Tributes flow for Group One-winning trainer Anne Herbert

The New Zealand Thoroughbred industry is mourning the loss of another member of its community this week with the passing of Group One-winning trainer Anne Herbert, aged 68.

Herbert had a lifelong passion for horses, taking the well-worn path of riding at pony club as a child before progressing to ride track work and ultimately took out her trainer’s license in 1991.

She made the perfect start as a trainer, with her first runner, Perfect Return, winning at her home track of Awapuni, and she would go on to record many more over the next 35 years, including at the highest level.

Herbert trained several topline thoroughbreds, including 2002-03 New Zealand Horse of the Year and five-time Group One winner Tit For Taat, 2006 G1 Railway (1200m) winner Baldessarini, and dual Group Three winner Salvatore.

Initially training in Manawatu, Herbert subsequently moved to Cambridge where she met fellow trainer Toni Croon, and the pair developed a close relationship, with Herbert eventually training a couple of horses for Croon when she moved back to the Chatham Islands several years ago.