By Peter Wharton
Prominent south-east owner-trainer Kevin Von Duve is an unabashed cricket fan.
His love of the game of whites and flannels even extends to the hobby horseman naming his horses after leading Australian cricketers. The Big Show, the nickname of the champion Victorian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, is a prime example.
He won 13 races and $110,000 in stakes during his long and successful racetrack career which included the 2015 SA Golden Nursery.
However, it is a two-year-old called Buildthemanastatue that the Glencoe horseman is singing the praises about at the moment.
Von Duve explained the reasoning behind the unusual name.
“I was watching a Test match at the MCG one day and the Victorian paceman Scott Boland took six wickets for seven runs against the English. The commentator Mark Howard piped up with the catchcry ‘Buildthemanastatue’,” he said.
“The phrase really stuck in my mind.”
The Lather Up gelding led most of the way at his debut in the opening heat of the SA BOTRA Kindergarten Series at Globe Derby Park on March 23.
The win proved a real windfall for Von Duve and his wife Lyn.
The gelding picked up a $5,000 bonus as part of the new bonus scheme sponsored by the SA Harness Racing Club and key supporter Kevin Seymour for Southern Cross eligible two-year-olds winning their first race at Globe Derby Park.
The bonus two-year-old program is part of the additional $1 million in prizemoney the SAHRC has contributed to the industry over the past two years primarily focused on locally trained horses.
In addition, the couple netted a further $5,000 Southern Cross bonus and the $1,900 winner’s cheque.
“That was a nice surprise,” Von Duve said. “He’s also paid up for Vicbred and the Australian Pacing Gold.”
The Von Duve’s outlaid $10,000 for Buildthemanastatue at the APG Melbourne yearling sale in 2025.
“I just liked the look of him. I didn’t know much about his sire, but he seems to be doing a very good job,” Kevin said.
There are a further three two-year-old bonus races at Globe Derby Park in April, starting with the second heat of the Kindergarten Series on Saturday night.
The race has attracted a field of seven with interest centred around the Emma Stewart trained debutante Spirit Of Kezza.
Seabreeze Lad, Major Apdal and Ride The Highway, who filled the placings in the opening heat, appear the best of the local hopes and are in the running for the additional bonus from SAHRC.
