Little Yankee posts 80/1 boilover in comeback

Victorian hobby trainer Lindsay Rogers and his mate Little Yankee (Yankee Spider) have ridden the ups and downs and bumps of harness racing life together for nearly a decade – but victory at Melton on Saturday night (Feb 15) was definitely one of the “ups”.

At his first start for more than six months, the nine-year-old known around the stables as “Jack” was the rank outsider at 80/1 in the APG Trot, but trotted faultlessly and, driven to perfection by Connor Ronan, scored a thrilling win.

Watch the replay, click here.

“I was up at the tables (at Melton Entertainment Park) when the race started, but the closer they got to the finish line the further I got across the grass to the fence – I was jumping up and down a fair bit by the end!” Rogers laughed.

“Coming around the home turn when he’d sat in the one-one I thought this could be embarrassing if he doesn’t finish it off, but it was a great drive by Connor.”

The win took the square gaiter’s career record to nine wins and 11 placings from just 57 starts.  He strung together a series of four successive wins in his four-year-old season and won at metropolitan level at five.

But Rogers, a retired truckdriver who suffers from back issues from a life on the road, said Little Yankee’s extended time on the sidelines, including his most recent long layoff, were due to a range of factors.

“He had a fall at Ballarat (in 2023) when a horse galloped in front of him and he got his foot caught in the wheel – I thought he’d broken his leg,” Rogers said.

“I gave him some time off after that, and when he came back one of his runs was okay but the next couple were pretty ordinary, so I put him in the paddock and didn’t worry about him.

“I had a bit of work done on my back as well, so it worked out okay that we both had a bit of time off. This time in, I put him on the jogger for a month to get a few miles into his legs, then took him to town for a hitout a few times and then trialed a couple of times.”

Rogers bred Little Yankee, who is the only progeny of his unraced pacing-bred mare Admirals Image, sired by Admiral Holliday, a Group One performer raced by Lindsay’s father Ray.

Ray was a fine conditioner of standardbreds and formed a formidable partnership with Lindsay’s younger brother Bryan, a talented reinsman who represented Victoria at the national level in the 1980s.

“Horses have always been in us, and Bryan was a good driver, but when dad passed away, we left the sport for a long time. Bryan has Parkinsons Disease now, but he still helps me out where he can and drives fastwork when I go into the Ballarat track.

“For me, I’m kind of thinking when ‘Jack’s’ finished, I might finish up too.

“I was actually trying to get him ready for the Birchip Cup (March 9).  That’s my hometown and I’ve never won a race there.

“He goes back an extra 10 metres though after the win, but he seems to be jumping out of his skin. We always used to go to Birchip when dad was alive, and I’ve got my sights set on that.  That would be something special.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink