Hobby trainer’s patience rewarded

Victorian hobby harness racing trainer Wayne Pearson is undoubtedly only joking when he says it might be time to retire his stable star and get her in foal, after her exciting racetrack debut at Horsham last week.

At seven years old, Pearson’s mare Katies Way (BGs Folly – Rileys Way (Panorama) started favorite, and registered a very comfortable and impressive victory in the Heart of Harness Racing Maiden Pace.

The Snake Valley trainer bred the mare (as well as her dam) but, to use Pearson’s own words, getting Katies Way ready to race has been “an exercise in patience”.

“She wasn’t even really meant to be – I’d bought her mum from Ken and Verna Whelan and sent her to get in foal to It Is I.  But when that didn’t work out, I just told them to ‘get her in foal to anything’ – and it turned out to be BGs Folly,” Pearson said.

“He hasn’t really left much, but Katies Way always showed me something.  I thought she had the ability, it was just a matter of when…and I didn’t really think I’d have to wait until she was seven!” he said.

Pearson said Katies Way had been broken in as a two-year-old, but needed some time.

“She was up and going as a three year old, then I had problems with a virus. That was the case a couple of times. Then on top of that, she was slow to mature, and we were just dealing a lot of issues with her all the way along,” he said.

“It’s been a case of sorting out the little one percenters with her, keep ticking them off, and she was learning as she was going along.”

Pearson said farrier Greg Burns, who initially broke in Katies Way, had been a great help in cleaning up the horse’s action.

“She had no heel, and you don’t fix that overnight in one shoeing, they take a long time to grow out.  But Greg hot-shoes her, and was very patient, and she’s able to throw her front feet out now.  Her action looks a bit unusual, but she’s happy with it.”

The other test of patience for Pearson was around getting Katies Way to settle in her trials.

“She was very fiery but James Herbertson was very good, he understood what I was trying to teach her and was prepared to take the time. We won a trial at Maryborough back in January and I said to James we’d go to the races, but he told me not yet.

“Then after we ran second a few weeks back, James jumped off and said ‘yep, we’re ready to go’.”

Accordingly, despite a barrier 10 draw, Herbertson drove Katies Way at Horsham with confidence.  He made a three-wide run from the rear at the 1200 and rolled to the front, eventually scoring by six metres in a time of 2:01.8 for the 2200-metre trip.

Pearson, who works as a supermarket company drover at the Hamilton and Ballarat saleyards, said it was somewhat frustrating finding a suitable race.

“I have to fit my racing around my work, which can be a bit difficult at times, but when you’re a hobbyist, it’s your work that keeps the horses, so it’s the way it has to be,” he said.

“There were plenty of races over the short trip, but they wouldn’t have suited her, which is why she went to Horsham over the 2200 metres.”

Pearson followed his father Bill into the sport.

“I grew up at Korrumburra and my dad had horses and was very keen on them.  I went away from them for a few years, but decided to get my licence in 2002 and I initially had horses at Ken Whelan’s place.  I learnt a lot from him, and he’s a very patient trainer, so I think some of that has probably rubbed off!” Pearson said.

Pearson has enjoyed successes over the years with horses including Ferocious Son, Watchmaka Lombo, Jet Cruiser and Rustys Way, but perhaps late bloomer Katies Way might just be the best of them.

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink