Chance of Trot Rods glory for Graham White

By Jordan Gerrans

Despite reaching veteran status some time ago, there is still plenty of speed in the legs of Theresachance. 

The Graham White-prepared pacer set the new benchmark for the popular Trot Rods series on Wednesday evening around Redcliffe’s Triangle track in a time of 65 seconds. 

White’s Theresachance claimed the second heat of the program on Wednesday. 

The fastest time for the 2025 campaign was lowered just minutes before when Our Ultimate Luka – who is trained and driven by Jonah Hutchinson – scored in 65.2 seconds. 

But, at 11 years of age and approaching 300 career starts, Theresachance showed he still had plenty left in the tank. 

Emerging reinsman Will Rothwell lifted Theresachance to a five metre win ahead of Grant Dixon’s Shards Matrix to become the clubhouse leader in the speedy race series after six heats this year. 

The 77-year-old White pointed to the bay gelding’s longevity following Wednesday’s victory, which was the 35^th of his career. 

“He has been a good pony to me – he doesn’t know he is 11 years old,’ the veteran horseman said.

“He has won 27 at Redcliffe and eight in town.

“He is a gentleman around my place, anybody at my place could drive him, but when he goes to the track – that is a different story.”

Rothwell sat back in the field in the opening exchanges before firing the gelding around the field three deep into a winning position.

Trainer Shannon Price and Nathan Rothwell claimed the 2024 Trot Rods prize when Hold Onto Ya Bling stole the show late in the piece on the finale program, scoring in 63.86 seconds to hand the trainer and driver their first title in the popular short-course series.

In what is somewhat of a rarity in harness racing, Theresachance has been prepared by White at Deception Bay for the entirety of his 290 career starts. 

The experienced conditioner purchased the gelding at the local Redcliffe sales for just $1,100 as a yearling.

He is nearing $200,000 in career stakes with a fair chance that there is more to come.

White prepares his team of eight alongside keen harness youngster Meaghan McNee.

“I do not do a lot of fast work with Theresachance, he is that fit,” he said.

“I just jog him and put him out in the paddock where he works himself a bit, before I take him to the races.

“The results speak for themselves. He looks a treat and is a happy and healthy horse.”

The victory on Wednesday evening was the second time in Theresachance’s career that the gelding had won a heat in Trot Rods. 

He landed the prize in the 2023 with Pete McMullen doing the steering. 

The 2023 victory occurred on the finale night of the series and was slightly quicker than Wednesday’s triumph, scoring in 64.4 seconds.

Despite the pacer’s age, White says a concept like Trot Rods over the fast and furious 947 metres suits him nicely.

“They are quite good, real good,” White said of Trot Rods races.

“He won a heat of it a couple of years ago.

“He does not mind what kind of race he is in; he just loves it.

“I thought he might have gone a bit quicker than he did on Wednesday night.

“As the better horses come into the series, this time might get knocked off, but I might put him in another heat later on in it.”

The White stable scored a winning double on Wednesday evening as Rosarito won by a neck later in the program over 1780 metres.

Rosarito was driven by Rothwell’s identical twin brother Nathan.

White was quick to praise the driving brothers, declaring the Rothwells were a combination on the rise in the Sunshine State.

The Redcliffe Harness Racing Club will host 20 heats for the Trot Rods 2025 series, including the finale night on Wednesday 28 May which will showcase the last 10 heats on the same program.

A $1,000 bonus is awarded to any horse which betters the official leading time through the series.

The horse with the fastest official time at the conclusion of the series will win a $10,000 owner cash bonus and a $10,000 trainer cash bonus.

The finale night, inclusive of the 10 heats, will feature five leading drivers who will drive in each race with drives to be selected via a draft following the fields being released.