Tippets top of the class at Cranbourne

Former schoolteacher Ken Tippet has been “living the harness racing life” for 31 years – but he’s still chalking up career milestones.

Tippet and his wife Sue, of Melton, recorded the first ever treble of their career at Sunday’s (Nov 10) Cranbourne meeting – in a season that’s also been memorable for a career record four doubles.

“Everyone works hard in this business, and you never begrudge anyone when they’re having a good run – it’s just nice when it’s you sometimes!” Tippet said.

“Sometimes you go years without having those big days, then all of a sudden it’s your turn and you’re never really expecting it,” he said.

“I thought I could win the first and that I had a good chance with the second but the third one would need a lot to go his way – and it turned out that’s what happened and it all fell into place.”

Tippet was successful in race one with 3yo trotter Hillwinsome (What The Hill), who had been building to a win and was sent out $2.50 favorite. In the second race, the Tippet family-owned Alpha Crucis (Four Starzzz Shark) scored his seventh career victory. And the final of the trio was another trotter, six-year-old Right Of Reply (Majestic Son).

Check the results and replays, click here

Ken Tippet and his brother Glen became involved in harness racing through their dad, also Glen, who dabbled in thoroughbreds and later standardbreds, after buying a yearling he named Young Globe.

“It was trained by Peter Ward, back in the Showgrounds days, and won quite a few good races so that was the start of the harness racing period for all of us,” Tippet said.

“We got pretty keen, and Glen and I used to help a friend work his horses at Altona. One day I was working one too late and the tide came in. I got tipped out and the horse got hurt so to smooth things over Glen bought the horse.  And that’s how we got started on our own.”

As their interest developed, Glen and his dad bought a property near Ballarat, but in the early 1980s they decided to pool their funds and buy a place together at Melton.

“Up until 1992 I was still teaching and working the horses as a hobby.  But around that time I got a really nice trotter called Ratz (Torado Hanover), so I just said to Sue if we can pay off our share of the farm I’d like to have a crack at training horses,” Tippet said.

His hunch proved to be correct – Ratz went on to win both the Victorian and New South Wales Trotters Derbies of that year.

“Glen had just won the Miracle Mile with (Grand Circuit champ) Franco Tiger – and three weeks later the Education Department started offering redundancy packages,” Tippet said.

“So we were both able to pay our shares off the farm, and I’ve been lucky enough to be able to live the harness racing life for 31 years.”

Tippet trains a mix of family-owned and outside horses, including for NSW owners Doug and Janet Moore, the connections of Hillwinsome and Right Of Reply.

“We’d bought a yearling bred by Brooklyn Lodge (the Moore breeding operation) in 2001, Flaming Roadstar (24 wins) so we had a connection with Dougie – and when he had a horse by Rocknroll Hanover that wouldn’t pace and just wanted to trot, he sent it to me.

“So now the trotters he breeds, I train, and we’ve had a great journey with the family – they’re all really lovely people.”

Nowadays, Sue has also retired from teaching and is Tippet’s raceday right-hand help.

“I drag her around the countryside, drag her interstate and everywhere, Suzy will drive the car and float, takes them on and off, washes them and unharnesses them and she loves them too, in her own way,” he said.

“We have a bit of fun. We haven’t had any superstars, but we’ve been okay, and we’ve been able to live a good life doing what I love doing.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink