Season honor a welcome surprise for Beasley

Victorian harness racing trainer Barry Beasley got a pleasant surprise when he was told that the only trotter he’s preparing at the moment took out a club award last season.

“It certainly was quite a surprise. I didn’t race Fredrhys (Used To Me) too many times at Hamilton, but he did have a win there as well as a few placings,” Beasley, who is based in the Western District, said.

“I race him in partnership with my brother-in-law Doug Coxon and he’s named after two grandsons in our family. While he has his share of ability, he can be a real villain at times. I’ve just had him back at the trials after he was stood down for excessive galloping in a race.”

While Fredrhys took the Trotter of the Year title, other premiership awards at Hamilton for the 2023 season were: Horse of the Year—Yappas Courage (Courage Under Fire); Driver of the Year—Jackie Barker; Trainer of the Year—Marg Lee and Concession Driver of the Year—Taylor Youl.

Beasley, a retired dairy farmer from Kolora, near Terang, said while he is training two pacers at the moment, Fredrhys is his only square-gaiter.

“But I don’t mind the trotting gait. I suppose I got spoilt having a handy little horse in Archleo (Wishing Stone) who won a heat of the Sires Stakes as a three-year-old and then finished second in the final. He came out and won the Stawell Cup after a 12-month break, but he’s gone amiss again and is out at the moment,” he said.

“I actually just got his half-brother out of the paddock the other day and we’ll see how he goes. I’ve never had big teams and probably the most I’ve had going at one time would be four, or maybe five.”

Beasley said his involvement in harness racing had been “pretty much all my life”.

“I guess it would be 50 or even 60 years. And once you get in, it’s a bug. When I was little, my grandfather Harry Elliott had horses and I was always keen – but I was the only one in the family who was interested.

“I’ve broken in quite a few over the years, but don’t do all that many these days. I thoroughly enjoy the sense of teaching a young horse and then getting it up to bowling along.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink