Country horseman hits bullseye in the city

Energetic trainer-driver Glenn Bull set a target of 20 winners at the start of the harness racing season—and he’s achieved that in the best possible way.

Bull, based at Derrinal, between Bendigo and Heathcote, landed his first-ever Saturday night Melton winner when he steered Treacheroustimes (Captaintreacherous) to an all-the-way win (Sept 10).

“I wasn’t worried that I only rolled along at a leisurely rate. If they let me get away with it, I didn’t care because I knew my fella would sprint home very quick,” Bull said.

And sure enough after splits of 30.5, 31 and 29.3, Treacheroustimes lengthened stride and pinged home in 27.6 to take out the Caroline Springs RSL Members Pace, beating Over The Odds and Just As Well.

Bull has predicted a bright future for his speedster who has won six races this season with seven placings from 21 starts.

“He’s a nice type who should keep on improving,” he said.

“I’ve had a few over the years who have come through. Banjoe won 12 races and just missed out on winning at Menangle one night. Sweet Creation’s won 14 races, Styx Vixen won 10 and Can’t Explain It got seven or eight wins,” he said.

Bull, his wife Corinne and their two daughters Tiffany and Melissa have been living at Derrinal for 12 months, after relocating from New South Wales.

“Derrinal’s a lovely place. We’re on 100 acres and we’ve put in a track which is on a hill. All the rain has caused a few headaches, but it’s nearly all sorted now. All the horses are trained out of paddocks and it’s a beaut little spot where we are.”

There was little time to reflect on the Melton win, with all hands-on deck on Sunday to prepare the stable’s three runners at Shepparton.

“We were all hard at it – Corinne, Tiffany and Melissa are always a great help and were all flat out helping me, so no, we didn’t have much of a chance to celebrate!”

Bull, who had no family connections with harness racing, found his way into the sport through trainer-driver Fred O’Brien who lived nearby.

“My dad Ron had grapes and a poultry farm at Lake Boga, near Swan Hill. When I left school, I went and worked for him. Freddie just lived down the road a bit and I started going down there,” he said.

“Then I met another guy, John Garrard, who was mucking around with a few horses. It just sort of took off. We were at ‘Boga for 30 years and then shifted to the NSW mid north coast to Tuncurry and ran a motel that was on the beach.

“After five years, we moved to Newcastle, and I just did the horses for three years. Our son Rhys lives in Bendigo and our other son Tristan lives in Melbourne, so it just made sense to shift down to here.

“It couldn’t be better because we’re so central to a number of tracks.  It’s about 75 minutes to Melton, while Kilmore is 45 minutes away and Bendigo about half an hour. Then there’s Maryborough, Echuca and Shepparton all reasonably close.”

Bull, who has 85 career wins, is enjoying his best-ever season.

“When we had the poultry farm, we were doing 12,000 chooks, and it was very good at times. But I don’t miss them one bit now —give me the horses any day!”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink