Ryan swoops into Young Gun Series contention

Legendary commentator Sandy Roberts anointed Billy Brownless the “King of Geelong” after the trots lover’s match-winning goal booked his Cats an AFL grand final.

In that vein if Roberts was calling yesterday’s trots he may have appointed Ryan Backhouse the “King of Mildura” after the 18-year-old drove five winners.

Backhouse won races one, three, five, eight and 12 on his grand night out, which moved the Mackenzie Creek reinsman to 56 career wins since his 2019 debut season.

The achievement is not lost on Backhouse and something that he will never forget.

“It’s a pretty big thrill,” Backhouse said. “I never thought I would drive five winners in one card and it’s a big achievement.”

The stellar night for Backhouse moved him into the top eight of automatically qualifiers for the Garrard’s Horse and Hound New Year’s Eve Young Guns Series, which will feature 10 of Victoria’s best under 25 drivers in a December 31 celebration at Melton.

The eight drivers will the most wins between January 1 and December 15 will compete on the big night, with the final two places awarded as wildcards by Harness Racing Victoria.

“It would be a big thrill (to be a part of), it’s going to be good fun,” he said.

The five wins takes Backhouse’s season tally to 40 for the year moving him into the converted eight spot on the Young Gun’s table.

Backhouse’s winners included Artisticbutnaughty ($11), Eugene Bromac ($9.50) and Devil Of A Smile ($9) at each-way odds.

“It feels good. Those horses were probably in the right sort of races and it was probably their chance to win,” he said.

“The first one (Artisticbutnaughty) wasn’t that hard and he just got in the right position and sort of just did it himself from there.

“The second one (Eugene Bromac), he pulled a bit, which made the arms work a bit, and they just got the right run … and they were in the right grade.”

The 18-year-old didn’t celebrate his achievement in the way most would expect.

“I just went home to bed. I had been up since 6.30am and the last race was at 11.04pm, so it was a pretty big day,” Backhouse said. “It’s probably one thing on the resume, something I might use as an inspiration.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Lachlan Mitchell, for Harness Racing Victoria