Tragedy spurring Bob O’Connor to get the most out of retired harness racer

Cover photo: Savvy Snaps

By Andrew Smith

Standardbred Themostess never won a harness race, but it is her impact off the track that proved to be far more valuable for owner and trainer Bob O’Connor.

The pacer retired from racing in August this year, and within a month was competing in the Gold Coast Show’s harness and off-the-track classes.

Themostess had 21 starts throughout her career and finished in the minor placings four times.

O’Connor said she was desperately unlucky to miss out on scoring a maiden victory on multiple occasions.

“There might have been five times she missed out by 0.3 of a second by getting her first win,” O’Connor said.

“There was also probably about six times she missed out by under half a second.

“One time she was winning, she was a mile ahead, but it was declared a no race, because there was a fall.

“She was just destined not to win and the last time she raced, she didn't finish last, but she didn’t disgrace herself by any means.”

Themostess was born in October 2017 at O’Connor’s Currumbin Valley property and was named after her dam The Hostess.

The arrival came months after the horseman tragically lost his 19-year-old son Rowan in June 2017 to an asthma attack.

The 59-year-old explained how the birth of the mare he calls “Trotsie” helped get him through the difficult period.

“It was a little bit of a blur that time in June…I lost the will to train my racehorse Currumbinkid and sold him, and I was struggling to find a purpose in life,” O’Connor said.

“And then Themostess was born four months later in October which helped me get back into my horses and racing…it was a pick me up.

“Looking after a foal, breaking her in, gaiting her up and training her all by myself helped me get through the loss of my son.

“It was one of the first ones I’d done and I just enjoyed racing her.”

Themostess originally came to the attention of veteran trainer Bernie Hewitt.

The pacer was in work alongside future Group 1 winner Manila Playboy, with Hewitt passing up the opportunity to secure Manila Playboy - instead pushing to buy O’Connor’s horse.

Being the first horse he had bred, the driver-trainer was not ready to give up Themostess at that point.

She went on to start on eight occasions in O’Connor’s care before spending time under the training of Ben Battle and Rhett Markey.

After almost 600 days out of action, the pacer returned to racing in June this year back in O’Connor’s stable, before the trainer made the decision to retire her.

It would not be long before the seven-year-old was back in action at the Gold Coast Show in the new arena of show driving.

“I came back from travelling and I tried her again, but she was just a bit long in the tooth, and I think she got used to retirement,” O’Connor said.

“She went from racing on August 3^rd at Redcliffe to the Gold Coast Show on the 29^th - so in one calendar month, she's gone from racing to show driving.

“It was right beside the Broadwater too and there were boats and people playing football and about 500 people on horseback, which she's probably never seen.

“She didn't disgrace herself, and she did all right, and now she's done dressage and eventing through to cone courses and a trail drive.

“It's been a quick adjustment for her, but I think she's liking it actually…every week we take her out, she gets better and better.

“She didn't like racing at the start and that's why she probably struggled to win, and you used to take your life in your own hands gearing her at the races, but then she got used to it and she didn't mind racing, but she's really taken to this relaxed life.”

O’Connor is planning for Themostess to transition into three-day events, which will include dressage, cross country and cone driving.

While primarily a harness racing trainer, he has previously re-trained several of top horseman Shane Fraser’s standardbreds as they transitioned into retirement.

“It’s not really that hard, because they've got the basics and they basically have to learn to calm down and not be so strung out, they have to learn to relax,” O’Connor said.

“They have to learn to not pace, which is hard, but that does come to them...it’s a process of not letting them get out of a trot, just keeping them calm, relaxed, and do a lot of walking.

“But there is a process of educating them - I don't think anyone should take them from the races to the show ring in a month, and it was probably asking a bit much of Themostess, but I had done a lot of groundwork in her racing life and getting prepared for that as well.

 “I've done a few of them, and the transition has been enjoyable.”

O’Connor is also a member of the Gold Coast Horse & Carriage Club which he says has been invaluable in providing another avenue of post-racing careers.

“We have a couple of standardbreds in that, and I'm trying to increase it as a pathway for after racing,” O’Connor said.

“They are very good at carriage driving and cross country and doing novelties and three-day events, and there's already been a few standardbreds through the club and we are hoping to build it up.

“We're just trying to encourage somewhere for them to go after racing - there is life for horses in other disciplines that they enjoy.”