Friends team up for longshot winner

Longtime friends Brian Gath and Brian Kiesey combined at last Thursday’s (Dec 28) Maryborough harness racing meeting to blow punters out of the water with a longshot winner.

Gath has thousands of winners to his name since the 1970s, and his reputation of the “little master” was again at the fore when he kidded 25/1 chance Macho Māori (Father Patrick) to victory in the $10,000 Happy New Year from MHRC Vicbred Platinum Maiden Trot.

“I drove the horse at its previous start and got him around okay. The main worry is to keep him trotting because he’s been losing any chance by galloping,” Gath said.

“The longer you can keep him doing it right, the safer he seems to get. When I eased out on the home corner he was travelling nicely, and he dug in with a flick of the whip.

“So I gave him another one and he really knuckled down. It may have been a bit of a fluke, but I was happy to get the win for Brian because he hasn’t been in the best of health.”

Gath was quick to ease Macho Maori out at the start to keep the square-gaiter in his rhythm.

He chose to stay on the fence and was three back, but when the race favorite and leader Mystery Love switched gaits, went into a pace and was pulled to the outside by driver Josh Dickie, they found themselves sitting pretty behind the leader.

It was short-lived, though, with Jason Ainsworth taking Te Kuiti Kitty to the head of affairs. But in the run to the line, Macho Maori, raced by Fred Crews and family, overtook Te Kuiti Kitty, winning by three metres with Orphan Andy 15 metres back in third placing.

Kiesey has been enjoying a purple patch of late-season form for the Crews family, with wins at Charlton and Melton with Maori Franklin earlier in the month, and at Cranbourne with Admiralofthefleet (Captaintreacherous) the day after Macho Maori’s Maryborough victory. Maori Franklin, also by Father Patrick is out of a half-sister to Macho Maori, Pretty Penny Maori.

“We’ve been friends with Brian for many, many years and he’s been very good to us. It’s great to see him with his small team up and flying at the moment,” Gath said.

“Years ago, I drove a real good horse in Master Kiesey for him and we had a lot of fun. I reckon I might have won a Shepparton Trotters Cup at one time,” he said.

Gath has a team of eight horses in work at his property – the same number being trained by his son Matthew.

Gath drove five winners and 14 placings for the recently-completed season from just 70 drives. In his heyday, for example the 2006-07 season, he landed 163 winners and 187 placings from 774 drives.

These days he’s more than happy to be doing his horses at his farm and cheering on son Mattie and grandson Louis (Emerson) on the racetrack.

“I still look forward to getting up and doing them. It might take me a little longer to do them these days and it did cost me a winner recently,” he said.

“I had to pass up a winning drive because I couldn’t get to a meeting in time— I had my own team to train first!”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink