80yo trainer and Madam Reactor prove the winning recipe

Eighty-year-old Elmore trainer Frank Barac has produced plenty of pickles and preserves over the years – but at Shepparton last week, it was a harness racing home-grown that put a smile on his face.

Barac’s mare Madam Reactor (Auckland Reactor NZ) delivered a well-earned win in the Neatline Homes Pace, driven to perfection by local young gun Ryan Sanderson.

“The strangest thing with Ryan is she seems to love him better than anyone else,” Barac said.

“She seems to know when he’s behind her, and for some reason he’s got the right touch with her.  He’s run a lot of placings with her, too – and in a lot of those placings, she was a winning chance, but just bad luck, you know,” he said.

The Shepparton victory was the eight-year-old’s 13th career win and meant far more to Barac than just a cheque.

“I bred her and broke her in, so she’s more like a family pet.  We’ve had a lot of offers for her but she’s not for sale. She’s very special to us – if ever I’m feeling a bit down in the dumps, she picks me up.”

Madam Reactor has been virtually Barac’s only racing proposition in recent years, but her unraced younger half-brother Altissimo Storm (The Storm Inside) is in work for a three-year-old preparation.

When he’s not at the track or working horses, Barac can be found at the roadside stall on the edge of Elmore that travellers on the Northern Highway know well – ‘Frank’s Fresh Farm Produce’ – a shed filled with jams, pickles, sauces and in-season produce.

“I grew tomatoes on contract with Heinz – but when they left me without a contract about 10 years ago, I opened the little shop,” Barac said.

“I grow tomatoes and a few other things and have friends to make the pickles and sauces. I just turned 80 in March, but I feel like I’m 21,” he laughed.

“I eat well, and I eat plenty! I always believe in being fit and healthy and I reckon I could still give the young blokes a run, anytime – I walk backwards quicker than they walk forwards!”

Barac works two horses at a time, using the Elmore track and stabling his horses at the property of long-time friend Neville Welsh.

“My wife Laura helps out with the horses and the shop, and my daughter Yvette travels with me everywhere,” he said.

“She’s my golden girl – she comes with me wherever I go, as busy as she is. She’s a hairdresser in Bendigo but somehow still finds the time.”

Barac migrated to Australia from Croatia in 1963, having caught the racing bug early riding ponies in picnic races as a child.

After working in Queensland, he met and married Laura and moved to Elmore in 1968 where the couple built their life – first as tomato growers and later Frank as a trainer.

“I’ve had horses for 45 or 50 years. I became friends with Les Hildebrandt, and we trained together until he passed away in 1985 (as a result of a trials accident),” Barac said.

“There used to be 60 or 70 horses in work at Elmore – now maybe 30. It’s nice and quiet though, and we have all the facilities.”

Over the years, Barac has had success with several notable pacers – including Waterloo Bay, an accomplished standing start performer he trained and drove himself, as well as metropolitan class performer Sheer Lace (17 wins) and Dallas Bianca, winner of the Northern Region Championship in Mildura in 1987, both of whom were trained and driven by Russell Thomson.

“I only stopped driving in races about five or six years ago, but I still like to educate my horses and drive them in trials,” he said.

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink