Joe Conolly isn’t the first policeman to have trained harness horses. The question was raised by trot fans after the Conolly trained ten year old All About Art, won the opening race at Penrith last week.

Had Lisa Miles not had an inherent love of the standardbred horse, she may have pursued a career with the RAAF. For the last seven years of her time at Melton’s Mowbray College, young Lisa Lewis was a member of the Air Training Corps.

The hereditary factor in the families of harness horsemen and horsewomen, has been prevalent since the sport began in Australia.

Twenty one year old Menangle trainer Brooke Wilkins, is a third generation trotting devotee.

Tiger Tara didn’t deserve to lose last week’s New Zealand Cup. The Aussie trained eight year old did enough work for three horses, before going under by a lousy head to The Fixer in the second fastest New Zealand Cup in history.

The last few months of 2008 passed very slowly for a certain Shepparton schoolgirl, who couldn’t wait to follow her dream.

Harry Martin seems to have been around Sydney harness racing tracks forever, and was well ensconced when I trained and drove my very first horse, a two year old filly called Red Mittens. Harry had a filly called Miss Viscount at the same time, and I clearly recall going around with him in early trials, and in a race or two.

Joe and Mary Rando’s decision to formalise a training partnership two years ago, came as no surprise to family and friends.

Courtney Slater was stunned when she received that phone call from HRV Stewards last December, conveying the blood-chilling news that one of her horses had returned a positive swab.

There’s nothing Glenn McElhinney enjoys more than driving a winner for one of the smaller stables. The veteran freelancer, always identifiable with his bright yellow helmet, has been a familiar face on Sydney tracks for more than four decades.

The Australian driving ranks produced some high achievers in the 2017/18 season. Drivers like Todd McCarthy (NSW), Danielle Hill (SA), Nathan Dawson (QLD), and Shannon Suvaljko (WA) all had stellar seasons, while Chris Alford (VIC) changed the course of trotting history.

“You can’t afford to be distracted by the power of a major stable”, says Victorian harness trainer Kari Males. “If you happen to be in a race where a major stable has three or four runners, you have to try even harder to have your horse at one hundred and ten per cent”.

The butterflies were fluttering in Mat Rue’s stomach, as he walked into the Menangle barn on Sunday April 28th 2013.

I enjoyed every minute of a long chat I had last week, with South Australian race driving ace Danielle Hill. It became clear during our long conversation, that Dani’s return to the track following a horror fall in 2010, was motivated largely by an unbridled passion for horses.

Surely Jerada Ace is the only Australian broodmare, thoroughbred or standardbred, to boast three winners in four days in recent history.

If there’s a nicer bloke than David Morris around Sydney harness tracks, I haven’t met him yet. The twenty seven year old freelance reinsman with the breezy disposition, would put a bit of spark into the dullest party.

Harness racing fans around Australia are becoming increasingly familiar with the name Hryhorec. Many wonder about the origin of the name, as Ryan Hryhorec continues to win races at a rapid rate on South Australian tracks.

Life has been a roller coaster for young Chris Geary these past few years. He graduated quickly from the mini trots, to the maxi trots to the real deal, in record time, and within a week of launching his driving career, he visited the now familiar winner’s circle for the first time.

When it comes to horses I’m a hopeless sentimentalist.

I had the pleasure of calling all of the wins of the great Halwes at Harold Park in the late 1960’s, and he left an indelible impression on me. He was a horse with high speed, great reserves of stamina and a terrific will to win.

Match In Heaven has always been a nice horse for owner/breeder John Starr, and trainer Paul Fitzpatrick. Nice enough to record 19 wins and 15 placings for $282,000 in prize money.