Final hurrah for Steve Lock

Harness racing trainer Steve Lock’s last runner as a trainer went around at Addington last night when Honour Scroll (Washington VC) faded into eight place after racing deep on the fence in the hands of driver Jo Herbert.

Lock is retiring from training after deciding that he can no longer afford to carry on in a sport that has been his life for the last 35 years.

Like a lot of smaller hobby trainers Lock has become disillusioned with the harness racing industry.

“The last year or two I feel we the small guy have been, well I call it shafted by the industry and I just can’t afford to carry on,” Lock told Nigel Armstrong from Harness Racing Unhinged last night.

“Harness racing has been good to me, I have met a lot of lovely people, great people.”

“I will miss the circuit, especially the Coast circuit, and a lot of the people in it,” Lock said.

“To me it is the old story. If you can’t stand the heat in the kitchen you get out, so I am opting to hop out,” he said.

“Some of the things are out of the hands of HRNZ like the cost of fuel and feed, but we are getting less and less back.

“They took 25% off last year to build up their reserves, and that money used to help us to keep horses going, to fill fields and line up in races just so they could hold the races, but that lands on deaf ears,” Lock said.

“I don’t think they really care,” he said.

“If you are a tall poppy they will listen to you, but they want to remember the wee guys, after all that is what the industry was built on,” he said.

Lock started training in 1987 and has started 3377 horses, winning 80 times, with a lot of his wins spread around many tracks in the South Island.

Along the way came many highlights.

“Winning the Greymouth Cup in 1997 was one (with Eb’s Fella), Ivan Schwamm drove it,” Lock said.

“Ivan Schwamm was basically like a mentor for me and said a way back in the early days, boy if you are going to do any good you have to travel and that was the start of the end for me,” Lock said with a smile.

“Winning at Forbury was always a highlight,” he said.

To view the Harness Racing Unhinged interview with Steve Lock, click here.

For complete Addington results, click here.

by Harnesslink Media