Rick's Hart is at the Show
When Rick Hart lines up for the harness racing heats at the Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show, he will have an angel in the seat beside him.
Rick's late father, Gerry "Snodger" Hart, was the only trainer to win the Nambour Cup three times running.
Harness racing has returned to the show circuit after an absence of about 15 years and Rick is proud to be continuing the family tradition.
He made a special application to race in his father's colours – royal blue with a gold sash – and has been granted approval in time for the show.
Rick, who drove for his father in two of his three Nambour Cup wins (his brother Clint drove the other) said racing at the Nambour Showgrounds would stir lots of memories.
"It's my favourite show, and it brings back memories for all the family for all those years.
"I was going up there with mum and dad when I was a six-year-old kid. I'm 48 now."
Rick's mother, his wife, Jodie, and their four children, Lachlan, 16, Mitchell, 14, Riley, 11, and Ella, one, will also make the trip from Burpengary to the show.
Jodie said they were keen to rekindle memories for her mother-in-law and make some new family traditions.
"When my father-in-law passed away, she didn't really attend a lot of shows after that. It felt like a part of her was missing,'' Jodie said.
"We thought coming up with the kids would be a nice way to make some new memories and take a stroll down memory lane."
Rick and the boys will defy the cold to sleep at the show in the horse trailer, just as he slept in the truck with his father on the show circuit.
He will bring three horses, Torque Factor, It's All Torque, and Brotherly Effort, to compete at the show over the three days.
After giving away harness racing to focus on his family, Rick resumed training only a few years ago.
Driven simply by a love of the horses and the sport, he rises at 4.30am to feed his horses before work and is often not in bed until after 10pm at night.
Although there is no Nambour Cup to take home, Jodie said the show would be perfect for them if her husband was able to drive home a winner in his father's colours.
"That would be the icing on the cake. I think you'd have a whole family of crazy, blubbering people."
Note: 15 harness races will be raced at the Nambour Showground over three days 12 – 14 June with four heats and a final raced daily.
by Courtesy of Sunshine Coast Daily
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