Still winning and loving it at 14!

Durable pacer Baccarat (Bettors Delight) showed there’s plenty of run left in his 14-year-old legs yet, after posting his seventh win for the season at the Hamilton harness racing meeting on Wednesday (September 6).

“Fourteen’s just a number, isn’t it?” his jovial part-owner Warren Viney laughed.

“He’s honestly been a lovely old horse since I bought him three years ago.  I think I paid only about $5000 for him on account of his age, but he doesn’t know how old he is! He still wants to be a racehorse and he just loves what he does,” he said.

Baccarat’s 32^nd career win came at start number 299 – and with 77 placings in the mix, brought his earnings to $229,574. For each of the past two seasons Baccarat’s recorded seven wins, and continues to race with remarkable consistency.

“He’s not that fast these days, but he tries his hardest and he is just one of those lucky horses who hasn’t had too many problems over the years.  He has really good legs,” Viney said.

“I bought him with (Tasmanian trainer) Ben Yole and he won a few in Tassie, but most of the races in his class were done on barrier draw on lifetime wins so he was always drawing out the back.  It made it hard and when Ben set up the satellite stable in Victoria he asked me if I’d like to send him over,” he said.

“He still wants to be a racehorse. But the moment he tells us he doesn’t want to do it anymore he’ll retire and we know he has a home with his original owners when he finishes racing.”

Viney says programming in the lower-class races allowed Baccarat the opportunity to, on occasions, find the front, where he does his best work – resulting in 12 wins from his Victorian campaign.

The Hamilton victory was one of three on the day for reinswoman Taylor Youl, who is enjoying a breakout season with 49 winners.  It was the first treble of the young driver’s career, also scoring at with handy trotter Andover Sun (Andover Hall) and pacer Bettor Sport (Sportswriter).

“Baccarat’s a funny old fella – he still shies at everything and acts like he’s still a two year old,” Youl said.

Viney said harness racing at all levels was something he was enjoying even more following his retirement from his business involvements at Spreyton Apple Orchards 12 months ago.

He races “around 14 or 15” with his most notable recent success in the $200,000 APG 2YO Gold Bullion Colts and Geldings Final at Menangle, with War Dan Buddy (Art Major), a horse he owns in partnership with one of Australia’s biggest owners, Danny Zavitsanos.

“I first got into harness racing when I was about 52 or 53 – someone suggested I should be putting some money into superannuation, but I thought that sounded a bit boring!” Viney said.

“I thought racing would be more fun.  Some people around me had got into gallops and greyhounds, but they weren’t for me, so I bought a few horses to race with Beau and AJ Tindale,” he said.

“I still have horses with them, and for the past few years with Ben in Tassie, and since I met Danny through a horse we had together with Beau (Soho Wonder), we also race a few with Emma Stewart.

“We’re business partners now and great mates, like family, and that’s one of the great things about the sport.  The fun you have and the people you meet on the way.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink