Bernie Winkle bows out a winner

Bernie Winkle (Rock N Roll Heaven), the grand old warrior of Victorian harness racing, has run his last race. 

And appropriately the Julie Douglas trained 10-year-old bowed out a winner saluting in the Zilzie Wines Pace at Mildura, the circuit he made his own. 

The win registered his 65th race success and Glenn Douglas said the timing was right for Bernie Winkle to wander off into the sunset to a lush paddock at the Douglas’ Bendigo stables. 

“We thought it was the right time to do it as retirement age is 65 and it was his 65th win. so it all lined up,” Douglas said. 

“He is healthy and sound and he’ll live out his days here with old Bold Cruiser,” he said. 

Ironically, Douglas admitted he thought Bernie Winkle’s racing days were numbered seven years ago after Harness Racing Victoria made the decision to ban standing start races for pacers. 

“He won four of his first five standing start races here after he arrived from New Zealand and then they barred them and I must admit I thought that would be the end of him,” he said. 

In October 2018 he won at Mildura, the first of 42 wins at the track where he was dubbed the ‘King of Mildura’. 

Bernie Winkle won 10 consecutive races at Mildura in 2020 and a year later scored in nine of 10 starts at the Sunraysia circuit. 

He leaves the race track boasting a record of 65 wins and 83 placings for stake earnings of almost $680,000. 

Douglas said a change in race programming has made the pacer’s task more difficult in recent times. 

“He’s not good enough to win at Melton these days and whereby there was a race once a week for him at Mildura now it’s about once every three weeks,” he said. 

Douglas said the stable was aware the son of Rock N Roll Heaven wasn’t in the elite echelon of performers. 

“Look, he was a horse who absolutely enjoyed racing and always stuck his head out at the end of his races and his times were consistent, so he really never ran a bad race,” he said. 

“Bernie was no champion but to us he’s been a champion horse.” 

For complete race results, click here.

by John Dunne, for Harnesslink