Hopkins at centre of dramatic rescue

As yarns goes horse trainer Tate Hopkins has a beauty.

As rain inundated the area around the Kumeu Trotting Club overnight Hopkins was right in the thick of it.

"The rain started about 9 – 10 last night, it came down thick and fast,” he says.

At 2.30 am Hopkin was up checking on his livestock, including his daughter’s pet calf, and his neighbours. He then got involved in the rescue of two horses stranded in flooded paddocks. He got home around 5.15.

Then a couple of hours later he was on the back of a jetski trying to rescue a third horse, a young pacer called Wilson. But Wilson had other ideas, and before he knew it Hopkins had been launched into the water himself.

He was then picked up by the jetski driver, and Wilson was winched to safety as a number of locals joined in to help.

"It wasn’t just me,” says Hopkins, “it was team effort.”

Hopkins trains locally with Frank Cooney. They’ve been in partnership since 2013, with 85 training successes.

Hopkins pleased that everyone had emerged relatively unscathed.

“It ended up pretty good and we’ve all got a story to tell.”

To see One News’ coverage of Tate Hopkins’ story click here :