Mark Joseph and Beach Fighter in the R.C. Simpson Sprint. A few days later Ross was crestfallen when he discovered noticeable filling in Flite Dynasty’s near fore tendon. The horse was given a lengthy spell but the trouble recurred well into his next campaign. Scott had two options - retirement or twelve months on vast acreage at Dubbo. He opted for the latter and arranged to have the horse gelded during his long break.
“It was well over three years before we saw him again. He came back into work in October 2011 and raced sound from that time on, but he was never quite the same horse,” said Scott. He won another six races including the heat and final of the Flying K Series, a new initiative by HRNSW featuring 1000m sprint races. I was also delighted to give Seryn a winning drive on him at Penrith not long before we retired him. He finished his career with fifteen wins and eight placings for $183,000. We still have him at home. He’s hale and hearty at 18 years of age and has a home for life.”
A home snapshot of Flite Dynasty at the height of his career.
One horse Scott did find the time to train was the remarkably consistent Panorama gelding Altitude, who lacked Flite Dynasty’s raw ability but was as genuine as they come. Like Flite Dynasty, Scott raced the horse with his wife, sister and brother-in-law and drove him to eleven wins and fifteen placings. Another favourite was Jetstream who was also a son of Panorama. Brother Ross trained the gelding, but Scott drove him to ten wins and an amazing thirty three placings.
Scott and Sue made the move to Young when daughter Seryn relocated to the popular country town a few years ago, and has fallen in love with the “Cherry Capital Of Australia”. With Seryn preparing for the birth of her December baby, Scott is being assisted currently by her partner Zac Sefton. Humming Top and Sangiovese are members of a three horse team which also includes Neptunes Warrior, a recent Young winner with Blake Micallef in the sulky.
The smile says it all. This one was snapped after Seryn's first winning drive on Starry Wood at Menangle 2010 - courtesy Club Menangle.
Scott is closely monitoring the progress of jockey son Josh, who was champion Sydney apprentice in the 2010/2011 season with 43 metropolitan winners. Currently riding in Queensland Josh has only recently returned to the saddle after nine months on the sidelines with weight issues. His weight got out of hand during a couple of lengthy suspensions for whip infringements, and he decided on a break to lose the weight under professional guidance. He’s had only a handful of rides since returning, but showed all of his former talents with a three timer over the weekend. Josh scored on Still Ready at Ipswich on Friday, and followed up with wins on Applications and Afsoon on the Gold Coast the following day. It was one helluva week for the Adams family!
Family portrait at the Adams stables in Penrith 1973. Scott (on pony) parents Merv and Amy and brother Ross. The interested observer is consistent Harold Park performer Deep Flow - courtesy Club Menangle.
An early one of Scott at the Harold Park horse stalls 1986 - courtesy Club Menangle.
(Banner image - Scott chats with McDreamy Guy's driver Maurice Johnson as he waits for the photo finish result - courtesy Martin Langfield Photography.)