Dan Mielicki is no stranger to calling his own horses in races.
The voice of Victorian harness racing is also the voice of his own latest horse, in-form trotter Imperial Command.
Mielicki and Victoria’s head thoroughbred race caller, Matt Hill, are amongst a group of owners enjoying the ride the former Kiwi trotter, who has nine races in 13 months since trainer Andy Gath plucked him from New Zealand.
The four-year-old is chasing a 10th Australian win in the fourth race at Melton on Saturday night.
“I love the game and I’ve had shares in lots of horses over the years, thoroughbreds and harness, so calling their races is something I’ve got used to,” Mielicki said. “You just have to detach yourself from it during the race and call the race for what it is.
“It was harder earlier, especially when I had a really nice trotter in NZ called Waihemo Hanger, who came across and ran in some of the Group 1 trotting races here.”
Mielicki said the involvement of he and Hill in Imperial Command stemmed from their regular Melton trivia night team, which includes top trainer Andy Gath.
“Matt Hill, another mate Chris Scully and I are the mainstays of the team, but Andy and even Kate (Gath) join in sometimes,” he said.
“We’re called the Might And Power team, certainly not because of how good we are, but after the champion racehorse.
“The first night we started it was the day Might And Power died. I’d called him to win his Melbourne Cup (in 1997) and when they said we needed a name for the team, it came straight to mind.
“Matt (Hill) had talked about wanting a share in a trotter as opposed to a pacer and a while later, Andy rang and said he’d found one from NZ if the Mighty And Power team wanted to take a share. Matt and Chris were keen, so we jumped in.
“When I looked up the horse, I’d wondered what we were doing because he’d raced 48 times in NZ for just two wins, but it really was a case of just trusting Andy because he’s got such a knack of finding horses, especially trotters, from NZ who do a great job over here.
“He ran second for us at Ballarat a day after we took the share in him. It’s pretty amazing to think he’s gone on and won nine races in just 13 months since.”
Such was Imperial Command’s rise, Gath seriously considered taking him to Brisbane earlier this month for the $150,000 Group 1 Great Square at Albion Park.
“He was going, but when we heard they were taking (superstar mare) Keayang Zahara we pulled the pin. It was too far to go by road to take her on,” Gath said.
Imperial Command has won three of his past six starts and Gath said to forget last week when he tried standing start racing again.
“He needed a run and the only option was a stand, but he made a mess of it again, so we’re back to the mobile (start) this week,” Gath said.
Mielicki said the Imperial Command was a great example of the fun sharing a horse with friends can bring.
“That’s something Andy is great at, bringing together good people to share horses,” he said. “Along with our trivia crew, you’ve got Tim O’Connor (HRV media man) and another mate, John Dunne (journalist) and he (harness) form guru, Darren Carroll.”
