An emotional and proud Duncan McPherson was the toast of the Victorian harness racing industry on Sunday evening when he was announced as the 2025 winner of the Gordon Rothacker Medal.
The 65-year-old was presented with the state’s highest individual honour by last year’s recipient Clinton Welsh in front of more than 200 guests at Melton Entertainment Park.
McPherson’s passion for harness racing emanated from his grandmother Holly and father John after they developed a bond with the legendary Graeme Lang, who trained their first two winners including Warragul Cup champion Campbell.
Sadly, John McPherson passed away at the age of 48.
But the 15-year-old McPherson had been bitten by the trotting bug and developed an affinity with Lang and his son Chris. The first horse he owned was Dunsan Campbell, who was named after he and sister Sandra.
After studying engineering, McPherson founded the successful 2 Construct company, which enabled him to pursue his love for harness racing in a big way.
In 2004, partnering with Chris Lang, McPherson set up the trotting nursery and racing operation Aldebaran Park in the Goulburn Valley.
The multiple Group 1 winner Skyvalley was instrumental in launching McPherson’s ambitious venture of putting trotting on the map.
One of the best bred and performed colonial-bred stallions to stand in Australia, Skyvalley is the sire of one of the greatest trotters seen in the modern era in Tornado Valley.
With McPherson’s penchant for the globalisation of the trotter, Aldebaran Park began to stand and provide semen from internationally-bred stallions.
It also began to produce some of the fastest trotters in the land, including Aldebaran Zeus, who won the Group 1 2023 Hammerhead Mile rating 1:52.6, and Aldebaran Ravani, who scored at Menangle in a time of 1:52.7.
In 2010, McPherson’s world was turned upside down when his beloved wife Lyn succumbed to a long and brave battle with ovarian cancer.
Determined that Lyn’s memory will live long through his love of trotting, McPherson threw his energy into founding the Lyn McPherson Breed For Speed Series.
McPherson’s inspiration, Team Teal, has raised more than $3.5m for ovarian and gynecological cancer research and the campaign with female drivers wearing the teal racing colours now encompasses both Australia and New Zealand.
Recently, it was a chuffed McPherson who oversaw proceedings on Team Teal night at Melton where Aldebaran Park sired or owned trotters took out the Lyn McPherson Breed For Speed Gold, Silver and Bronze finals.
He has been relentless in the betterment of the trotter, including playing a key role in establishing the Great Southern Star, the Premier Trotting Sale and the Aurora Australis Series, and in forging a pathway for Australian trotters to compete in the prestigious Elitloppet in Sweden.
In 2019, McPherson was awarded the Medal of Order of Australia for his service to the community and in 2024 was inducted into the Victorian Harness Racing Hall Of Fame.
Last year, his faith and investment into trotting was rewarded as the successful slot holder of Arcee Phoenix, who took out the $600,000 TAB Trot in New Zealand.
“I’ve promoted the trotter internationally and around the world, 20 years in Australia – it’s like climbing the mountain,” an emotional McPherson said after the race.
