The Bendigo Pacing Cup of 2020 will live long in the memory of Brisbane Lions premiership star Darcy Gardiner.
Gardiner was having an early foray into harness racing ownership alongside his mate and fellow Lions player Lewis Taylor when their horse, Code Bailey, bolted in the Group 2 feature for the trainer-driver combination of Marg and Jason Lee.
He produced a track record run while beating a hot field by 12.9m in a stunning display of speed and strength.
“That’d be at the top,” Gardiner said of his thrills in racing across both harness and thoroughbred codes. “Everyone was there, he was one of our first harness horses, and the way he did it was pretty special.
“When that happens, you start thinking ahead a bit and getting pretty excited about what could be.”
Wind the clock forward six years and Gardiner is excited to watch Code Bailey line-up in the 2026 version of the Bendigo Pacing Cup, which now forms the launching pad of a reinvigorated six-week Summer of Glory carnival.
While the 11-year-old is rated as a longshot chance to add to his stunning career record of 20 wins from 63 starts, Gardiner might be celebrating half an hour earlier when another of his horses, star trotting mare Jilliby Ballerini, tackles the Bendigo Trotters Cup as a short-priced favourite.
“Early days she was showing promising signs, but I certainly didn’t think at the time she’d get to this point,” he said.
“Usually they have it pretty early on, but she has just grown and developed over the last couple of years and it’s pretty impressive to see what she’s doing now.”
Jilliby Ballerini holds the tag of one of Australia’s best trotters behind her megastar stablemate Keayang Zahara, with 12 wins from 27 starts for earnings up over $200,000.
Now back in Brisbane after a stint in native Victoria over the holiday period, Gardiner is hoping to be at Melton on February 14 with his two stars being aimed at the night’s big features, the A G Hunter Cup and Great Southern Star.
