Radio ignites harness racing passion

Tuning in to a radio advertisement by chance 15 years ago began Victorian harness racing couple Julie and Darren Brimacombe’s journey into the sport – and it’s a passion that’s only becoming stronger.

“We were driving along one day and heard an ad for the harness racing school at Bendigo and it just clicked for me,” Julie said.

“I’ve always ridden, and I had standardbreds and loved them, but we’d really never thought about getting into the racing side of it before. But I just thought, why not find a bit more about these horses and what makes them tick?” she said.

“I rang up and asked if there was an age limit for the school and there wasn’t, so I ended up cutting back my work to part time to do the course over two years, while Darren kept working. The course was the best thing I could have done,” she said.

“We all know there’s a lot to learn, but it covered health and welfare, training and driving and it was a broad overview of everything which gave us the confidence to get going.”

The Brimacombes have been involved in harness racing ever since and have recently enjoyed some of their greatest thrills in the sport with stable star Jackierabbit (Shadow Play), who’s strung together three wins in a row.

“We’ve never even managed to win two in a row with one horse before, so to win three in a row was just the greatest thrill. We couldn’t believe it, and in a track record time – we were just blown away,” she said.

“We got a double earlier this year with Jackierabbit and Elli Joh (Rock N Roll Heaven) at Stawell and that was fantastic but getting three in a row with Jackie was just the best.”

Jackierabbit stopped the clock in his most recent victory at Ararat in 1:56.105 in the Thank You Sharon Ralph Pace on July 6 after being given a sublime trip in the one-out one-back hole by young claiming reinswoman Jacki Barker.

“I absolutely love everything about harness racing, but I actually don’t love the races themselves because I get too nervous,” Brimacombe laughed.

“A lot of people say to me they’re racehorses, not pets, but to us they’re both. I’m all good once the horse and the driver are safely across the line, but I just get so anxious during the race.”

JACKIERABBIT REPLAY

The seven-year-old has now had 11 career wins (from just 65 starts), including six for the Brimacombes since they purchased him in December 2020.

“He suffered an accident as a foal and lost an eye, so he took a bit to get racing and was a bit of a favorite with everyone. I think the owners Goodtime Racing were keen to place him somewhere where they knew he would have a life after racing, so they rang up and offered him to us,” Julie said.

“He’s always had good ability, but he is a funny horse in that he can be a bit lazy and just drop the bit if he is not up with them. But I do think he’s still growing in confidence, so we’ll hopefully have a lot more fun with him yet.

“We’ve had nice horses like Ynobe Coby (six wins), Goodtime Bobby (13) and Watta Jetstar (4), but I think Jackie is probably close to our best. They aren’t any superstars, but they always try hard for us and that’s all we ask.”

And, true to tradition, a move two years ago to their own 30-acre training property at Eliminyt, near Colac, in south west Victoria, has only strengthened the Brimacombe’s harness racing passion.

They now have four racehorses in the stable, a couple of juveniles almost “ready to go” and they purchased a yearling from this year’s Sydney sales.

“We’ve got two colts and three fillies to get going, so life is going to be busy soon,” she said.

“We haven’t dabbled in the breeding yet, but it is on the cards because we bought a brood mare two years ago. Hopefully we will get her in foal this year.

“Call it a midlife crisis or whatever you like.we just love being with the horses every single day!”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink