SEN Track’s TrotsLife celebrated NAIDOC week with a special show on the contribution to harness racing by Indigenous Australians.
David Caffyn reflected on his own achievements along with those of his father Cyril and grandfather Jim, while multiple Group 1-winning trainer and driver Jimmy Brown and young western districts driver Rory Coverdale also chatted with host Toby McKinnon on Wednesday.
Jim Caffyn, who won five trainers’ premierships and six drivers’ premierships at Harold Park in the 1950s and 1960s, was an indigenous trailblazer.
Starting out as a drover, Jim turned his hand to the trots and, in particular, young horses. Between himself and son Cyril, they won three Sapling Stakes, a NSW Oaks, a NSW Derby, two Queensland Derbies, a 2YO Gold Crown and a Tatlow Stakes.
“He was known for his ability with the young horses, Toby, which back in the 50s wasn’t as dominant as what we have today. To have a horse broken in and gaited was a pretty big thing back in those days. He was a great horseman,” David said.
Jim’s ability wasn’t restricted to young horses or pacers, with three Inter Dominion finalists on his CV. They are Billabong Scott (third in 1959), Lookout (10th in 1966) and Hammerhead (eighth in 1966 Trotters).
“Hammerhead was an injury-plagued trotter, former pacer, he won the (Australian) Trotting Championship down at Melbourne,” David explained.
“He went down, he was first-up for 12 months, won the heat in the morning and won the final in the afternoon or the night.”
Brown reflected on some proud achievements in the gig, but almost nothing rivals the concept he developed with Club Menangle to run the “J C Caffyn Plate” Indigenous Drivers Series. This initiative has grown from its first year in 2011 to a multiple race series culminating in a feature on Inter Dominion Grand Final night last December.
For the running of the series, Club Menangle won the ‘Arts and Culture Award’ at the 2017 New South Wales Clubs and Community Awards held at the Sydney Convention Centre.
“I’m very proud of starting it off (J C Caffyn Plate). With the help of Michael Brown and Club Menangle, we took it on and we have been very fortunate with how big it has got,” Brown said.
Rory Coverdale is just starting out in harness racing and has worked at Matthew Craven’s Ecklin South stables for the past four-and-a-half years.
The 19-year-old earned her stripes before embarking on a driving career that has netted two wins from 14 races.
“Queen of Crime, she is my ultimate favourite. She has given me a lot of joy to watch her. When she was a pacer, she just couldn’t pace properly. I said to Mattie (Craven) ‘I don’t know about this horse, I don’t think she wants to pace anymore’,” Coverdale said.
“She has been one that I sort of co-train with Mattie. Nobody else really drove her except me, so it was nice to see her win a Group 1.”