Tribute on Finals night to Gavin Lang

Harness racing will honour a legend tomorrow night, with participants pausing for a ceremony and a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the late great Gavin Lang.

The legendary trainer and reinsman, who passed in April at age 61 after battling a rare type of lymphoma, will be celebrated and remembered with a ceremony at 7.40pm, when a video presentation will precede a minute’s silence and a lap of honour by Pantzup, the last horse to deliver Lang a victory.

Pantzup will be driven by Lang’s mate and fellow reinsman John Caldow, who said the tribute was “going to be fitting, that’s for sure”.

“It’s a Group 1 night, Breeders Crown – that’s him,” Caldow said. “This is what he lifted for, when he was always at his best.

“It’s a perfect night to honour him. He was a good mate, so it’s good to be a part of it.”

Lang won an extraordinary 18 pacing and trotting Breeders Crown titles, with the first being with Self Denial and The Sentry in 2003 and the last with Moonshine Linda and Born To Rocknroll in 2019.

He won an astonishing 6300 races from 32,000 starts and earned almost $50 million in stakes for connections, and a display will be set up in the inner circle of the track near the finishing line to honour him, with all participants to be invited to be trackside for the ceremony.

Lang was regaled as ‘The Iceman’ for his cool head in big races, but Caldow said it was his professionalism, confidence and natural gifts that set him apart on night’s like the Breeders Crown.

“He was just the perfect form student. He knew every horse and backed himself to the metre,” he said.

“He would win by an inch and he would know his horse, exactly what he was doing but also the opposition horses. He was about perfection and would always back himself.”

The ceremony will be streamed live on Trots Vision at thetrots.com.au, where viewers can enjoy wall-to-wall coverage live and free from the first race to the last.

Lang and his father Graeme will also be honoured at Bendigo on December 4 with the introduction of the Gavin Lang Aldebaran Park Trotting Mile for two-year-old colts and geldings and the Graeme Lang Aldebaran Park Trotting Mile for two-year-old fillies, which will be Group 3 races. The night will also feature a series of race names in honour of the Lang family.

These races are an opportunity for juvenile trotters to set a fast mark on one of Victoria’s quickest tracks. The initiative has been driven by Aldebaran Park’s Duncan McPherson, the Bendigo Harness Racing Club, the Victorian Harness Racing Club and Harness Racing Victoria.

Meanwhile, HRV has announced “The Gav”, a trophy awarded to the most successful Breeders Crown driver of the series.

The inaugural “The Gav” will be presented to the driver who collects the most points over the November 20-21 TAB Breeders Crown Finals. The winner will be presented the following week. During each TAB Breeders Crown race, drivers will score points based on: 1st – 3 points, 2nd – 2 points, 3rd – 1 point.

Harness Racing Victoria