Older reaches half century

Liam Older ‘raised his bat’ for an unbeaten half century when he partnered Alfie Always (Yankee Spider) to an upset harness racing win in the Pryde’s Easifeeds Trotters Handicap at Bendigo last night.

Sent out the $51 rank outsider, Alfie Always settled behind the leader before being relegated to three back along the pegs when Sangreal took up the front running with 1200 metres to travel.

Older stuck to the pegs when Night Whisperer opted to ease off the leader’s back around the home turn and Alfie Always mustered sufficient speed along the sprint lane to grab Sangreal and score by a neck on the line.

The 18-year-old former Tasmanian admitted he was beginning to experience a level of frustration after landing a winning double at Bendigo last month.

“I was stranded on 49 wins for about three weeks,” Older said.

A friendship with the harness racing Laugher family in Tasmania was the catalyst for Older to gravitate towards the sport.

“My family has no involvement in harness racing apart from we were friends of the Laughers,” he said.

Older had never touched a Standardbred until three years ago.

“When I was 15, Jack’s father Michael asked me if I would like to come over and have a drive of one and I was hooked from then on,” he said.

The ink was still wet on Older’s driver’s licence when he landed his first career win aboard Believe In Forever at Elwick in September 2021.

On leaving school at 16, Older spent a year and a half working for Todd Rattray before seeking the brighter lights across Bass Strait in January.

“I want to make a career out of being a full time driver and there are more opportunities here in Victoria,” he said.

Older has been employed for the past four months at Alex Ashwood’s Junortoun stables following a similar duration with the Julie Douglas camp.

Older admits he has honed his craft by observing several leading drivers at close range.

“Jack (Laugher) has done really well over here and I watch him along with James Herbertson who doesn’t drive a lot of top horses but he gets a lot of winners,” he said.

For complete race results, click here.

by John Dunne for Harnesslink