Sprightly octogenarian trainer-driver Bob Kuchenmeister broke a bit of a harness racing drought at Terang this week, and says there was a time when he was maybe thinking of giving it away.
"I don't know how serious I was, but a few years ago nothing was going right with the horses and I looked over and saw my 1971 Chrysler sedan that I use to tow the float to the meetings," Kuchenmeister said.
"It's got a few dents, a big one from a kangaroo, and I thought it needed some TLC and I could spend my time restoring it. But deciding that wasn't something I'd enjoy, I made up my mind I'd better perhaps stick to the horses."
Kuchenmeister is based at a small property at Inverleigh, near Geelong. Now 81, he is still in great health, and, as well as training, is still race-driving and does all his own shoeing.
"I'm a great believer that if I can't shoe them, I shouldn't be training them," he said.
"The horses keep me going. You have to stay active because you don't get faster as you get older!"
Kuchenmeister admits he doesn't drive all that often, but he showed at Terang on Wednesday night he still has the touch with a heady steer to get Leanne Leeann (Danny Bouchea-Possum Point (Extrovert) over the line in the Reid Stockfeeds Trot Handicap.
"She hopped and skipped, and went like a seven-legged camel," he laughed.
"But I noticed she was going okay around the corners, and not so good up the straights. So I got her wound up before the final corner to try and pinch a break and we were able to hang on.
Watch the race replay click here!
"It's been three years and three months since my previous winner, but I have trained a few though in that time."
Bob Kuchenmeister and Leanne Leeanne after their win at Terang this week (Courtesy Terang HRC)
Bob works on a 12 acre property with a 620metre track with his neighbors being Brooke Sadler and her mother Jan McLennan who are the owners of Leanne Leeann.
"There's two creeks and one tight turn that I have to negotiate on my track, but if it rains a lot and puts water into the creeks, they have a day off," Kuchenmeister said.
"I used to jog around the roads because some of the horses I got were 'track mad'-the only problem is that the roads were quiet up until two years ago."
Kuchenmeister said a good mate of his in Mick Cole previously had "Kate" (stable name of Leanne Leeann).
"Mick sort of gave up on her. I drove her over at his place a few times and didn't really like her. She can also be nasty at home in a yard and I don't have another horse beside her," he said.
"Brooke drove her at her first six starts because they teamed up so well in trackwork at home. We now race her with a tail-tie and some other gear and she's getting better.
"I've driven probably about 70 or 80 winners over the years, but I only drive when I have to-mainly if we are having problems. I certainly didn't enjoy Terang all that much, but we'll sort her out!
"Most of the horses I get are thrown out from someone else, they're rejects. You really probably get three out of five of those types to go. But I guess I've had a few handy ones over the 50 years I've been involved."
Kuchenmeister makes no secret about the best horse he's had.
"I went to a property with (the late) Martin Hartnett to look at a horse by Maori's Idol. I decided to leave it alone because I just didn't like it," he said.
"Martin told me there was a heap of youngsters in another paddock and he rattled a bucket of oats and whistled them up. They came galloping up and there was one horse trotting along down the outside that caught my eye.
"Martin told me the horse was mad and I should pick another one. I liked him, though, and I took him home.
"Well, he sure could buck, and kick and carry on! But I persevered for 11 months because a couple of times he really did work along nicely.
"I found that a bucking strap was the secret to him."
The horse was Illawong Ian (Keystone Salute-Just Kaye (Muckalee Strike) and ended up winning 17 races for Kuchenmeister, before being sent to Queensland where he won another eight.
"He never won a Group One, but was placed a few times, including a third in the Collins Mile in 1.58. Two of his wins that stand out were at Geelong. The first time he set a track record and won by 25m and we went back a week later and he broke his own record, winning by 19m this time."
Kuchenmeister said his interest in harness racing went back to his younger days when he had a taxi in the northern part of South Australia.
"I had a mate who had a taxi and he had a trotter. I drove it and fell in love with them and that's where it started," he said.
"My dad Henry John (Jack) was a good horseman doing camp drafting and such, and he tried to discourage me saying if you muck around with standardbreds, you'll get hurt. He was right because I've broken both my hips-one is screwed together and the other is a false one!
"I've had a lot of enjoyment and I've got many good memories. But my satisfaction is really in getting a horse going."
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura