Peter Hibberd, Buloke Times
The Charlton Harness Racing Club in conjunction with the Djaara people ran its annual race day at Charlton on Wednesday.
Being the traditional owners of Country across central Victoria, the land on which the harness racing training centre is based was granted to the Charlton Club in 2012. Every year since, the Club has a special day to celebrate this important event.
After the second race, a big selection of the crowd celebrated the smoking ceremony.
The race names were also based around the Djaara language. Some of the race names were “balatj”, meaning cherry ballart, and “gitjawil”, meaning chocolate lily.
The race program was very good with some close finishes and some well-supported winning.
Doubles
It was a day out for the Tormey and Laugher Stable.
John Tormey had two winners on the day, those being Chogi and Rockets Mate. Both were driven by his daughter, Ellen.
Michael Laugher also had two winners: Feel the Reign and former Charlton-trained horse Budd Sidewinder who won the Djaara Cup. Both horses were driven by Michael’s son, Jack.
Race Results
Race one: Trainer Glen Bull provided the first two placegetters. Go George Go, driven by Sean O’Sullivan, defeated Stellar Queen, driven by Glen Bull.
Race two: This race was stopped just after the start due to a bad fall after only going 50 metres. Young driver, Luke Dunn, showed exceptional horsemanship; his sulky was tipped on its side, which caused his leg to be trapped in the sulky frame. Luckily, he was able to hold on to the reins and was able to stop the horse from bolting away. A very lucky boy.
With the race being run, the Gary Peking-driven Montana Muscle scored a narrow victory, defeating Midnight Avenger with Charlie Walker in third placing.
Race three: The very well-supported Silver Domino, driven by Jordan Leedham, had a very easy win. It sat outside the leader all the way, before coming away in the final straight.
Race four: Driver Jason Ainsworth, driving Flaming Lucky, had control of this race shortly after the start. He led, and, with two easy early sectionals, he lifted the speed over the last 800 metres, running the quick time of 58.2, which made it nearly impossible to come from behind.
Race five: A recent addition to the John Tormey Stable, Chogi, had certainly turned his form around. Chogi has raced on four occasions for John, and has won three times and a second placing in the other. It was able to lead and record a narrow victory over another Charlton-trained pacer, Fair Chance.
Race six: Driver Jack Laugher, driving Feel the Reign, controlled this race from the start – although he had to fight hard to hang on for a very narrow win. He had a very good mile rate of 1.56.6.
Race seven: The Djaara Cup went to a former Charlton-trained pacer, Budd Sidewinder. Previously trained by Ashleigh Markham, this pacer is now with Michael Laugher. Very well-supported, Jack Laugher used the sprint lane to win by 4 metres.
This pacer improved on its recent form. Its last win was in July, 2022.
Race eight: The final race was a very keenly run event. At the 100-metre mark, any of the five horses could have won the race.
Ellen Tormey, driving Rockets Mate, used the sprint lane to make it a double for the day with her father, John.
Mildura Cup
Congratulations to all involved with the win of Dangerous in the $50,000 Mildura Pacing Cup last Saturday.
Those green-and-white striped colours still continue to win races.
Unsung Heroes
In harness racing, the Clerks of Course are the unsung heroes of this sport.
As mentioned in race two, there was a fall with one horse on the loose. The efforts of Barry Sambrooks and Chelsea Wills were brilliant. Racecaller Dan Mielicki did a great job calling all this action too.
This can be viewed on the harness website.
This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 12 April 2024.
