Persistence! Ikara’s remarkable return after three years

Victorian harness racing horseman Barry Ainsworth has pulled off a remarkable training feat with stable “project horse” Ikara (Andover Hall) scoring a victory at the trotter’s first start in over three years.

Lining up for his first race appearance since March 2022 in the Aldebaran Park Trot at Bendigo (July 2), and driven by Ainsworth’s son Ashley, the eight-year-old’s six-metre victory was as emotional as it was satisfying.

“He tore a hamstring just about off the bone three years ago, so it was always going to be a long break, but we’ve been mucking around with him, it feels like years to get him back!” Barry said.

“I brought him up quite a few times and never really let him stride out early, I’d only let him get to half pace.  It’s been a lot of backwards and forwards with him, so it was a pretty satisfying win.”

Ainsworth said the trotter’s gait had always been his biggest challenge and even now, the jury is out.

“He has always been one of the worst-going trotters ever, and I was just hoping that once the hamstring healed that he might trot better. He didn’t!” he laughed.

“He strides too far and throws himself out of balance. If you hang onto him, he is alright but once the excitement takes over there are legs going everywhere. I don’t know how many races he’s lost by galloping when he’s out in front!”

Despite trotting a little ungenerously at times at Bendigo, Ikara proved too good for his rivals, defeating Azalea May (Brett Shipway) and Midnite Muscle (Josh Duggan). He will line up again this Thursday at Ballarat in the Coca Cola Trot, with Jason Ainsworth to take the reins, while Ashley drives stablemate Singara Ted.

Ikara is owned by Barry’s wife Katrina, and the family, in conjunction with Ashley, has prepared teams of up to 30 at times from their Moyreisk property, near St Arnaud, in northcentral Victoria.

But Ainsworth said the couple had refocussed and downsized to a team of eight after a decision by Ashley to focus on his farrier work full time and the outlook for harness racing in Victoria.

“We’ve been toying with the idea of getting a gallops training licence for a while,” he said.

“I’ve almost completed the application, and we’ll probably buy a few and just keep it as a hobby. It’s just too hard and too stressful to try to keep going in harness racing at the level we were.”

The family was also rocked by the tragic paddock death of promising trotter Argyle Rocks earlier this year.

“To be honest, losing Argyle Rocks nearly finished me with the sport. Katrina and I took a while to find our feet, but we’ve gradually got ourselves into a new routine and we’re working at a different pace now.”

While still passionate about their small team of trotters, Barry said the operation is now purely for enjoyment.

“It’s pretty much a hobby for us now – we play around with our own ‘pets’,” he said.

“We’re basically down to our own trotters.  We’ve got some well-bred mares who are basically just up the paddock eating, and that’s what they’ll do for the rest of their life.”

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink

Barry and Katrina Ainsworth with their son Ashley after the emotional win by Ikara (Victorian Square Trotters Association photograph)