‘Gus’ gets home in a night to remember

Passionate Victorian harness racing trainer Kelly Stuart-Mitchell couldn’t have timed it any better when she got back into the winner’s circle with the talented trotter Claudy An Gus (Angus Hall).

“It was a bit like a fairytale! My mum Sandy come over from New Zealand for a 10-day visit and we only had the chance to take her to one meeting – and that was Geelong.  Thankfully ‘Gus’ was on his best behavior,” Kelly said.

Seven-year-old Claudy An Gus pinged to the front at last Thursday night’s (Mar 16) fixture and was rated a treat by Jason Lee to take out the VHRC-Aldebaran Park Benefiting Our Members Trot.

“We were all pretty excited. Mum watches our horses on the television at home with dad on the North Island, but she’s never been trackside before,” Kelly said.

“I told mum before the race I didn’t think I could watch because ‘Gus’ was a bit off his head in the pre-race warm-up. But Jason got him settled and it turned out all good,” she said.

“He really can be mad in that he just charges, and you can’t hold him. He pulls like a steam train. Honestly, if he had half a brain, he could be a serious horse.

“Jason knows him so well and just gives it to him. They’ve been a good combination and now Jason’s driven him to four of our six wins.”

Kelly said ‘Gus’ was a very hard horse both to train and drive.

“I really love him, despite him being a turd at times, he’s my favorite horse! When I started training in late 2020, he was my very first winner at my fourth try,” she said.

“I’d been really pleased with him in recent weeks. He was good at Melton with two placings, and I thought he deserved to win.”

Claudy A Gus was bred by well-known Shepparton breeder and media personality Gus Underwood, who is now a member of the Catchya Racing Group which races the gelding. Other group members are Underwood’s partner Eva Glover along with Steve Harris, Josh Nelms and Daz Aitken, partner of winning trainer Stuart-Mitchell.

“There was also some extra celebration because it was Eva’s birthday a couple of days before.  It was also our first starter since we finished our new property at Mount Wallace, near Ballan,” Kelly said.

“We’ve got 30 acres with a 930-metre track. There’s 12 boxes and we gutted a barn and have re-done it. But until it gets too cool, we’re training them out of paddocks.”

Kelly, who trains under the banner of KSM Racing, comes from a highly successful harness racing family.

Her father Robert Mitchell, now enjoying retirement, will be well-remembered for many, many wins, in particular taking Just An Excuse to the winner’s circle on 16 occasions from just 27 starts for over $875,000. Just An Excuse (Live Or Die) was the last horse he prepared, and won two NZ Cups, the 2004 $75K Ballarat Pacing Cup and numerous other features handled by Kelly’s trainer-driver brother Todd.

She turns her horses out in magnificent condition and says she’s always on the lookout to add more to her stable numbers.

“I guess I’m a passionate person when it comes to harness racing. If I set my mind to something l’m passionate about it and I just love my horses,” she said.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink