King of Mildura races into the record books

Bernie Winkle is officially harness racing’s King of Mildura.

Last Friday’s victory in the Tankard Dental Pace, captured with yet another dazzling last-lap sprint, helped the eight-year-old become the winningest pacer or trotter at the famed Sunraysia circuit.

He was locked on 27 Mildura wins with Colin Rogers’ evergreen gelding Murranji Track, but moved one clear after beating that rival – and six others – in the 2190m event.

Mildura is a track that many have thrived at over the years, with Finedropofred and Loaded Hog winning there 22 times each, Cosmic Legacy on 21 occasions and Flojos Gold 18.

Bernie Winkle’s love affection with Mildura took a while to grow, but certainly intensified during the regional racing period last year when he strung together 10-straight wins at the track. In total, the Julie Douglas-trained son of Rock N Roll Heaven has had 49 trips around Mildura for 28 triumphs, with his career record now at an astonishing 46 victories from 214 races and prizemoney over $450,000.

Despite his heroics, Bernie Winkle still hasn’t eclipsed the efforts of household names Scotch Notch, Sokyola, Make Mine Cullen and True Roman.

True Roman holds the modern era record of most wins at a single Victorian track, scoring an amazing 35 times at Moonee Valley. The last of those came on January 4, 1992, the second last run of a career that captured 73 victories in total.

Make Mine Cullen, a horse also close to the Douglas family’s heart, won 40 of her 80 starts, including 29 at Tabcorp Park Melton and still comfortably tops the leaderboard at that circuit.

Scotch Notch and Sokyola were also stars of the Valley, winning at the much-loved Melbourne venue on 28 and 29 occasions respectively.

There looks to be plenty of life left in the legs of Bernie Winkle, and he can move past Scotch Notch and join Sokyola on those measures when he likely goes around at Mildura again this Friday.

MOST SUCCESSFUL HORSES BY VICTORIAN TRACK