Connor enjoying the thrill of the chase

Chirpy Ballarat harness racing driver Connor Clarke has “gone to the dogs” and he’s loving it!

Clarke was initiated into greyhound racing by a former girlfriend, and admits he’s possibly now got himself involved in owning “a few too many”.

“It’s snowballed a bit – to the point where I’ve got six or seven racing dogs, and four pups getting reared, at the moment,” he said.

“There’s also a retired greyhound I have at home as a pet.  I call the dogs my little bad habit! I haven’t really put a lot of money into them, but I’ve done okay over the past few years.”

Clarke said his best performer was a dog named “Out For Glory”.

“He’s won four or five and been a good earner. He won at Sandown last weekend and that would be his third from his past six starts. He’s also the only one I named myself – all the others had race names before I got them,” he said.

“There’s a mate in Maryborough who trains a few, while I’ve also got others with some NSW trainers.

“I actually hate watching them going around. I’m a very nervous owner. It’s more nerve-wracking than if I was driving a pacer in a Group One event!”

The 19-year-old, who recently drove the 100th winner of his short career, is enjoying his best-ever season with 44 wins to date. He started in 2019/20 with 26 wins and then the following season improved to finish with 35.

A win for Bannockburn trainer Geoff Webster at Melton last Saturday night with Belmont Royal (Betterthancheddar) was a welcome confidence booster for Clarke, who’s been enduring a bit of a “flat spot”.

“I was absolutely airborne there for a while with some exciting metro wins and I was getting heaps of opportunities. Then I had to sit out a six-week suspension and coming back from that has been tough,” Clarke said.

“But it happens to most of us. I’m not complaining because trainers put other drivers on and if success comes along, of course they’re going to stick with them,” he said.

“It’s a bit like being stuck in heavy mud—you just have to keep treading!

“I was pretty happy to get that win with Belmont Royal – the horse felt so good. Before the race we were unsure if he could get past the polemarker, but he was so sharp in the warm-up I thought we had a great chance to cross, which put us behind the leader.

“From there he just travelled beautifully, and I was confident a fair way out. He’s capable of pinging off a real quick quarter and I reckon that’s probably the fourth race I’ve won on him.”

Clarke’s positive attitude helped him win his biggest battle with the rare cancer non-Hodgkins lymphoma as a 14-year-old in 2017. The stage four cancer required chemotherapy and many months stay at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital.

“That was a bit of a hiccup. But all the way through all I was thinking about was becoming a harness racing driver,” Clarke said.

“I remember my great-grandmother Beryl (Clarke), who is my Pa’s mum, bought me a new iPad and I just watched every harness race I could in hospital. I became a pretty good form student,” he laughed.

“She’s in her late nineties now and lives in Warrnambool but she still follows me, and I keep in regular contact.”

Clarke, who has been working at the leading Emma Stewart stable for two and a half years, showed skill from the very first time he took to the track on the pony trots circuit. He would go on to enjoy a successful partnership with pint-sized Pride Of Petite.

“The pony trots, then working for Andy Gath and Gavin Lang certainly lay the foundation for me,” Clarke said.

“I was with Andy for a couple of sets of school holidays, then I ended up with Gavin and I actually lived with Gavin and Meagan for a while.  It was awesome because he treated me almost like a son. I learnt so much, particularly when we were sitting around chatting after tea. I won a race not long after his passing and I think he was helping me for that one.”

Clarke said his favorite horse was Struve (Courage Under Fire) trained by Emma Stewart.

“I get asked a lot about who is my favorite. Struve was my first race winner, and he also got me my first metro victory—so he’ll stand as my number one for a while,” he said.

By Terry Gange, for Harnesslink