The Lowrys are, of course, Hawkes Bay’s Okawa Stud clan who gave short, elegant, one-word names to many of their good horses. How times have changed since the glory era of the great Hawkes Bay breeders who along with the First Four Shippers of Canterbury were the closest thing New Zealand had to transplanted English aristocracy.

The first Tom (T.H.) Lowry began racing horses at the end of the 19th century but enjoyed his greatest success as an owner and breeder in the first 20 years of last century, most notably with his homebred champion Desert Gold. He also imported the stallion Psychology, a successful broodmare sire.

The second Tom (T.C.) took over Okawa Stud after his father’s death in 1944 and achieved notable racing success with horses bearing short, single word names that immediately identified them as Okawa homebreds. The best of them were the brilliant Mop, champion filly Key, and the horse whose name was a perfect match for his character, Game, winner of 26 races. A leading New Zealand cricketer in his youth, the second Tom Lowry was also the second President of the NZTBA, serving in that role for 14 years. Champion sire Faux Tirage was the best of the stallions who stood at Okawa during this period.

T.C. Lowry died in 1976 and his son, the third Tom (T.R.) became the master of Okawa which gained new fame as the home of three-time New Zealand champion sire Three Legs, sire of Japan Cup winner Horlicks. The stud reduced its operation dramatically in the early 1990s – but Okawa stallions and female families continue to be found in the pedigrees of leading performers.