North Queensland Cups king reminisces on his five Townsville Cups

By Jordan Gerrans

A legend of Cluden Park, an icon, a force to be reckoned with and a respected mentor of young trainers.

Those are just a few phrases that are thrown around about the great Errol Sewell at track work on a Tuesday morning of Townsville Cup week in North Queensland.

Stalwart conditioner Sewell walks above all else in the Townsville Cup realm, boasting five on his resume.

The legend Party King – who they named a grandstand after at Cluden Park – won the famous staying event at Cluden in three straight years - 2000, 2001 and 2002.

He is the only galloper to do it in three consecutive years in the history of the time-honoured event dating back to 1884.

That might be why they named the grandstand after him.

That three-peat of Cup fortunes added onto Sewell’s previous Townsville Cups of 1981 (won by Super Cavailer) and 1984 (Crewshade).

“He is a champion and he is very inspiring,” fellow Cluden Park trainer Bonnie Thomson said of Sewell.

“He is pretty well loved around here; he is a little legend.”

Townsville trainer Matthew McGuire remembers coming to the track when he was a child and the respected Sewell was a smiling face all those decades ago and now he calls him a peer within the training ranks.

“Errol is a legend of the track and Townsville, basically,” McGuire said.

“He is a gentleman of a bloke; you wouldn’t meet a nicer bloke within the racing industry or just around the place generally. He is a great man.”

The revered Sewell does not like to talk about his age but those in the know suggest he is in his mid-80s.

In reality, age does not matter for Sewell as it is his horses and his family that keeps him ticking along.

He works up a team of three horses on Tuesday morning of this week alongside his son Darin Sewell and his grandson Rhein Sewell.

The Sewells have always kept it in the family.

Darin was a jockey for a long time before weight got the best of him.

He rode the great Party King in his track work and gallopers but was not able to make the weight to ride him on Cup day in the early 2000s.

With it being Cup week of 2023, trainers from Brisbane all the way up the coast to Cairns have their eyes on Cluden Park for a slice of the big prize money on offer at Townsville this Saturday.

The Cups king of Townsville – Sewell – won’t have a Cup runner this year.

He will not even have a runner on Cup day in one of the support races.

That is not a worry for the local icon.

He is happy working away with his small team and they have eyes on races in Cairns later in the carnival.

So, what does it take to win a Townsville Cup according to a man that has done it a handful of times?

Rockhampton galloper Namazu arrives in North Queensland later this week aiming to make it back-to-back Cups after lifting the prize in 2022.

Namazu returns to Cluden Park in fine form, recording a stunning victory at Mackay in the middle of July carrying in a big weight before he was just rolled in the Mackay Cup just over a week later

Namazu will become the first horse to win the Cup in consecutive years since Party King if he can get the cash on Saturday.

Snippety Snip has won the Townsville Cup twice since Party King’s trifecta but did so over a three year period.

“You need a horse that can find a spot about mid-field as the race gets fairly full-on at the half mile mark,” Sewell says of what it takes to win a Townsville Cup.

“You need to be fit and tough. Party King would always make a long sustained run.

“They are pretty hard to find these days, horse's like that, as it is mainly about speed and sprinters.”

While happy to potter along with his small team of gallopers these days, Sewell’s face lights up when the topic of Party King or his brilliant Cup spree is broached.

He sits in the Party King grandstand on Monday afternoon with the grand stayer's silks - green, yellow sash, white armbands and cap – draped over the seat next to him.

It is a proud moment for the entire clan every time they head to the Cluden track for a race meeting or just track work to see their former star horse's name printed on the grandstand wall.

Darin Sewell sits a few metres away and watches on as his father reminisces on those great days.

“It is a real achievement to sit back and look at what you have done with your life, it is a real achievement to have a grandstand named after your horse,” Errol says.

“I now sit in this grandstand every time I am at the track.

“There was so many people here at Cluden on that day when he won his third, they all wanted to come here to see if he could do it.

“I had my family here, all my helpers and my work riders that day – it came together in one great thing.”

Party King retired in late 2002 with his final race at Cairns’ Cannon Park.

He called time with 15 victories to his name as well as 19 other minor placings.

Sewell tracked Party King throughout his retirement. 

After running his last race in North Queensland, Sewell says the three-time Cup champion spent time in Sydney with top trainer John O'Shea before he eventually headed to the Gold Coast where he was used to help educate yearlings. 

Sewell does not have any ‘Party Kings’ in his stable these days but he has a few promising gallopers that he is eager to see hit the track over the coming months.

“That is why I am here, if I was not enjoying it I wouldn’t be doing it,” he said.

“I have the three in work as I have cut down my numbers, it is just trying to hold an interest.

“I still love the early mornings, getting out of bed and doing the horses and being a part of the industry.”