Redwood has Colin champing at the bit

Maryborough harness racing trainer Colin Phillis hasn’t got a horse engaged in this weekend’s cracker Redwood trotting day on Sunday – but it’s still shaping up to be the highlight of his year.

The Maryborough Club President’s feet have barely touched the ground for a month with all that’s entailed with running the biggest event for square gaiters in Australia, a three-day carnival of pure trotting.

Everything from sweeping out boxes, to helping club secretary Les Chapman with the administrative load, Phillis clearly thrives on the unique energy “The Redwood” brings.

“There were 378 nominations for Redwood Day on Sunday, and we’ve got 150 horses engaged in 12 races – that speaks volumes itself about where trotting’s at and where it’s going,” Phillis said.

“There were 54 two-year-olds nominated for the Aldabaran Park Redwood Classic itself which is just incredible. And last Friday we had full fields for the three heats of the trotters derby that were very strong. Again today (Friday) we’ve got full fields in most of the nine races,” he said.

“It would have to be the biggest group of trotters ever assembled in the Southern Hemisphere to my knowledge and I’d say it would challenge any other place in the world. It’s just fantastic.”

This year’s Redwood Carnival is underpinned by a new long-term sponsorship agreement aimed at increasing interaction with the local community and boosting participation in the sport.

Aldebaran Park principal Duncan McPherson signed up to the five-year deal, due to his own commitment to the ongoing success and sustainability of trotting.

“It’s exciting times for our sport and I think that if we can get syndication models going and then obviously create opportunities for participation both from an ownership and also from an experience point of view, why not?” McPherson said.

Alongside the feature 2YO Redwood Classic on Sunday, the $75,000 Haras des Trotteurs Victorian Trotters’ Derby will be a showcase for the three-year-olds.

Watch from the sulky as young reinswoman Tayla French gives one of the Derby chances, Parisian Artiste, his final hitout here: fb.watch/8W9wrlIqlv/

Phillis said although spectators would again be absent from this year’s Redwood, the live coverage of Trots Vision was continuing to build the atmosphere and awareness of the carnival.

“It’s really cruelled us the last two years not being able to have crowds on track. I’ve been getting phone calls for the past two weeks from people wanting to know if they can come, so that’s really disappointing for this year,” he said.

“But last year’s Redwood racing was fantastic, and this year is going to top that, so Duncan has given us some real impetus about pushing forward, taking advantage of opportunities to improve our club especially, and to promote square trotting overall.”

Phillis is as passionate about trotting as anyone, but the son of legendary Sydney trainer Alf was not born to square-gaiting.

“My dad had more pacers than trotters, but he did have a few, and I always just loved them,” Phillis said.

“I had a horse called Bindaboo Major that I won 25 or 30 races with. He won the Australasian Trotters Championship, and he was one of the first trotters to come down from NSW to Victoria and beat the Victorians!” he said.

“I shifted to Queensland later in life and had up to 40 horses in work up there, but there wasn’t much happening with trotters at the time.

“Myself and a few others who loved trotting started to try to get it going up there which we eventually did, and then we managed to get the first metro trotters race. It just went on from there.

“When my wife Sandra and I moved down here to Victoria about 15 years ago it was really because of the trotters, and at Maryborough we couldn’t have found ourselves in a better place!”

Phillis will be his usual busy self today and on Redwood Classic day on Sunday – working the gate, jumping in as track attendant and performing trophy presentation duties.

But next year he’s holding out hopes that he might have to add an additional role to the list.

“I’d actually retired from training, but I’m back working a couple again now. We have a rising two-year-old filly, and I’m really liking the way she is coming along – so I’m just hoping she might make it for the Redwood Classic next year,” he said.

“We’ve never had a starter in the Redwood Classic itself, never even ever raced a two-year-old trotter before. We haven’t ever actually won a race on Redwood Day although I’ve gone close a couple of times with Pretty Little Lucy. It’s never too late with these things!”

To view the fields for Maryborough Sunday click here.

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink