Hobby trainer rings up welcome win

Seymour harness racing hobby trainer Jan Murray is back in the winner’s circle and loving it!

Murray, the daughter of legendary Victorian horseman Kevin, has only dabbled in the sport in recent years – but was straight to the point about her latest training success, her first in over 25 years.

“About bloody time!” she laughed, after Ringer Russ (Village Jasper) saluted in the Kyabram Vet Clinic Pace at Shepparton last Wednesday (Aug 17).

“He’s been knocking on the door, but he’s just one of those horses, a bit unlucky,” Murray said.

“He probably should have won at Ballarat his previous start when he drew one, but there’s no sprint lane and he was fourth held up. He’s been racing pretty consistently, just not quite having everything go right,” she said.

Murray, who is now a Quality Assurance Officer at the Tatura Abattoir, made the decision to get back into horses more seriously when she was made redundant from a previous job during the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I’d always been involved when I was young and had a driver’s licence from probably age 16, then a trainer’s licence from my late 20s.  But working life and life in general got in the way and I got away from it,” she said.

“I’d been working in Melbourne but with COVID and what happened there, it gave me the opportunity to start to muck around with dad’s trotter The Red Warrior.

“He had a few problems, so around 12 months ago I started looking for a horse that I could work with him. Ringer Russ came up, but I definitely didn’t know what I was getting into because he was an absolute brat at first!

“But we’ve worked through that.  He’s a much nicer horse to have around and do anything with now.  He’s got a bit stronger and we’re driving him to suit, so it was great to get the win at last.  And hopefully we can have a bit more fun with him now.”

Growing up, Jan said she spent every spare minute around her dad’s stables, either riding or driving the horses.

A former New Zealand horseman, Kevin Murray had driven Kiwi greats Cardigan Bay and Robin Dundee before upping stumps and moving across the Tasman in the mid-1960s. He first arrived in Australia to campaign trotter Grand Charge, which had placed at the Dunedin Interdominion in 1964, then later established his stables at Wallan.

He quickly became a shrewd and sought-after driver for stables including Jack Moore, Bob Knight and Kevin and Patsy Abrahams, but also trained and drove outstanding performers of his own including trotters Silken, Reteps Pride and Skipper Don, as well as pacers Freedom Day and The Warrior.

Jan said her dad, now 89, continued to help out at the David Aiken stables at Avenel, doing feeds and cleaning boxes until his mid-80s.

“He’s due for some surgery in a few weeks but he’s in pretty good health and he’s able to live on his own at Avenel and still drives his car everywhere,” Jan said.

“He can’t be hands on with the horses these days, but he keeps me on my toes.

“He’s definitely never short of a word of advice from the sidelines. ‘You reckon I never trained a winner?!’ is his favorite phrase! But he did admit after my win that I have Ringer Russ going well,” she laughed.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink