Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Thirty-nine years ago, Brian Wheeler made a wonderful start to his harness racing career when his first pacer as a trainer was successful, with Brian Clemens driving Yes Mar to victory in a race for two-year-olds at Collie in May 1986.
And now the 73-year-old Wheeler is still enjoying his hobby as a trainer in Collie with Bettor Move Along winning twice in the space of four days at Gloucester Park.
Wheeler’s son Trent drove an exceedingly well-judged race to land Bettor Move Along, the $3.10 favourite, to a decisive win in the $21,000 Bill The Better Butcher Pace on Friday night.
Wheeler, who trained and drove many winners on country tracks in the1980s and 90s with Antique Dream, Supreme Delight, Prince Pat, Miss Mischief, Whats In A Name and others, rarely ventured to the city. He spent 22 years as an underground surveyor in the Collie coal mines and another 28 years as a postman. He has also been president of the Collie Harness Racing Club for the past 27 years, with his wife Sue also serving on the committee for many years.
He now has trained seven Gloucester Park winners from only a handful of starters. Three of those wins were with Once Bitten, who gave him his greatest success when his son drove her to victory in the Group 1 $100,000 Westbred Classic for two-year-old fillies in July 2015.
“I’ve been training for 40 years since we got Bella Flame, a brood mare, from the Hemsleys,” said Wheeler. “Yes Mar won three races and had about 36 placings. And every time we were broke and needed $37 to nominate, he would run a place. He was a family pet until he got colic, and we lost him.”
Bettor Move Along began out wide at barrier eight in a 2130m event on Tuesday of last week when Trent Wheeler drove him aggressively in the breeze outside the favourite Ruby Lou before getting to the front 120m from home and winning by just under a length from Chambray.
Bettor Move Along again started from the No. 8 barrier in Friday night’s 2130m event when Wheeler changed his tactics to good effect, opting to restrain the seven-year-old at the start, and then settling him in the one-out, one-back position.
Then, after the well-supported Captains Beachbabe dashed forward to the breeze after a lap, Bettor Move Along was shuffled back to sixth place, one-out and two-back. Wheeler bided his time before starting a three-wide move 650m from home, and Bettor Move Along responded well, taking the lead with 470m to travel and winning by 5m from Frankie Major, rating 1.57.7.
Bettor Move Along is raced on lease from breeder Bob Fowler by Brian Wheeler’s wife Sue and their daughter Hayley. The Bettors Delight gelding has been a handy performer who has earned $120,501from 14 wins and 26 placings from 97 starts.
“Bettor Move Along had seven starts in the country as a three-year-old for Peter Anderson before we got him in June 2021,” said Brian Wheeler.
“He was a real hard horse to get to pace. He had the big American hopples, the big bloomers on, and eventually we were able to race him in normal hopples and shoes, and he is now going smoothly. Originally, he had shoes with weights on the outside, and we tried everything, including bars. But he still paced roughly until he finally got better.
“Bettor Move Along’s six-year-old full-brother Follow Rocknroll was the same, and it has taken two years for him to pace properly.”
Follow Rocknroll, trained by Wheeler, was a $26 chance in a 2130m race on Friday night when he put up a strong performance to race in the breeze and finish third behind smart pacers Spyglass and Chillin.
Bettor Move Along and Follow Rocknroll are the first two foals out of unraced mare Rocknroll Royalty, whose dam Amongst Royalty was a star, racing 86 times for 23 wins, 27 placings and stakes of $570,820.
Rocknroll Royalty’s half-sister Lady Willoughby had 53 starts for 16 wins, 14 placings and $167,293, and her half-brother Lord Willoughby amassed $423,198 from 44 wins and 86 placings from 273 starts.