Ben Settree’s Birdsong fairly flying in the Breeder’s Challenge series

You’d be hard pressed to find a person in harness racing not delighted to see Ben Settree crack it for an exceptional two year old filly. The much respected horseman has the good fortune to own the fleet footed Birdsong (Huntsville – Dizygotic Lass), winner of six from eight including the Bathurst Gold Tiara Final in March. She strolled home in a recent Breeder’s Challenge heat at Menangle and is unlikely to race again before the semi-finals on October 17th. In winning the heat she zoomed up the straight in a mind boggling 25.9 seconds.

Birdsong is a tall rangy filly with the sweetest of actions. She’s still perfecting her technique, and wears a few items of gear which will probably not be required going forward – to wit near side pole, Murphy Blind and shadow roll. Trainer KerryAnn Morris uses shin and knee boots but mainly as a precaution.

BIRDSONG BREEDERS CHALLENGE HEAT REPLAY

Had it not been for a relocation to the Mid North Coast over two years ago, Ben almost certainly would have been training the filly himself. As it turned out he no longer had access to a training track and found himself in the position of having to place his promising filly with another trainer. That decision required very little thought. Not only does his association with KerryAnn and Robert Morris go back a long way, but the Menangle duo have already enjoyed great success with the Settree owned veteran Kanena Provlima. The stable has won 11 races with the hardy old horse including Ballarat and Shepparton Cups, and got him to no less than four Inter Dominion Championships. He was placed in one heat and actually made one Grand Final finishing 7th to Leap To Fame in 2023.

Before leaving Kanena Provlima we should say the old boy is representative of the kind of horse every owner and trainer dreams about. Still as sound as a bell, the iron gelding had his 195th start at Menangle on September 26th. His career record stands at 26 wins, an amazing 41 placings and a more than respectable $472,000 in prize money.

“Not bad for a horse who’s a few metres short of absolute top class,” was Ben’s tongue-in-cheek comment.

He’s making no such comment about the exciting new filly who coincidentally descends from Kanena Provlima’s family. Ben was still living and working at Brooklyn Lodge Stud when Birdsong was foaled in the Spring of 2023. Her dam, the non winning Dizygotic Lass is by the highly influential Art Major from blue hen broodmare Kalypso, the high profile dam of four time Gr 1 winner Caribbean Blaster, War Dan (18 wins) and Protikori (18 wins).

Birdsong’s sire Huntsville (Somebeachsomewhere) won 15 races with 8 placings in the USA for $1.7m in prize money. He was rated two year old pacer of the year following his world record 1:49 at the Red Mile in 2016. A year later he added the Meadowlands Pace to his CV in 1:47.4.

Ben was around the filly from the day of her birth and liked her immensely from the outset.

“She was built the right way, displayed a lovely temperament and was as  smart as any foal I’d ever handled,” Ben said.

Doug and Janet Moore had begun negotiations to sell Brooklyn Lodge and were planning to move most of their horses on.

“The wheels started turning from the moment I learned the Huntsville filly was to be sold at the Nutrien Winter Woolies Weanling Sale,” recalled Ben.

“Melanie liked her as much as I did, and agreed we should throw in a bid or two on the online sale. We were greatly relieved when bidding ceased at $17,000 and we had ourselves a very stylish weanling filly,” Ben said.

That weanling had grown into a very strong yearling by the time Ben made the move to South West Rocks. Darren Reay was the man to get the job of breaking her in at his well known Medowie Lodge operation 34km north of Newcastle.

“It’s a common belief that experienced breakers can often judge the potential of young standardbreds by the way they move in the hopples when being gaited up,” said Ben.

“Darren Reay has broken in and educated many a yearling, and I can tell you I pricked my ears when he asked if this filly was for sale. Six wins later, some of them by big margins, we find ourselves with a lovely pacer whose turn of speed is pretty exciting,” Ben said.

The ever practical Settree made the decision some years ago to ease himself out of race driving on the basis that he simply wasn’t getting enough practice.

“I was driving my own horses only, and sometimes I’d go two or three weeks without a drive,” said Ben.

“There’s no way I could compete against blokes who were going around on a regular basis. It wasn’t fair to my horses or my owners,” Ben said.

Benny had never been too proud to stand aside for a driver who was getting plenty of match practice. You’ve only got to reflect on the unselfish decision he made in 2008 when he had a couple of nice two year olds aiming up for the Bathurst Gold Crown. He appointed Glenn McElhinney as Emjayem Grand’s regular driver while he put himself on Bourgeoisie who wasn’t as well educated as his stablemate. Emjayem Grand went into the Gold Crown Final at his sixth race start, Bourgeoisie his second.

It’s now history that McElhinney drove Emjayem Grand a slashing race to win off the second row.

The inexperienced Bourgeoisie pulled hard behind the leader, before weakening to sixth. Benny couldn’t have been happier had he driven the winner himself. That’s the kind of bloke he is.

To observe Settree’s total dedication to the harness horse today, it’s hard to believe he was well into his twenties before he put a bridle on a pacer or trotter. When it comes to saddle horses, it’s a very different story. He joined a local pony club at a very early age, and was so adept with difficult horses that he was frequently asked to “straighten out” somebody else’s problem pony. Every now and again a polocrosse horse would turn up at the Settree farm to receive a lesson in manners from the gifted boy rider.

The Ben Settree story is one of harness racing’s most romantic tales. Born in Hay, Ben was just two years old when his father Tony was killed in a light plane crash near Rankins Springs in the Riverina. His mother Carmel took him and older brother John to her hometown of Goulburn, where she courageously picked up the pieces of her life. Carmel later remarried and was destined to have five more children to Ben’s stepfather Neil Croker.

“I called him Dad from the beginning and we are great mates to this day,” Ben said.

At age 13 young Settree opted for a stint in boarding school, and would spend the next six years at the famous St Gregory’s College at Campbelltown where he gained his Higher School Certificate.

He was later accepted by Sydney University where he hoped to gain a Bachelor Of Science in Agriculture, majoring in Animal Science.

Three quarters of the way through the course, the 21 year old decided to put his studies on hold while he took a 6 months sabbatical overseas. Ben spent five months in Canada where he worked on farms, followed by a month in Wales doing nothing but playing the tourist. On returning to Australia he resumed his University studies and was delighted to learn that his final year would be spent at the University of Sydney’s Rural Veterinary Centre at Cobbitty.

Within days the young man found himself hopelessly distracted by the presence of a young female student who was also pursuing a Bachelor Of Science in Agriculture Degree. Twenty one year old Melanie Moore was the daughter of Doug and Janet Moore who ran the successful Brooklyn Lodge Trotting Stud at Aberdeen in the Hunter Valley. Ben had the good manners to listen to Melanie’s frequent assurances that standardbreds were very special animals.

Melanie had two of her father’s “homebreds” stabled at Jim Caffyn’s nearby Menangle property, and would work them before or after her University sessions. It wasn’t long before Ben’s education in the training of harness horses began.

“For many weeks Mel and I would jog the two horses side by side as I slowly adapted to this new experience,” Ben said.

“One day she decided to work her horses together in the hopples and invited me to drive one of them. I got around satisfactorily, Mel was happy and I was absolutely besotted. It goes without saying that I was feeling the same way about my instructor,” Ben said.

The University graduates married in 2000 about a year after the bride’s parents had relocated Brooklyn Lodge Stud to The Lagoon near Bathurst. They had produced many winners from their Aberdeen property, but felt a trotting stud in the heart of a massive thoroughbred hub wasn’t an ideal situation. Over the next twenty six years Brooklyn Lodge was one of Australia’s most respected nurseries and a major player at yearling sales in Sydney and Melbourne.

“I remember one season when Brooklyn Lodge freeze-branded 186 foals,” said Ben.

It was inevitable that the Settrees would eventually move onto Brooklyn Lodge and form a partnership with Melanie’s parents Doug and Janet. As a team they kept the stud at the forefront of the NSW standardbred breeding industry, and earned the loyal patronage of clients from all over Australia. Brooklyn Lodge was also a happy home for Ben and Melanie’s children Jessica (now 23) and Justin (now 21). Jess is at University in Canberra, while Justin lives in Sydney and is working in the Disability Services business. Both were capable riders but neither was bitten by the harness racing bug.

All in the trotting industry were deeply saddened in 2015 when a freak accident left Doug Moore paraplegic. It’s well documented that the respected horseman fell through the roof of the Brooklyn Lodge barn moments after he’d secured a couple of loose sheets of roofing iron. With the love and support of family and a fierce resolve, Doug made a wonderful fist of getting on with life. His consultation on stud matters was always keenly sought and for many years the Army would have been required to get him away from his favourite spot in the lounge area at the Bathurst trots.

Following the sale of Brooklyn Lodge the Moores moved onto a house block in the delightful Southern Highlands township of Exeter.

You could fill a decent sized page with the names of successful Australian participants who are second, third and fourth generation trotting people. In fact, trainers and drivers who’ve had no previous connection with harness racing are as rare as a blue diamond. Ben Settree is the first to admit that thirty years ago the sport of harness racing was completely foreign to him. Today his entire life continues to revolve around the standardbred horse. His passion for the breed has continued to grow from those heady days on the old Menangle track, when he was given his initial tuition in the art of handling a pacer.

He and Melanie are now based on a twenty five acre property just outside South West Rocks where they look after a broodmare band numbering fifteen – four of their own, and eleven “boarders”.

They live on the property and have developed a small business by converting a former “granny flat” into a well appointed Airbnb which sustains a healthy occupancy rate. Ben and Melanie have also purchased another twenty five acre block just north of Kempsey which gives them “fresh agistment” when required.

Forgot to mention there’s a certain sign you’ll find at the entrance to the Settree farm at South West Rocks. The property was originally known as “Birdsong.” From the day Ben first drove through the gate he made up his mind to give that name to the first good filly to come his way.

He didn’t have long to wait.

By John Tapp for Harnesslink