Paddy picks up the mantle with 100/1 winner

Southwest Victorian harness racing trainer-driver John Meade admits he was only too happy – if a little surprised – to hand over the family long-shot bragging rights to his son Paddy at Ararat last week (Oct 19).

The pair claimed the All N 1 Cleaning Services Trotters Handicap with four-year-old mare Brown Eyed Kate (Kvintet Avenger), John as trainer, Paddy as driver, at odds of 100/1.

“I used to often tell Paddy about the time I drove a winner about 15 years ago at Geelong, a horse called Glorys Adam in the heat of the Tontine Series,” Meade said.

“It was $95 the win and $15 the place and I’d tipped it to a mate six months before. I told him to back the horse when it had its first start as a four-year-old – he backed it, but I’d long since forgotten I’d tipped it,” he laughed.

“Anyway, Paddy has got the bragging rights now – and thankfully my wife had her $5 each way on the horse on Thursday night!”

Meade, who has had his share of handy trotters in a long journey, said he’d made only a minor change to Brown Eyed Kate’s gear and preparation after disappointing efforts at her previous two starts.

“She’s not a galloper, but she was a bit sore in the back when she broke three starts ago at her first run back. Then her next run back, we blamed giving her too quick of a backup after a long spell, so I gave her three weeks, nearly a month to her next run – and it was worse!” Meade said.

“I thought alright, what do we do here?  I was talking to another trainer, and he suggested trying her with block winkers, that it might spark her up a bit.  That’s all I can put it down to.  It was the only change we made, but we’ll see when she’s in again at Hamilton (Oct 25) whether it’s more than a once-off.  I personally still don’t really trust her!”

While she mightn’t have Meade’s admiration yet for her ability and application, her composure at the start at Ararat did impress.

“When they come into the straight the first time there were some gallopers and a lot of shifting, but she virtually stepped around the wheel of another horse to avoid trouble, so she did a good job.  We lead her behind another horse, and I think that they learn how to avoid the wheels and keep trotting when things get tight.  She was also able to get to the front then, and that might have helped her too, I think she is a better front-runner.”

It was Meade’s first win for the season, and he admits he’s been going through a quiet time of late with his stable of eight.

But understandably, he’s looking forward to getting back to the track soon with Sierra Kea (Peak) the half-sister of his best ever horse, the injury-plagued Sparkling Success (Great Success), who won 20 races and half a million in stakes between 2016 and 2021.

“He was just a wonderful horse.  I think with the injuries, a lot of people don’t appreciate how good he was,” Meade said.

“He still has the track record for the Maori Mile and he won that sitting parked.  And he still holds the record for the long trip at Melton from his run in the Great Southern Star, again, sitting parked,” he said.

“Sierra Kea has had a bit of bad luck as well, but I think she is pretty handy.  She ran sixth beaten 15 metres to (multiple Group 1 winner) Queen Elida last year when she was just a 55 rater, but she’s had problems with her back and injuries to her hind legs.  She’s almost ready to race again now so I will be glad to get her back.

“And we have a three-year-old half-brother to Sparkling Success called Tricky Diamond (Trixton), who I think will be better as a four-year-old.

“I’m a bit like everyone else in harness racing, we just keep hoping, that we’ve got the one there that will be the next good one!”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink