There was one heart stopping incident in the mid seventies which could have halted Dean Chapple’s love affair with harness racing before it got off the ground. He and siblings Guy and Linda were living on a property at Horsley Park with mother Barbara and stepfather Charlie Lee who was training privately for owner/breeder Frank Borg. The property was well appointed for the training of harness horses and also doubled as the home of stallion Pine Hill Star who was receiving strong patronage at the time.
Young Dean Chapple was a slightly built lad of seven or eight, already developing a rapport with his stepfather’s horses. Although struggling to reach the sulky footrests, he was enjoying the occasional opportunity to jog a horse around the Borg’s training track. Usually his mounts were bomb proof. There was one particular mare Charlie Lee didn’t want him to drive, but the youngster’s protests were long and loud. A short time later Charlie’s worst fears were realised when the skittish mare shied for little reason and jumped sideways into the equine swimming pool. “She just got herself onto the walkway and put her feet in the water,” recalled Dean. “It wasn’t too serious but frightened the daylights out of me at the time. I was able to steer her back onto the track and there was no harm done, but it put me in my place for a while.”
Here's Dean forty six years later after a win on Marni White at Tamworth. Thank goodness he didn't finish in the dam! - courtesy PeterMac Photography.
By the time Dean reached mid-teens his family had moved onto a property at Maitland where Charlie Lee continued to train a small team of horses. Dean was seventeen years of age and thoroughly focused on a career in harness racing. He was usually at the head of the queue when copies of Trotguide arrived at the local newsagency every Wednesday. He habitually turned to the classifieds section where horses for sale or lease were listed. He moved swiftly to secure a lease on a gelding called Jacky Browne who was winless in ten starts and would remain winless for another ten, but he did serve the purpose of getting young Chapple’s career under way. “It was September 1986 and he was my first runner as a trainer/driver in a very weak race on the old Gosford Showground,” recalled Dean. “I was pretty chuffed to beat a few home and I was up and running.”
Six months and twenty drives later young Chapple was beginning to think he was never going to win a race. It happened in spectacular fashion on the old Menangle half mile track on a gelding called Jimmy Hill who was coincidentally a son of Frank Borg’s stallion Pine Hill Star. “I was in behind the leader with the great Brian Hancock on my outside on a horse called Spanish George,” recalled Dean. “Coming to the hometurn I was travelling better than Brian and felt I could nudge him out of the way to escape the pocket. I did exactly that and went on to win the race by half a length or so. Can you believe it, Brian was the first to congratulate me. It was a special day.
“A win over Brian Hancock at Menangle was one thing. My first Harold Park win was something else again and a moment I’ll never forget. It was a Tuesday night race with only six runners, and I drove an odds on favourite called Swamp Fox for trainer Tony Griffiths. I crossed straight to the lead and he won by a big margin. I’ll never be able to explain what that win meant to me. From a very early age I dreamed of driving a winner on that famous track. Every kid I knew in the industry had the same ambition. When it comes to sheer atmosphere, there will never be another Harold Park.”
It's a long way from Harold Park but a winner's a winner. Dean wins on Esspe Supreme at Armidale 15/11/2018 - courtesy PeterMac Photography.
It wasn’t long before the lightweight driver from Maitland was being offered regular freelance drives. Many of those offers came from Hunter Valley trainers who were taking horses to the Saturday night Tamworth meetings. There was one special night at Tamworth destined to alter the course of the young horseman’s life. He was introduced to a young lady called Julie Maher whose late father Noel was training a handful of horses at the time. Things moved quickly and within a matter of months Julie made the decision to join Dean at Maitland. She would have been happy to make her permanent home there, but not as happy as she was some time later when Dean announced his decision to move his entire training operation to Tamworth. Julie is now his wife of twenty two years and the couple are the proud parents of Elly (21) and Jack (17). Both youngsters are besotted with harness racing.
Julie and Dean with Achromatic under blue Moonbi skies - no credit
Finding the right location took a little time. After three months in temporary accommodation, Dean and Julie were delighted when a well appointed 16 acre (6.5 hectare) property came up for sale at Moonbi, a tiny village twenty kilometres north of Tamworth. “The clincher was the availability of a 600m work track at the Moonbi Recreation Ground a stone’s throw from the property,” said Dean. “With only a handful of trainers using the track it’s not knocked about and the Tamworth City Council give us a lot of support. Only ten days ago they had the graders out there, and the track is regularly top dressed. In normal times the surface is safe and very forgiving. I think we’ve won around 400 races off that little track since we settled in Moonbi in 2002. I’m lucky to have the services of former top trainer Spud Verning who’s there most days to assist with trackwork.”
The Moonbi years have seen Dean make his mark as a very serious trainer and driver. He’s been champion Tamworth driver on thirteen occasions and has eight trainer’s titles under his belt. As this story goes onto the website, he’s nudging 750 career driving wins. Dean has no doubt his 52 kg frame has played a major role in his race driving success. “The old timers used to say that once the gig was rolling, the driver’s weight made no difference,” said Dean. “I’m convinced it makes a difference when a horse is getting tired in the closing stages of a race. Just have a look at the top drivers all around Australia. Most are pretty fit and not excessively heavy.”
Spud Verning leads Dean Chapple in a trackwork session at the Moonbi Recreation Ground - courtesy PeterMac Photography.
Dean has no doubt Armbro Albertina is the best horse he’s driven to date. When Tamworth trainer Anthony Mabbott initially identified the filly’s potential Dean Chapple was his “go to” driver. Chapple in fact drove Armbro Albertina in all of her twenty two starts for eight wins and four placings. They combined to win a heat of the 2YO Fillies Breeders Challenge at Menangle in May of 2008, before finishing just out of a place in a very strong final won by For Dear Life. “She had a few minor issues along the way and more than her share of bad luck in races,” recalled Dean. “She was a lovely mare who was just reaching her peak when she went amiss. Wish I had a couple like her right now.”
Dean and Ambro Albertina after a brilliant 2YO win at Tamworth 30/04/2008 - courtesy PeterMac Photography.
In more recent times the lightweight horseman has enjoyed multiple wins on horses like Shannon’s Shadow, Right On With It, Betterthankkylie, Dark Lustre, The Ringmaster, Kudos Bert, Greenview, and family favourite Don’t Tell Dorothy. With son Jack and daughter Ally making their way in other locations, Dean and Julie are handling their team of fifteen unaided. “We’ve got a good system in place and seem to get through them fairly well,” said Dean. “We’re under the pump when the Tamworth club conducts day meetings through the winter, but all we need is one winner and we feel no pain.”
Dean wins on The Ringmaster at Tamworth 15/01/2023 - courtesy PeterMac Photography.
For Dean and his family the good times have been counterbalanced by one devastating low in 2014 when one of his horses returned a cobalt irregularity after winning at Tamworth. He was one of a number of trainers to fall foul of the controversial cobalt threshold at the time. He maintained that there were extenuating circumstances surrounding the case, and pleaded accordingly. He was crushed when Harness Racing NSW suspended his licence for two and a half years, a term that would have been worse had it not been for his unblemished historical record and total cooperation during the inquiry.
Once the initial shockwaves had subsided Dean followed his lifelong formula of getting on with it. With his history of late nights at harness meetings and the inevitable sleep deprivation, nobody was better qualified to handle the job he secured during his time on the sidelines. “For around two years I worked as a night cleaner at the Westdale Abattoirs just outside Tamworth,” he recalled. “It was tedious, messy and not very inspiring but it paid the bills and supported my family during a very dark time. I switched jobs for the last six months and worked for a Courier Service company. Looking back now it seems the thirty months passed fairly quickly but back then it was an eternity. The tough part was picking up the threads again. Re-establishing clientele and finding some half decent horses was a tough grind. The whole horrible episode almost destroyed us.”
The Chapples are intensely proud of Elly and Jack. Only the young and very energetic could cope with Elly’s current agenda. She works part time at Garrards Newcastle shop, and is busily pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Early Childhood Teaching at the nearby Newcastle University. However, the power of genetics is never far away. Whenever the young lady is offered a race drive at Newcastle or at home in Tamworth, she juggles commitments in an endeavour to do what she loves most of all. As recently as July 21st, she looked the consummate professional in winning on Flying Shard for trainer Glen Powell at Newcastle. Her current win tally now sits at a pretty impressive 29.
Elly returns on Right On With It at Tamworth 11/07/2019 - courtesy PeterMac Photography.
Jack Chapple, a former Farrer Agricultural High School student made an undreamed of debut on his home track just over a year ago. From five drives on the day he recorded a couple of early placings before winning the final race on the Ian Mabbott trained Tralee Rocks. Jack has since been taken along quietly by his father and was one excited boy recently when offered a full time job by high profile trainer Bernie Hewitt. He’s making light of the bitterly cold mornings at Georges Plains near Bathurst and thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to work with some talented horses under the expert tuition of Bernie Hewitt. As recently as last Wednesday night the seventeen year old notched a winning double at the Bathurst meeting - Haveyoucheckedin for trainer Ty Robson and Taylors Four for his boss Bernie Hewitt. Jack sits on a total of twelve wins after that double. “Apart from the genetic factor he’s just a natural,” says a proud father. “With ordinary luck he’ll be a success in the game going forward. I can’t tell you how much pleasure Julie and I are getting sitting at home watching Elly and Jack compete at tracks like Bathurst and Newcastle. It’s even better when Elly comes to Tamworth for a drive or two.”
Jack Chapple on one of his early winners Shannons Shadow - courtesy PeterMac Photography.
Dean’s pretty chuffed with several of his achievements in the sport, but there’s one he frequently dines out on. To this day he’s not sure why it ever possessed him to cart three horses all the way to Broken Hill to be a part of Cup night in March of 2021. With good friend Dave Walters as his lone assistant, Dean dragged his three horse trailer 1035 kms with an overnight stay at Cobar. Despite questioning his own sanity more than once, he was pleasantly surprised to be a part of a fairy tale night at the Broken Hill Paceway.
Dean collects one of his many awards as Tamworth's premier driver and trainer - courtesy PeterMac Photography.
“It seemed like the entire population of the town was there, and the atmosphere was something I hadn’t seen in a long time,” said Dean. “The experts said if you didn’t lead you didn’t win but I blew that theory out of the water. I guess my experience around the little showground tracks in NSW helped me on the night. All three of our horses won from back in the field - Right On With It won the Broken Hill Pacing Cup, while Don’t Tell Dorothy and Nor Westa won restricted races. There was one low point. I copped a $400 fine and a week’s suspension for unacceptable whip use on Don’t Tell Dorothy but it was worth every cent. I went back the following year to win two races, and maybe I’ll make the trip again one day. It was trotting the way it used to be.”
Dean’s brother Guy is still very active in the sport from his Maitland base with son Mitchell shaping up as another successful “trotting Chapple”. Dean is always tickled pink when Guy brings a horse or two to Tamworth. The Chapple dynasty doesn’t boast the numbers of the Turnbull or Hewitt clans, but to the Hunter and New England harness racing fans they’re every bit as legendary.
(Banner image - A walk in the park for Dean and Kudos Bert at Tamworth 13/06/2019 - courtesy PeterMac Photography.)