Jackpot for twins chasing their dreams

You’ll meet some passionate harness racing families in your life – but not all of them would pack up with their family and move two States away to get their start in the sport.

But that’s what twins Nathan and Will Rothwell and their parents did two years ago – and recently the brothers recorded a satisfying milestone in their journey.

Their four-year-old bay mare Playa Blanca (Somebeachsomewhere – Art Castle (Art Major) scored her first win under the brothers’ ownership at Warragul, and Nathan’s first win as a trainer and driver.

“It was pretty good to finally get the win and get that out of the way!” Nathan said.

“It was on our home track, and it was on Warragul Cup Day too, so it was a bit special for that reason as well.  We’ve been close a few times, we’ve had a few seconds, but it was nice to get that win on the board,” he said.

Nathan is a C Grade driver and B Grade trainer, while Will is just a few trial drives away from getting his driver’s license.

Nathan admits the 19-year-olds (Nathan being oldest by one minute!) have been harness racing fanatics since they were young.

“Our dad Mark was involved in the sport when he was about our age and was a stablehand for a few trainers as well as owning horses.  So, he got us into it by having us watching it from when we were young, and we just fell in love with it,” he said.

But living on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, where there is no harness racing industry at all, threw up a challenge.

“We were possibly looking at thoroughbreds at one stage, and there were some thoughts of becoming a jockey early on, but I really didn’t want to have to deal with weight struggles for the rest of my life,” Nathan said.

“Harness racing felt like the better option because it’s so much more hands-on. It’s definitely harder work and there’s a lot more involved with the gear and so on, but we just like it more.

“Unfortunately, though there’s absolutely nothing on the Sunshine Coast for harness racing, and in Queensland there’s really nothing in the way of formal training options in the sport at all – it would be just go and work for a trainer and try to do it that way.”

But when the family learnt about the Warragul Harness Racing Training Centre, the decision was made.

“We all moved down, from the Sunshine Coast to Warragul – there really couldn’t be a much bigger contrast.  But we’ve acclimatized and we’re loving what we’re doing,” Nathan said.

“We came down here with basically the harness racing knowledge of spectators and followers of the sport – we were right into doing our form and everything, but we didn’t even know what bits of gear were called,” he laughed.

“The school and Jenni (former WHRTC manager Jenni Lewis) were absolutely amazing, and we’ve learnt a hell of a lot.  Jenni was so good to us during COVID, even doing one-on-one training with us to keep us progressing.

“It’s such a pity that the Warragul Training Centre side of it was shut down (earlier this year) because it really is one of the only options for young people wanting to get into the sport who don’t have the family background.”

The brothers are currently based at the Warragul track, but have ambitions to eventually set up their own operation.

“The next step for us will probably be to work for another trainer in a bigger stable and keep learning,” he said.

“We’re planning to get a few more in work ourselves soon, too, but we are just training two at the moment.  Playa Blanca ran third at her next start after her win, and Tommy Bligh is our other horse, who ran second on Sunday at Cranbourne, so hopefully our second winner won’t be too far away!”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink.com