When Victorian harness racing hobby trainer Jack Sullivan and his square gaiter Major Max (Majestic Son) recovered from a rough start .to win impressively at Cobram in 2023, Sullivan was full of hope at what might be ahead.

Instead, he found himself on a long and frustrating path trying to get to the bottom of the trotter’s racing issues, so much so that Major Max’s next victory was at Kilmore last week – almost two years later.

“At Cobram, we got badly checked just after the gate went – I nearly got tipped out, but he was a terrific run, recovered and won the race. But from there, I was just scratching my head with what had happened with him,” Sullivan, based at Carlsruhe, in the Macedon Ranges, said.

“He would go out of the gate, go 100 metres and gallop, usually at the same place near the finish line where he got into trouble at Cobram,” he said.

“I think he found out how to do it wrong, and it became a habit. At home, you can’t make him gallop but take him to the trials or the races and he would pull like mad and gallop almost every time.

“He’s got more ability than probably any horse I have ever had, but we’ve just had to keep trying things to get his confidence back and get him doing it right.”

That meant a great deal of trial and error, tinkering with gear and shoeing, and lots of help from friends.

“I’ve been lucky to have had a lot of help from so many people, Mick Clover in particular, who gave me a lot of ideas with his gear, some that worked and some that didn’t, but he’s driving beautifully now,” Sullivan said.

“I wouldn’t like to think about how many trials we’ve been to, and Les Chapman at Maryborough has been terrific. If Max messed up, we would pull up and Les would put him into another trial for another go. And eventually we got there. It was a real community effort!”

Major Max, bred by Sullivan and his daughter Nicky Williams, is out of their mare Nicky Newky.  Nicky Newky is by the pair’s own sire Fairly Free (Entrepreneur) out of the good race mare Stagecoach Annie (Red Coach Glory).

Stagecoach Annie was offered to Sullivan by her former owner, after the mare was diagnosed with Stringhalt, a condition of the hind quarters.

“Horses can recover from it, and he said to me if I thought I could help her, then he would give her to me,” he said.

Sullivan and his daughter went on to breed several winners from the mare, including Nicky Newky (two wins), Michaels Mename (six wins), and Red Rustler (one win).

Harness racing wasn’t part of Sullivan’s family background, but he fell in love with the sport as a young man.

“In my younger days I was playing footy but I would go to the Melbourne Showgrounds trots every Saturday night. I loved the trots, I always did,” he said.

“When my knees gave out I had to give footy away and I’d bought a broodmare thinking I might get into harness racing.”

Sullivan began working with respected horseman Pat Cooper and was hooked after just one visit.

“The very first time I went over there, he was taking (1976 horse of the year) Alphalite to South Australia for a feature over there, and he’d just taken over training Crafty Kid. He said to me, well, do you want to just stand and watch, or do you want to do something?

“He put me on Crafty Kid and I led and won the workout – and I was hooked!”

Soon after, Sullivan leased a trotter called Daisy Crockett, and his harness racing journey began in earnest.

“She was the first horse I ever had and she taught me so much – she was unbelievable. It was like she had been here before. We had a lot of fun with Daisy,” Sullivan said.

“Pat taught me so much about fitness and feeding, getting horses going. He was one of the best trainers of all time. But once I started getting into trotters Pat said I can’t help you with trotters! But trotters and especially shoeing them, is something I have always just really enjoyed.”

Sullivan’s best horse was Miss Excellence, who won the NSW Trotters Derby in 1993.

“We raced her mother Fairlane Brigade, who’d been bred by Bill Hanson. And when she went home, Bill bred Miss Excellence and Fairly Free,” Sullivan said.

“It’s always been a family affair. My boys Jeff and Bernie used to help when they were home, they even had licences to drive at the races, but since they went off into their own careers, my wife Glenis has been my stable helper.

“Over the journey, Max has been a lovely horse. He’s won eight races for us and should have won so many more.  We’ve just qualified his two-year-old full sister Chantilly Lass. She’ll have four weeks off now, but we’re tickled pink with her.”

Major Max is next engaged at Bendigo tomorrow night (June 25). See the full fields here:

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink