It was a night to remember for Meredith hobby trainer Carson Millar, who landed his first career double at Geelong on Friday.
Balancing life as a full-time train driver and a dedicated horseman, Millar’s passion for harness racing runs deep, and his hard work is clearly paying off.
“I work as a train driver full time. It’s shift work, so one week I could start at 2am and be done in time to do horses before lunch. Or the other week, I could start at 6pm and have all morning to do the horses, then I feed up and go to work. That’s my preferred option,” Millar said.
“I sleep probably five to six hours a night most nights. It’s not ideal, but I can do it while I’m at this age.”
Millar said his interest in the sport began at a young age, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Helmut Richert, who was also a hobbyist trainer and a Geelong Harness Racing Club committee member.
“I followed him around as a kid (Richert) and then I worked for a few stables on the way and went out on my own and implemented what I had learned along the way,” he said.
Now training from his base at Meredith, Millar has found the perfect rhythm with his small but effective team of two, Pet Kitty and Test Of Fire. Both horses have been in terrific form, combining for an impressive run of results in recent months.
“Having my first training double on Friday night was the highlight of my career. They may not be the most prestigious races, but to take two to the races and come back with a 100 percent record is an unbelievable feeling,” Millar said.
“I was nervous going into the second one, knowing the first one went so good (Test Of Fire). And obviously the second one was favourite (Pet Kitty). I don’t take two to the races often, and when I have, one may have gone good and the other bad, and I always think, what did I do to the other one during the week?”
Test Of Fire kicked off the night perfectly, working to the front and proving too strong in race five, before Pet Kitty followed suit two races later in race seven, both driven to victory by young gun reinsman Jordan Leedham.
“Test Of Fire is lovely to do anything with. He is very quiet. He’ll be easy to move on after the sport as a riding pony. He’s barely fifteen hands. No quirks,” Millar said.
“The mare, on the other hand, she’s pretty quirky. You need to go with her. If you fight against her, she can be quite cranky. She’s not ideal to have in the barn by herself. She carries on a bit like a colt. Anywhere you take her, she will be squealing. She makes herself known that she is there.”
With both horses in career-best form, Millar’s patient and hands-on approach is clearly paying dividends.
“They are both in really good form. Actually, in my last ten starts, I don’t think I’ve finished worse back than third, so it’s been a great couple of months,” he said.
“One-on-one attention really helps. I spend a lot of time with them, not much gets missed. They don’t go faster if you brush them, but if you take pride in your work, hopefully it pays off in the long run,” Millar said.
RACE PHOTOS: CLAIRE WESTON PHOTOGRAPHY
