Jackpot! Kiwi's Aussie return with 125/1 boilover

Former Kiwi horseman Jack Harrington has enjoyed his share of longshot winners but admits his latest 125/1 boilover at Albion Park was his biggest yet.

Four-year-old trotting mare Calders Revenge (Skyvalley) worked forward early to take the lead at Albion Park last Monday (November 2) and was never headed, delivering a memorable victory for the 32-year-old trainer-driver.

“We were reasonably confident in her first few runs, but she bungled the start in a stand and was on the receiving end of some interference in another race,” Harrington said.

“Her work at home has been very good and judging by the number of texts I got from family and friends, there’s a few who did very well with some small bets!”

The upset victory continued a purple patch for Harrington, who has now landed three winners in a little over a fortnight.

He scored with Lizzies Son at Marburg on October 18 and repeated the dose at Albion Park last Friday, before Calders Revenge added to the tally.

And for the former New Zealand horseman, who returned to Australia just six months ago, life couldn’t be going much better.

“I’m based at a property owned by Josh Davine, from N40 Racing at Biddadabba in the Gold Coast hinterland. His head trainer is Michael ‘Mouse’ Brennan,” he said.

Brennan won two Olympic medals for Australia in men’s hockey – bronze in Sydney 2000 and gold in Athens 2004.

“I moved over from New Zealand six months ago and took up a job with them and I couldn’t be happier,” Harrington said.

“The property is awesome and we work well together. I live there and my wife Ashley and our three-and-a-half-year-old daughter will join me soon. Ashley is a jockey and will do trackwork on the Gold Coast for the Michael Freedman stable.”

For Harrington, the move has brought him full circle – back to the country where he was born.

“I was born in Caboolture and moved to New Zealand with my parents when I was very young,” he said.

“Dad is a Kiwi and he owned horses when we were living here. He was into gallopers, but he’s always loved harness racing.

“I grew up on farms and didn’t get into the sport until I was 17. When I finished school I liked the idea of going into the Navy and perhaps being a chef. I played Rugby Union and becoming a sports journalist also sounded like a good idea.

“But getting involved with horses has been a good move and working with horsemen like Andrew Stuart, Tim Butt and Robbie Holmes back in NZ was awesome.”

Harrington eventually moved into “breakers” and pre-training, as well as racing a small team of four.

“I got lucky and had some lovely horses early, including a few really good trotting fillies,” he said.

“I was only 22 when I was racing in features like Group Ones and I really don’t think I appreciated it.”

Hey Yo (Revenue) was a cheap purchase, but she will always be a favorite of Harrington’s, winning on debut and providing the young horseman with his first victory as a trainer.

In the space of 10 race starts, she graduated from a nice trotter to open class and provided the perfect springboard for the young trainer.

“She had a few starts in Australia, under the care of Anthony Butt and Sonya Smith, and was placed at G1 level twice, including the Great Southern Star Final,” he said.

Hey Yo retired from racing with six wins and 13 placings ($100,000) in NZ and two wins and three placings ($51,220) from her Australian campaign.

Also among other stable standouts was Renezmae (The Pres), who was crowned Australian 2YO Trotting Filly of the Year in 2017, and won seven races ($126,768), including the Breeders Crown 2YO Final.

 “We also had Baileys Knight (Christian Cullen) who was an honest cup horse. He ended up in Sydney with Robbie Morris,” Harrington said.

“We certainly did have a lot of success with trotters back in New Zealand.”

But that success came under pressure when the COVID pandemic struck, dramatically changing the fortunes of Harrington’s training operation.

“I had close to 30 horses and then six months later it was down to 10 because people just couldn’t afford to have them.  COVID just ‘stuffed’ me,” he said.

“I took on other jobs like working in a dairy and working the starting gates at Cambridge. For a few years I was also a sales rep for BetaVet, an equine herbal company. I enjoyed all of that, but my love was for the horses, which had suddenly become a hobby.”

The opportunity to return to Australia six months ago offered Harrington the fresh start he was looking for.

“When this opportunity came up, I jumped at it and I’m so glad I did. We’ve still got a nice band of broodmares back in New Zealand so you never know what’s ahead.”

And while Harrington has already compiled an impressive record as a trainer, it’s race driving that gives him particular enjoyment.

“Hopefully I can start to pick up a few more drives from other trainers. Albion Park is great and I also go to Redcliffe and Marburg.”

 

From Terry Gange