Sometimes it’s the satisfaction that counts

Ian Slater has ridden the ups and downs of harness racing long enough to know that sometimes it’s not just the numbers that count.

And that was the case with his Cranbourne winner, lightly-raced mare Goodtime Hayley (Art Major) on Sunday (September 3).

“To be quite honest, I never thought she would race, so it is really satisfying to see her going so well,” Slater said of the mare he owns in partnership with his wife Judi.

“We bought her at the (2020) APG Sale in Sydney and she was a lovely filly, but after she was broken in, she rolled under a fence when she was out for a spell,” he said.

“She cut her hind leg very badly, down the front of the leg and around the back – and she cut a tendon too.  It was a terrible injury.  She just kept knuckling over on the joint, so things really didn’t look good.

“Our daughter Courtney did all of the hard yards with her recovery, and she did a great job.  The horse ended up staying in the paddock 18 months and it’s really just been a long slow process from there. But I really thought the prospects of her ever racing were pretty slim.”

Patience is finally paying off, though, with the four-year-old having had just 10 starts in her career, and the Cranbourne victory in the World’s Best Hoof Oil Pace was her second win.

“At the moment, she is going as well as she has gone – it was a very nice Father’s Day gift,” Slater said.

“There’s room for more improvement I think, so we will just keep going with her and see if we can get up through her grades – I’ve been in the game long enough not to get ahead of myself though!”

The Slaters operated Goodtime Lodge stud at their picturesque property at Elliminyt, near Colac, for 15 years “as a sideline” to a busy civil construction business. But Ian said retirement had allowed the couple to change focus.

“Once we started the stud, I took a back seat from training and driving, but I’m back into the training side of things now and really enjoying it,” he said.

“I just like to be involved with the horses. I get such a buzz from going to the races – I used to get disappointed when they didn’t go well, but now I just enjoy being around them and getting to the meetings.

“It’s a real family operation.  Courtney is training professionally and she’s just down the road and our son Jordan has his stablehand’s licence and is a great help.

“He’s done all of the work with our three-year-old Tallulah Lee (Art Major), who’s won two of his past three.  Our other daughter Ebony is involved as an owner of a three-year-old filly, Ynobe Dakota (American Ideal).”

Ian said he had first become involved in harness racing 40 years ago, through his father-in-law the late Allan Anderton.

“Allan was a trainer and I started out giving him a hand, and then just gradually got more and more involved – once you get the bug, there’s only one way out and that’s death!” Slater laughed.

“Allan bred a horse called Als Court (Nuclear Nightmare) in the 1990s that he owned with Courtney, and I trained and drove for a while.  Als Court won 25 races here, then they sold him to America, and he went on and won more than 60 races`there.  He was a terrific horse.

“We’ve had a couple of nice ones over the years.  Goodtime Marjie (Village Jasper) was one we bred and she was going to be a star but we just couldn’t keep her healthy.  We’ve had a couple of foals out of her since she retired.

“And Goodtime Heaven (Rocknroll Heaven) was a very good filly – she won a Group 1 (NSW Breeders Challenge Final), Group 2 (Breeders Crown Championship 4YO Mares) and Group 3 (the Jane Ellen) and was Victorian aged pacer of the year in 2021.

“She’s now retired, and we have her in foal to Downbytheseaside. I really like the breeding side of the industry, and we’re breeding between five and 10 a year.

“So, we’re still going to the yearling sales now, but we’re usually selling, not buying!”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink