Baby steps to big success for Team Angove

Anyone watching the opening races of Victoria’s season for two-year-old trotters would be fully aware that harness racing father and son duo Chris and Brad Angove are having a “red hot crack” with their baby trotters.

At last count, the Angoves, based at Muckleford near Maryborough, had around 15 baby trotters on their books, and Brad Angove says it’s the best group the pair have trained.

“We’re surrounded by two-year-old trotters, it’s the biggest group we’ve had – but we really haven’t got one this season that we don’t like,” Brad said.

“Dad has done a great job with two-year-old trotters for years, so we just decided to go all in on the babies.  I upped my broodmare base, and we thought we’d have a red-hot crack and see how we go,” he said.

“I’m not saying that they’ll be the best of their year, but they’re just a nice group of horses and they’re doing us proud at the moment. It’s pretty exciting for two little guys from the bush trying to keep up with the big guys!”

Angove said by the time the youngsters began their racing careers, “hours and hours” of work had gone into them.

“It all comes down to this time of year. They’ve been in work on and off since around the yearling sale time (this time last year) and they’ve had 12 months of consistent light jog work with little breaks in between and then progressing to fastwork,” he said.

“You wouldn’t really want to work it out, but there’d be hundreds of hours in each one. Is it worth it? I don’t know, but we love it!

“It’s 100 percent effort on our part to get them this far, but once they’re on the racetrack we can’t do any more – we can only watch and enjoy the moment.”

It certainly sets up a “not sure where to look” dilemma for Chris and Brad. The pair lined up six of the eight youngsters in the first two-year-old of the season at Bendigo on March 5 – but it was another Maryborough district trainer Mark Hayes (who had the other two starters) who prevailed.  Aldebaran Tucker (Helpisontheway) scored comfortably by 30 metres over Ceejay on Broadway and Whatta Summer, both trained by Chris Angove.

Check the results and watch the replay here:

But there was not the slightest resentment from Angove.

“I would have loved to win the first two-year-old of the season – but Mark won it, and I was just happy for him,” he said.

“It’s great to see the other people who put in the number of hours that you need to getting the opportunity to race as well.  If we didn’t have the numbers and the horses to the stage they are, the races wouldn’t be standing up, so it’s good for all of us.”

The following week at Maryborough, Team Angove again had six of the runners in the AB Paint 2yo Trot, and it was their filly Ceejay on Broadway (Muscle M Up) that took the result.

Watch the race here:

“How good was it to see the two-year-old trotters getting down the straight together? The margins were a head, a head, a head and they all went around that 2:04 mark. I think that’s just terrific to see,” Angove said.

“I’m pretty proud of me and my dad this year.  We’ve been very focused on just managing the horses.  The first sign of something not right, and they go for a break.  It’s a hard thing to have baby trotters getting to the races not sore and doing good work at this time of year.”

Six of the Angove team will go around tonight (Mar 19) at Bendigo (check out the fields here) and for Brad, he’d love nothing better than to see one of the progeny of his old favorite, Sundons Courage in the winner’s circle.

Bred by Brad Angove, Sundons Courage (Sundon) is the 11-year-old winner of 27 races still racing at free for all level as well as standing at stud at the Angoves’ Truscott Lodge alongside European sire Kvintet Avenger.

“Some mornings I’ll be jogging Sundons Courage and it makes me smile that one of his daughters is jogging over the other side of the track!  He was a two-year-old trotter of the year, he’s still racing, he’s had five to qualify so far this year and we couldn’t be happier with his babies,” Brad said.

“He’s such a beautiful stallion with not a mean bone in his body. If one of his babies could get up it would be a special heart-strings moment!”

Brad said a career with trotters was probably always on his radar.

“Dad got into the trotters when he was young, and trotters, rather than pacers.  He just seemed to click with them,” he said.

“I’ve been working horses with him my whole life – I think dad first put me on a horse when I was about eight. I just loved it.

“And I still haven’t lost that feeling. I don’t care if it’s a Group One, a country race or a restricted race, I still get a rush and yell and cheer my horse home – what other job do you get a rush like that?”

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink