Milestone moments for 85yo and teenage driver

Victorian teenage concession reinsman Liam Older and one of Australia’s oldest harness racing participants Ray Cross are celebrating a special moment at Melton’s harness racing meeting on Saturday night (May 25).

Older, 19, and Cross, 85, both recorded the first Melton Metropolitan class victories of their careers when Countess Chiron (Imperial Count) scored a strong win in the 2Construct Trotters Final.

Countess Chiron was just a two-year-old when Cross, and his wife Janelle relocated from Queensland to Victoria in 2019 – and her win at Melton was the 18^th since.

Cross had previously enjoyed multiple metropolitan wins at Albion Park, but a city class event at Melton had eluded him.

“It was pretty special for both of us, and Ray was a bit emotional actually. It was a bit of a hoodoo for all of us, the horse, Ray and I, and we broke it. It was a nice little win,” Older said.

“Ray’s incredible.  He’s got the horse going well and if she gets the right luck in running, she is always in the finish.”

The trio will get the opportunity to repeat their history-making moment next weekend. Saturday night’s victory was the second win in three days for Countess Chiron and Older – she scored comfortably at Maryborough on Thursday (May 23) in the Aldebaran Park Sweetheart Trot Heat – the $15,000 final of which is at Melton on June 1.

Older has been driving most of the Cross team since the middle of last season.

“I was at the trials one day and another driver couldn’t make it to drive one of Ray’s.  I was working with Glenn and Julie Douglas at the time, and Glenn suggested to him to ‘chuck this young fella on’.

“From then he just started slowly putting me on more and more, and I’ve learnt a lot from him.  He has taught me a lot about trotters, how to get on with them, and his horses have taught me a lot. Ray’s very fair and I appreciate what he and Janelle have done for me.”

Older is making the most of his opportunities since also arriving from Tasmania in 2023 to try his luck in Victoria.

“None of my family was involved in harness racing at all, but my family was good friends with the Laugher family.  I started going out to their place at the weekends and driving horses and got really interested.”

Older watched the development of Group 1 winning driver Jack Laugher, six years his senior, and the idea of a career in the sport took hold.

“I was supposed to finish school, but at the end of year 11 a full-time position came up at the Todd Rattray stable. Mum and dad were keen for me to finish school, but they were pretty keen for me to do what I wanted – so they were happy with that,” Older said.

“I was there for about a year, until I won an award in Tasmania that funded me to come over to Victoria for a week at Glenn and Julie’s stable. I loved it so much that the next week I went home and booked the boat trip back to Victoria and told my family I was going to move.  Mum wasn’t so happy with that!”

Now working for Ellen Tormey and Jack Laugher’s stables at Bendigo, Older has 78 wins to his name. With 19 wins in the bag so far this season, his personal best (33 wins, in season 2022) is in his sights.

“I’ve got some loyal people who support me, like Ray, Zac Steenhuis and Jack and Ellen, and I really appreciate that.

“Jack and Ellen are fantastic; I really can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me. We chip away in the mornings and work about 20 horses between us and then we’re able to duck off to meetings later in the day.

“I’m lucky to be able to learn off two of the best drivers in Victoria and there’s always plenty of feedback on how I’m going!

“I have a bit of a goal of around the 50 mark for this season and I am travelling alright at this stage.  If I could get to near that mark, or break that, I would be really happy.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink