Harness Wa Nov/Dec 2019 Nov/Decwa 2019
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HARNESS WA NOV/DEC 2019 NOV/DECWA 2019 90 YEARS & STILL GOING STRONG A DIFFERENT HORSE FOR HARNESS AGE NO RACING BARRIER PATIENCE Dream PERSONIFIED Fulfilled HARNESS HORSE OF THE YEAR FOR ALL YOUR WESTERN AUSTRALIAN HARNESS RACING INFORMATION Better your betting experience Live Racing Past the post Watch Sky1 & Sky2 live and protest payouts Race Replays Premium Racing Form Watch the form Giddy-Up ratings & speed maps T&Cs apply. SKY Racing vision applies to all Aus. & NZ races. Race Replays applies to all Aus. races ex. VIC thoroughbreds. Past the post and protest payouts only applies to fixed odds, singles bets on Aus races. Gamble responsibly. Call Gambling help on 1800 858 858. CONTENTS Better your Harness WA is a publication of Racing and Wagering WA (RWWA) PUBLICATION DESIGNER: Michele Florent CONTRIBUTING WRITER: Alan Parker CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Scott Hamilton Media betting experience Photography by Jodie Hallows ALL ENQUIRIES: Kelly Sarich 02 EMAIL: [email protected] PHONE: (08) 9445 5504 ADDRESS: 14 Hasler Road Osborne Park WA 6017 ONLINE: rwwa.com.au FACEBOOK: /racingandwageringwa TWITTER: @OfficialRWWA @RWWA_Harness HARNESS RACING DEPARTMENT HEAD OFFICE ADDRESS: 14 Hasler Road Osborne Park WA 6017 EMAIL: [email protected] OFFICE HOURS: 7.30am to 4.00pm Monday to Friday DRIVING MASTER: Trevor Warwick MOBILE: 0434 609 604 TRAINERS' CENTRE PH: (08) 9445 5267* FAX: (08) 9445 3056 24HR NOM SERVICE PH: (08) 9445 5268* * N.B. all incoming and outgoing calls are recorded 06 08 STEWARDS DEPARTMENT GENERAL MANAGER INTEGRITY Denis Borovica PHONE: (08) 9445 5427 CHIEF STEWARD Barbara Scott PHONE: (08) 9445 5176 FAX: (08) 9477 5215 EMAIL: [email protected] DEPUTY CHIEF STEWARD Rhys Chappell PHONE: (08) 9445 5177 FAX: (08) 9477 5215 COVER IMAGE: Catcher Courtney Burch on Graybuck EMAIL: [email protected] SENIOR INVESTIGATOR: Geoff Johnson MOBILE: 0408 843 560 2 90 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG Live Racing Past the post RWWA INTEGRITY RECORDED MESSAGE SERVICE: (08) 9445 5565 6 A DIFFERENT HORSE FOR HARNESS RACING Watch Sky1 & Sky2 live and protest payouts EMAIL: [email protected] 8 AGE NO BARRIER LICENSING & REGISTRATIONS 10 GRAHAM TAYLOR - JAMES BRENNAN AWARD WINNER ADDRESS: 14 Hasler Road Race Replays Premium Racing Form Osborne Park WA 6017 DREAM FULFILLED EMAIL: [email protected] 12 PHONE: (08) 9445 5568 Watch the form Giddy-Up ratings FAX: (08) 6314 4792 14 AND THE WINNER IS 16 WHAT CAN HAPPEN WHEN YOU HELP A FRIEND & speed maps RACING AND WAGERING WA HEAD OFFICE ADDRESS: 14 Hasler Road Osborne Park WA 6017 18 PATIENCE PERSONIFIED PHONE: (08) 9445 5333 FAX: (08) 9244 5914 EMAIL: [email protected] 20 HARNESS HORSE OF THE YEAR AWARDS WEB: www.rwwa.com.au 22 COMMUNITY TAB STAKES FEATURE RACE CALENDAR EMAIL: [email protected] 24 T&Cs apply. SKY Racing vision applies to all Aus. & NZ races. Race Replays applies to all Aus. races ex. VIC thoroughbreds. Past the post and protest payouts only applies to fixed odds, singles bets on Aus races. Gamble responsibly. Call Gambling help on 1800 858 858. 1 HWA 90 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG Image: Turnstiles to be installed at Gloucester Park 2 90 YEARS AND STILL GOING Image: Inside the Gloucester Park tote 1929 prepared to sell 17 acres of land on the northern side of On 26th December 2019 the track their ground. now known as Gloucester Park will STRONG Months of negotiations followed between the WATA, celebrate the 90th anniversary of its WACA, Perth City Council and Land's Department and on opening meeting. 2nd July 1915 an agreement was signed to purchase 14 and a half acres of land for the sum of £6000 pounds on a The first race meeting at the track was held on 26th deposit of 100 pounds. December 1929 and a crowd of some 17,000 people saw Alween, with farrier Fred Mackander at the reins, win the It took the WATA a further six years before they were able opening event at the track named Brennan Park, in honour to purchase the last of the blocks in Waterloo Crescent to of the man to whom Western Australian trotting owed its give them sufficient land to build the course. existence. The bulk of the land was a mosquito ridden swamp and Completed at a cost of £200,000 at the time of The Great between 1917 and 1920 the site was used as the Perth City Depression, the track was variously described as the best Council's rubbish tip, with the WATA paying the wages of in the Southern Hemisphere and the equal of any in the the tip foreman. World. Architects Powell and Cameron were appointed on 6th Its first class facilities included the latest Julius "Premier" May 1920 while A T Brine & Sons began work on the totalisator capable of handling £3000 per minute in pound drainage of the site. units. It provided 86 windows for punters and was able to At that time some £50,000 had been spent on the course, automatically display win and place odds for each horse. and it was estimated that a similar amount would be Lighting specifications were obtained from American, required to complete the construction of essential facilities, British, French, German and Swedish firms for a system such as totalisators, grandstand, offices and fences. Twelve which saw 750 miles of electrical wiring and 180 tonnes of months later the bill had risen to £100,000 and the track equipment suspended over the track. had still not been completed and the WATA had only six months of their lease of the WACA track remaining. The original installation was carried out by the local firm Brear & Doonan, who are still the Association's Electricians Money was looming as a major problem, as falling world in 2019. prices for agricultural products, and a loss of overseas capital in Australia, was beginning to take effect. Brennan The official opening of the course was held over until 15th and his fellow committeemen sought the assistance of March 1930 when Perth's Lord Mayor J T Franklin did the Perth businessman John P Stratton. honours. The feature events at that night's meeting were named after Brennan and Stratton. Stratton was able to obtain the necessary loan and, on 5th February 1929, he became one of the three guarantors On 23rd April 1914 James Brennan had reported to the which the Bank of New South Wales required. He replaced WATA Committee that the WA Cricket Association was 3 HWA WA Smiley as Vice-President of the WATA and shortly the position I held….It is an open case of kicking a man thereafter the official architects were replaced. when he is down. To trotting and its establishment on successful lines in this State diverted from my business, A grandiose grandstand, modelled on the Addington stand energies, that I now realise, could have been better in Christchurch, was replaced with a less elaborate model, employed to my advantage”. similar to that at the Kings Park Tennis Club, as Stratton continued his push to have the track completed. The Duke of Gloucester, on his way through Perth to Melbourne to open the Shrine of Remembrance, attended Some months after the track was officially opened, James a meeting at Gloucester Park on 6th October 1934. Brennan resigned as a member of the WATA Committee and J P Stratton became President of the Association. It As debate raged in the Perth newspapers about the was a position which he would hold for 36 years until his dropping of the name Brennan Park a decision was made death. by the WATA Committee on 7th November 1935 for the name to be changed to Gloucester Park to mark the Duke The name Brennan Park, which had originally been Of Gloucester’s wedding on 6th November 1935. suggested by Lord Mayor Franklin, remained until 2nd June 1934 when the WATA ceased using the name and Stratton had hoped that the popularity of the Royal Family the track was simply referred to as The Perth Course. would defuse the debate but it continued to rage until late in 1936. In his 1934 Report to Members J P Stratton gave the official reason for dropping the name Brennan Park as It was only the 1936 WATA Committee election result being “No individual’s name is suitable as a permanent one which saw the pro-Brennan group of T Burns, T Brimage for the Association’s course”. and J Tyler ousted by the Stratton ticket of J V Ferguson, J Noonan and A Todd. Research would indicate that Brennan’s broad public popularity, coupled with his financial woes and health James Brennan died at St John of God Hospital, Subiaco issues, rankled with Stratton and prompted the move. on 1st August 1937 at the age of 65 years and was buried in Karrakatta Cemetery on 4th August. It was a decision that clearly hurt Brennan and he released a statement. The funeral was massive in terms of attendance but one name was notable by its absence from the list of mourners “From the time that, after some years of undermining, a published by The West Australian – J P Stratton. certain coterie succeeded in ousting me from a part in the control of the sport of trotting, there has been no cessation in the hounding of me by those who usurped Image: Gloucester Park gates under construction with WACA stalls in foreground 4 Need support now? We’re here to help 24/7 Racing and Wagering WA in conjunction with PeopleSense has made available a free, independent and confidential mental health and wellbeing support service to Licenced Racing Trainers, Harness Drivers, Stable Hands, Stable Forepersons, Track Work Riders, Greyhound Attendants and Licenced Farriers/Riders Agents.