A Major Rush For Gilbert
A Major Rush For Gilbert
7 February, 2019
Harness
H
HARNESS
Graham Gilbert’s special win with Major Rush in Saturday night’s $30,000 Group 3 Grafton Electric’s Northam Pacing Cup (2560m) was not only a career highlight for the Myalup-based trainer, but a brilliant story of the bond between man and horse.
Gilbert, born-and-bred in Mount Pleasant, has been involved in the harness racing industry for more than three decades.
He was first introduced to the sport through his mother, who came from farming stock and is part of the well-known Treasure harness family.
Gilbert, now 63, made his living as a roofing contractor and worked predominantly in the north-west of Western Australia, completing long stints in Tom Price and Port Hedland.
He and his wife, Wendy, settled on a 25 acre property between Gidgegannup and Toodyay for the best part of 30 years before relocating to their 130-acre farm in Myalup, a 90-minute drive south of Perth, in 2012.
The couple purchased the property with the intention of retiring, however, Gilbert says the plan didn’t last long.
“I used to do all of the roofing myself, and when I came down here I tried retirement for a while but one thing led to another and I ended up working again,” he said.
“I’m too old to go back climbing up rooves and that sort of stuff, so I drive a forklift for LJM Produce.”
Having watched his uncle and cousins race, drive and train trotters for the majority of his life, Gilbert developed an interest in the caper from an early age.
He had ambitions of trying his own luck out in the sport, however, his widely-travelled lifestyle meant that he was unable to until he settled back in his home state.
“I was never really directly involved in the trots until I came back from a working holiday in Europe when I was about 30,” Gilbert said.
“I always thought ‘I wouldn’t mind doing that’, but it wasn’t until I came back from overseas that I thought I had the opportunity to get involved.
“Someone I knew was looking for someone to give them a hand, so I went and stayed there and I got my reinsman licence and all of that sort of stuff while I was helping them out.
“Then I got my owner/trainer licence and one thing just led to another.”
After mucking around with horses he owned himself for many years, an opportunity to add a young horse to his stable presented itself in early 2000.
A business client of Gilberts was a friend of notorious racing identity George Way and, after getting himself into trouble, Way was looking to offload some yearlings he had purchased at a recent sale.
“They had a property out at The Lakes and, one day when I was up there doing some work, they said to me; ‘do you want a horse?’,” Gilbert said.
“There was a standardbred in a paddock with 30 thoroughbreds, because it was a thoroughbred stud, and I looked at it and said ‘that one’s nice, I’ll take her’.
“She was the one they were already referring to.
“I went home to grab the float and then I went straight back to grab her and take her home.”
The yearling Gilbert had acquired was a Tarsao Investments-bred Northern Lights filly who turned out to be Windsong, the half-sister to three-time Group One winner and former Australian three-year-old Filly of the Year, Innocent Eyes.
After performing only moderately throughout her racing career, Gilbert soon turned his attention to breeding from the regally-bred Windsong.
He bred two fillies from the mare before she slipped her pregnancy the following year, however, the initial disappointment turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Gilbert.
Unbeknown to him, the devastating Black Saturday bushfire which ravaged Victoria in February 2009 would also help him achieve something he had been wanting to.
“I’d always said to Wendy that, when we can, we have to breed to quality,” Gilbert said.
“We wanted to breed to Art Major but, at the time, he was fully booked.
“Alabar donated a service fee to the Black Saturday bushfire appeal, so Wendy signed up and kept bidding for it.
“I was up at Port Hedland working and we ending up getting the service.”
Windsong’s subsequent foal, by leading sire Art Major, would become Major Rush, or “Harvey” as Gilbert affectionately refers to him as.
Major Rush, now an eight-year-old, has gone on to win 15 races and place a further 36 times for Gilbert.
Despite being only 14 hands tall, Gilbert has always admired the entire’s durability and toughness.
“It’s almost like it’s meant to be, how it’s all happened, and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time and when I could afford to spend the money,” Gilbert said.
“We are always there when they foal and the minute he foaled, I looked into his eye and said to Wendy; ‘he’s going to be a nice horse’.
“Even though he’s little, there’s always been something about him that said he had some class.”
The start of Gilbert and Major Rush’s recent stellar week came at Pinjarra on January 28 when, despite enduring a horrid run in transit, the bay pacer still managed to swoop past his seven rivals to win in good time, clocking a solid 1:59:5 mile rate.
After pulling up with a heart rate of just 83 and doing well at the stable in the ensuing days, Gilbert’s plan of taking out the race he had wanted to win for decades was falling into place.
Having been a proud resident in the Avon Valley for close to 30 years, Gilbert dreamt of one day winning the local $30,000 Group 3 Graftic Electrics Northam Pacing Cup (2560m).
Major Rush had placed third and fourth in the previous two editions of the feature event and, after racing off a five-day back-up, the entire defied his $46.10 tote odds to upstage a handy field and score a landmark win for Gilbert and driver Kyle Harper on Saturday night.
“The Northam Cup and North East District Derby were the two races I always wanted to win,” Gilbert said.
“We got the Derby with Roguenrich in 2012, and it was just an awesome performance by the horse in that race.
“Harvey has been knocking on the door for the last couple of years and to get it this year was pretty special.
“It was by far my best win.
“My heart rate would’ve been 300 after the race, but his was only 90!”
Making the achievement even more sentimental was not only the fact that Gilbert and his wife bred and reared Major Rush, but that Gilbert is essentially a one-man band when it comes to his horses.
He breaks-in, track-works, shoes and cares for each of the three horses he has in work himself.
“I’ve never had an open trainers licence, I’ve just always dabbled on my own,” he said.
“I think I have a much better feel for training them than I do driving them.
“I just listen to the horse more than anything.
“Animals will tell you, if you’re tuned in enough to them and listen and pick up enough from them, they’ll tell you what you’re doing.
“Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s what I believe anyway.”
Asked what his immediate plans were for Major Rush, Gilbert says he is in no rush.
“There’s nothing really set for him,” he said.
“There’s no special races in mind.
“He had those two runs in one week and it hasn’t done him any harm at all.
“They live in the paddock here and they’re never locked up.”
Gilbert’s final comments perfectly depict the love and respect he has for his mate.
“He’s a special little horse for us,” he said.
“As long as he’s happy and healthy, we’re safe and happy!”
MICHAEL HEATON