For nearly 50 years, Victorian hobby trainer Eddie Tappe has quietly pursued harness racing, working only a handful of horses at a time and “not in a pink fit” expecting the sport would one day carry him to its biggest stage.
On Saturday night (July 18) at Albion Park, the horseman will experience the thrill of his racing life when his homebred trotter Im Bobby takes his place in the 2026 Inter Dominion Trotting Championship Final.
For Tappe, based at Congupna, near Shepparton, it’s the culmination of decades of persistence and a remarkable partnership with one horse he knows better than anyone else.
In fact, he knows the quirky seven-year-old so well that he travelled to Queensland a full week before the opening heats to make sure Im Bobby settled into his unfamiliar surroundings.
The gelding, whose record now stands at 22 wins and 54 placings from 112 starts (and win, lose or draw, will surpass $300,000 in stakes on Saturday night) is well known among Central Victorian participants for his fiery raceday personality.
“At home he thinks he’s king of the hill,” Tappe laughed.
“He tries to boss me around, but he knows I’m the boss at home. But when I go to the races he’s full on. He doesn’t like anyone in his space – he’ll try to eat anyone who gets too close!” he said.
“He certainly comes with attitude – but I suppose if that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes.”
Tappe’s understanding of his horse shaped every decision leading to Queensland. Rather than stable at Albion Park, he is based at the property of trainer Jason Carkeet, halfway between Gatton and Esk, where the gelding could continue the daily routine and Tappe said he probably would not have made the Queensland trip had he been unable to replicate the horse’s home environment.
“I don’t think I would even have come if I’d had to have him stabled in a box somewhere – knowing the horse, it just wouldn’t have been worth it,” he said.
“I usually only work a couple of horses, so with about 28 here he’s looking around and it’s quite a different, but Jason has helped me keep things as much as possible what he was used to with his work, getting out in the paddock each day and having horses either side of him in his yard.
“It probably took five days before he was fully back on his food and settled properly again, but Jason has been so good in helping me with all that.”
Tappe said finding the best version of Im Bobby has taken trial and error.
“He has taken some fine tuning,” Tappe said.
“I found if he’s in the cart too often he gets sick of it and bored, so now he only does his fast work in the cart. All his daily work is on the jogger.”
Tappe bred Im Bobbie after purchasing Aldebaran Park mare Aldebaran Peggy at a Shepparton mixed sale.
“She was the first one to come up that was in foal to Majestic Son and I was pretty happy to get her,” he recalled.
“Abbie (19 wins) was that foal, then I took the mare back to Majestic Son and got I’m Bobby. I took her to What The Hill the next year and she didn’t get in foal, so I sold her.”
While both full siblings showed ability, there was little to suggest Im Bobby would eventually become an Inter Dominion finalist.
“He made each Sires Stakes final from two years old, but he never went good enough to think you had something that would get to the level he has.”
But Im Bobby truly came of age 12 months ago, during last year’s Inter Dominion series. With the elite trotters campaigning in Queensland, Tappe saw an opportunity.
“He’d won a metropolitan race but he’d only just got to that free-for-all level,” he said.
“I thought my best bet was to try and win a race or two while all the better ones were away in Queensland. It worked out well. In all honesty I don’t think he was ready for top-level racing then, but he built that during that period.”
I’m Bobby reeled off seven consecutive victories across Melton and Menangle in little more than 10 weeks and finished the season with 12 wins, most at metropolitan level. He began 2026 in the same vein, taking out the Shepparton Trotters Cup ahead of Inter Dominion champion Arcee Phoenix.
Now he finds himself among the elite trotters in Australasia and while Tappe admits he is still pinching himself, he felt “Bobby” deserved his chance.
“We all enjoy any win, and the potential to be able to win nearly means as much as winning,” he said.
“If you can’t see any light at the end of the tunnel you get a bit jaded. It’s been a hell of a thrill. I’m not sure I’ve come to terms with it yet. I was very apprehensive the first week of the heats – about how the trip would affect him and how he’d settle.
“To run second on the first night was just such a thrill, and then to finish sixth on the points table…not in a pink fit did I think I would be here!”
“To be honest, as I was developing my interest in horses, I’d see other people in roughly the same situation get a good horse and think it was possible. Then as the years went on you’d think: ‘That’s never going to be me’.
“For someone who only buys or breeds one every now and again, it’s a sheer miracle.”
Even raceday tactics for the Inter Dominion revolve around understanding the gelding’s unique personality.
“I used to drive him myself, but I hopped off because he got used to me. I didn’t reckon he was giving me his best at the races,” Tappe said.
“James Herbertson has driven him a lot and they really gelled well. I’ve got a lot of appreciation for what James has done in that journey. Tasmyn Potter has also done a great job on him,” he said.
“I didn’t want to bring someone up to drive him and then have it not go well. But also, I’ve found nearly every time I’ve put someone new on him he’s run a positive race. He did that again for Will Rixon, who drove him for the first time in his heats.
“Barrier one is a great draw for him, and we’ll just keep doing what we can to keep him happy and see how we go. We’ll do all we can, but I think Im Bobby’s making me look good, to be honest!”
