The Pacing Priest's remarkable journey from pulpit to racetrack

THEY call him the “Pacing Priest” and for good reason.

Father Brian Glasheen’s life has been spent across his two passions, the church and the racetrack.

It was almost 50 years ago when renowned scribe Danny Power dubbed Glasheen the “Pacing Priest” in a story in the now defunct Sporting Globe paper. It stuck and Glasheen, who lives in Bacchus Marsh about an hour west of Melbourne, wears the moniker like a badge of honour.

“I was born into harness racing and it is 55 years since I was ordained. They’ve been intertwined most of my life,” Glasheen said.

“I couldn’t count the number of harness racing people I’ve baptized, married or done funerals for.

“Harness racing has much been a part of my life as the church has and there never been an issue mixing the two.

“I enjoy having a bet, too, I’ve never been wrapped over the knuckles or called in by the archbishop.

“I’d say it’s part of the Irish culture to enjoy the horses and have a bet if you’re a Catholic Priest.”

It was Glasheen’s grandfather, Paddy, who started the family involvement in harness racing in the early 1900s.

It is 91 years since Paddy, who was a professional trainer-driver, won the Victoria Trotting Derby at the old Ascot track in Victoria with Dixie Globe.

Glasheen is trying to win the same race, but for pacers, with his latest horse, New Zealand import Nymbal at Melton next Saturday.

Nymbal qualified for the Group 1 final with a terrific second in his heat.

He is potentially Glasheen’s best horse yet, although his other current star Triple Eight will take some topping.

Nymbal’s 10 Australian starts for trainer-driver Robbie Morris have netted five wins, two seconds and a third.

“He also ran fourth in the Queensland Derby, which may have been his best run. He had nowhere to go and was climbing all over them at the finish. He was so unlucky,” Glasheen said.

Glasheen revealed he had the marvelous old veteran Triple Eight, who is still racing as a rising 12-year-old, to thank for taking a share in Nymbal earlier this year.

“He (Triple Eight) is literally the gift that keeps giving,” he said. “Some of the winnings from Triple Eight have been left in a kitty and we paid for the share in Nymbal out of that a few months ago.”

It’s more than seven years since Glasheen was invited out to dinner by friends Shannon Nixon, Joel Watson and Shane Cook and given a share in Triple Eight.

“We finished eating, they slid some paperwork in front of me and asked me to sign it,” he recalled. “I asked what it was and they told me they were giving me a share in Triple Eight for free because I’d been such a part of all their lives. I’d married them and baptized all their kids.

“It was such a lovely thing to do and what a thrill Triple Eight has given us all for so many years now.

“He’s been to a few Inter Dominions, run in four Hunter Cups and won a Group 1 race (the Caduceus Classic) as well.”

The American Ideal gelding has raced 196 times for 33 wins, 54 placings and is tantalizingly close to topping $A1 million in prize money at $A973,956.

Trainer Jess Tubbs unashamedly calls him her stable favourite.

“Every time we think it might be time to retire him, he’ll come out and win or run a huge race and basically tell us he’s not ready yet,” Tubbs said.

Glasheen said his latest win at Melton on August 22 is a prime example.

“Shannon said he thought it was time going into that race, but then they ran it to suit him and he stormed home for another win,” he said.

“We know the end is close, but nobody knows him better than Jess and she says he still enjoys the training and racing as much as he ever has.

“With a bit of luck, I might have both of them racing on the same (Derby final) night.”

Glasheen also hopes Nymbal might give him another Inter Dominion runner.

Triple Eight contested three of them – Auckland (2019), Sydney (2021) and Melbourne (2022) – being placed in three heats and contesting two finals, the best an eighth placing in Auckland.

Being Down Under’s most iconic race, the Inter Dominion has been a staple diet for Glasheen.

“I’ve been to more than 50,” he said. “The first was back in 1950 at the Melbourne Showgrounds. Dad (John) let me go to the heats, but not the final because the crowds were so big in those days he thought I might be crushed.”

He’s still going each year now.

“I’ve been to the past two in Brisbane and driven myself up,” Glasheen said.

Remarkable given it’s almost a 20-hour drive one way from Melbourne to Brisbane and Glasheen turns 88 on October 23.

“I take my time. It’s a chance to do some stopovers and stay with friends I’ve made over the years. I’ll do the drive over about four days,” he said.

That desire to travel also goes back to his grandfather, Paddy, who took the best horse he trained from Victoria to Auckland in New Zealand by boat in “1921 or 1922” and won the Otahuhu Cup, beating NZ’s best pacers, on a grass track.

“It’s unthinkable now to go all the way over on a boat but the race was worth the equivalent of about $A500,000 in today’s money,” Glasheen said.

“The horse was Grand Voyager, who became a Hall of Famer, and won 35 races.

“It was just Paddy who loved the horses, my father John and his two brothers Jim and Ted, were also hobby trainers.

“I got my love of the sport from them, but becoming a priest is something I felt I got the call to do. I wanted to help people, and God wanted me to do it, too.”

But while he waited for admission to seminary school, Glasheen thrilled his family when he got his driver’s licence.

“I only had about 10 race drives but won my first drive on a trotter called San Adios at the old Healsville track,” he said. “I got some boasting rights that day because Dad and the great Gordon Rothacker (champion driver of the time) had driven her a few times without winning.”

Glasheen always felt the mighty Cardigan Bay was the best horse he had seen but admits Blacks A Fake and now Leap To Fame are right up with him.

“I never thought I’d see one quite like Cardigan Bay again, but I have,” he said. “Blacks A Fake’s career was incredible, we’ll never see another horse run in six Inter Dominion finals for four wins and two seconds.

“And now Leap To Fame comes along and does things no other horse has done. He might be the best of them all.

“I’ll always have a special spot for the great New Zealand mare Blossom Lady, too. For a mare to beat the boys in two Hunter Cups, along with everything else she did, was amazing.”

Despite age, Glasheen is still setting himself goals in racing.

“I’ve just stopped breeding horses, but have two youngsters left from my mare Be Not Afraid … a two-year-old by Captain Crunch and a yearling by Rocknroll Hanover,” he said

“I’d love one of them to become a really nice horse. There’s something special about breeding them yourself.”

Until then, Glasheen’s sights are firmly on Nymbal’s Victoria Derby quest and enjoying the twilight of Triple Eight’s remarkable career.

COURTESY OF HARNESS RACING UPDATE

by Adam Hamilton for Harness Racing Australia