A quick winning result after a long wait

Brett Wahlstrom’s waited a long time to gear up his first winner as a harness racing trainer – but in the end, it took only three starts!

Wahlstrom’s in his “second act” as a trainer in the sport and cheered home his first winner at Cranbourne on Sunday night (June 30) with 10-year-old gelding Kardesler (American Ideal).

“It was a pretty big adrenaline rush,” Wahlstrom, of the Melbourne suburb of Croydon, said.

“I didn’t renew my license when I last had it, back in 1993, and since I got involved again, I’ve had a couple of horses but with other trainers.  It was a good feeling to have a winner in my name,” he said.

Wahlstrom wasn’t born into the sport, but he grew up in the Barossa Valley when South Australia was one of the strongholds of Australian harness racing.

“My parents bought a pub in Kapunda in the early 1980s and we used to run the bar at the Kapunda trots,” he said.

“Those were high-flying days for harness racing and guys like Bill Adams and Merv King were running the Kapunda club.  They held six big cup meetings every year and they’d attract trainers from all over South Australia and Victoria.

“That’s how I got to know people like Vin Knight, Dick Lee and Graeme Lang.  They would bring horses over to race, and stay at our pub.

“It was a small country town, but the trots were big, and all the trainers would come in. They were fun times. We had stables out the back of the pub and we did have a horse go loose down the main street a few times!”

Wahlstrom said his coincidental connection to the industry continued when his parents moved to Geelong and bought another hotel.

“It was the Fyansford pub, and I was working in the bottleshop one day and Dick Lee called in for his two stubbies for the trip home,” Wahlstrom said.

“I asked him if I could come out and give him a hand for a bit which I did.  Then I had a bit of an epiphany that I’d like to work in a big stable, so I got a job with Graeme Lang for 12 months. Then I moved on to work with Jean Feiss for six months.

“Her stable was really flying at the time, and I had got my own trainer’s license at that stage, but then mum rang me and told me I was really needed back at home at the pub, so that was the end of that.”

Wahlstrom had a hiatus from the sport for more than 20 years due to work and family commitments.

“But you know once you get the bug, the bug’s always there!” he laughed.

“So, when I wanted to get involved again, I went up to Eastfield Park at Croydon and had a yack to Laraine McKenzie. I started giving her a hand for a while, just playing around with young ones. But of course, I wanted to get my trainer’s license again.

“I was looking around for a horse and Kardesler came up, coincidentally from Laraine’s sister in Tassie. He’s a lovely horse, he has a few pastern issues that I have to manage, and I can’t overwork him, but I’m loving training again.

“My son Miles is 23 and a part owner with me.  He loves the horses and hopefully we’ll be able to get to the races together with Kardesler sometime soon.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink