80/1 winner – Chris Lang Jnr is back!

After a five-year break from the racetrack, Chris and Haley Lang made a triumphant return to the harness racing winner’s circle at TabCorp Park Melton on Friday night (Aug. 9) with their promising juvenile, Sassy Galleon (Angus Hall).

A 12-time Group 1-winning reinsman this was Chris Lang Jnr’s first race as either trainer or driver since stepping back from the sport in 2019. At her first start, the well-bred youngster delivered the fastest time for a two-year-old trotting filly in Australia this year.

The victory also marked a legacy coming a full circle, with Chris racing for the first time in the iconic dark blue silks of his legendary grandfather, the late Graeme “GA” Lang.

“These were my grandfather’s colors, worn by horses like Scotch Notch and Wagon Apollo. I inherited the colors, and winning with them on Friday night was something pretty special,” Lang said.

Chris and Haley have been focused on breeding, pre-training, and breaking in recent times, and there was a touch of serendipity in Sassy Galleon leading them back to training racehorses.

“We bred her, and like all the ones we breed, she went to the sales. She’s from a very good family – there are Group 1 winners and three 2-year-olds of the Year in there.  Her yearling sale video was good, she trotted around nicely and looked great,” Lang said.

“But sometimes at the sales, if there aren’t a lot of buyers, it’s the fillies who can slip through the cracks. We’ve taken 16 yearlings to sales over the years, and we’ve sold 15 – she is the only one that’s ever been passed in.

“So we had a talk about it and decided to try her ourselves – just as a hobby!”

Lang said that Sassy Galleon had shown good potential from day one.

“When I was breaking her in, she trotted up on her first day in the cart. But that’s probably 14 or 15 months ago, and it’s been a long process since then,” he said.

“She was perfect all the way through until she hit the trial stage. She was good at her first couple of trials, but then she started touching a little bit behind, and it probably took us one trial too long to change her boots. I think it shook her confidence a little bit.

“We had her reshod and are protecting her better now and we’ve just been bringing her along slowly. But last weekend at the Maryborough trials, she ran her last half in 59 and a half – it was off a slow first half, but it was the first time in a while she’s shown she’s got her speed back.”

The trial apparently got under the guard of the good judges, with Sassy Galleon sent out at Melton at the generous odds of $81.

Lang balanced the filly from her barrier 1 draw, taking a trail behind the leader Claudy’s Hero (Kyle Marshall).

Sassy Galleon sprinted hard in the straight to score by a half-head, posting a MR 1:59.0 and a final quarter of 28.5.

“I’ve never pushed her, so we don’t really know what she is capable of. I think if you give a young horse a gut-buster first up, you can end their whole campaign,” Lang said.

“Most times, my horses take a couple of runs to hit their rhythm. They’re usually carrying a couple of kilos they shouldn’t and feeling good about themselves, and I give them an easy run first start to tighten them up. They build into their campaign from there.

“But I must admit I was pretty surprised when I looked at the time she posted on Friday night. We will probably look to give her one more start before the Vicbreds (at Maryborough on September 5).”

Lang drove more than 300 winners during a successful driving career between 2003 and 2019. He won the 2011 Australasian Trotting Championship Final with Let Me Thru among five Group 1 triumphs with the son of Muscles Yankee, and also guided Shes An Image, Miss Warbucks, Miss Bullion and Skyvalley to success at the top level. Lang also trained 32 winners, including the Group 1 triumph with Miss Warbucks in the 2011 Trotters Mile at Menangle.

Lang said he was thrilled with Sassy Galleon’s first-up performance, but with a group of seven mares to be served this season, a return to full-time training was not on the radar.

“To be honest, it’s a lot of work to do a team and congrats to everyone that can do it, but I got sick of it in the end. I got really jaded, and I knew that I needed a break, so we stepped out for a few years,” he said.

“The breaking and pre-training is good, but we broke in 70 last season and that was too many – we’ll try to keep it at about 30 going forward.

“We have a few nice foals in the paddocks, but we are sellers. We’ll keep selling for now, but if another one gets passed in…you never know!”

For complete race results and replays click here.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink