Wyborn enjoys high after recent lows

By Jordan Gerrans

Passionate harness man Bruce Wyborn knows the highs and lows of the sport all too well in recent times, but he was able to savour a special memory on Friday at Albion Park.

The 58-year-old presented comeback trotter Why Tanya Sue first-up since May of 2025 after a lengthy injury rehabilitation to score an impressive victory.

The four-year-old mare was last at the races in the Group 1 NSW Oaks at Menangle.

It has been a long journey back to the races after a serious injury setback, but the horseman was glad to see his mare back up and firing with a fairytale result.

“That win meant a real lot to me,” Wyborn said.

“It was nice to win that.

“The vets have done a terrific job with her. You actually can't see which leg got hurt, so it's really good, the job, and there's no swelling or no signs of it at the moment, so we're not even really treating it.”

Wyborn bred, owns and trains Why Tanya Sue.

While he dabbles in training, he generally lets others prepare his horses, focusing instead on breeding and his work around Albion Park.

He took Why Tanya Sue back into his name for training purposes after her injury setback when she was prepared by leading conditioner Emma Stewart.

The voice of harness racing in Queensland, Chris Barsby, praised the comeback performance on Friday.

“This is a terrific training performance, first-up of a long break,” Barsby said.

“She is classy. She bolts in. Bruce Wyborn, take a bow. He will be chuffed with that, Bruce. She remains unbeaten here at Albion Park.”

Why Tanya Sue was a two-time winner for the McMullen camp in 2024 before being transferred to Stewart for her feature campaign.

While the Why Tanya Sue victory was a big high for Wyborn, he has suffered the lows of the sport recently, as well.

He also races the superstar trotting mare Susan Is Her Name.

Like Why Tanya Sue, he bred Susan Is Her Name.

At her best, Susan Is Her Name is as good as there is in Australia, being the only trotter to have beaten champion mare Keayang Zahara in a race.

But, she is likely to have run her final race and will now shift her efforts towards the breeding barn.

She raced just 18 times for 11 wins.

It is a bitter blow for the long-time Sunshine State harness participant.

“I've struggled with it,” Wyborn admitted.

“She won't come back to the races, but I am pretty confident she will be OK as a broodmare. I am still wrestling with it at the moment.

“She'll go up onto the Darling Downs to Burwood Stud next year, is the way we are looking at it. They've been terrific to me.”

Driven by young reinsman Jack Chapple, Why Tanya Sue put more than 12 metres on the rest of the field on Friday in a fairytale return.

With Marburg to host its all-trotters meeting on Sunday, Wyborn is likely to head that way with Why Tanya Sue for her second assignment in over a year.

“I'm not a betting man, but I did tip her to a few people,” the trainer said of Friday’s win.

“I just said, I think she'll be just too classy for them and she didn't make me look like an idiot (laughs).

“Jack drove her for me and he was very impressed with her.

“So, hopefully just onwards, we'll just take a few easy ones for the moment and then she'll probably have a little break after her next run.

“There's nothing wrong with the leg that was hurt, I am keen just to give it a bit of time to cool down and settle down again. Then go again.”

The triumph on Friday was Wyborn’s first as a trainer since the 2019-20 campaign. His job at Albion Park allows him to dabble with a few horses in work these days.

He has stabled his small team at the property of popular harness couple Gemma Hewitt and Brendan Barnes, which he says has been a godsend.

“I've got a lot of help with Gemma and Brendan,” he detailed.

“They have just been terrific for me.

“I can't do it without Gemma and the crew and the staff there, they help me out magnificently.

“Gemma will put my horses out in the yard when they need to go out, or give them a little jog.

“I give Why Tanya Sue all her fast work, but if there's a spare spot on the jogger, they'll jog her and put her back in the box for me.

“I couldn't do it without the help from Gemma and Brendan and the staff there, they've just been wonderful to me.”

Why Tanya Sue and Susan Is Her Name are both daughters of stallion Sebastian K, but they are completely different in temperament, Wyborn notes.

“She's nothing like Susan. She is out of control, this one,” he says.

“She's a handful. She wants to go left and you want her to go right, we go left. We have a lot of arguments and that.

“In this campaign, I have spent hours and hours with her, I walked her a lot, due to injury and that and that's really made a difference with her manners at the start.

“She's really been behaving herself at the start.”

Ahead of her first race appearance at Marburg on Sunday, Wyborn recently took Why Tanya Sue to the track so she could familiarise herself with the conditions and venue.

While devastated to retire Susan Is Her Name, the keen breeder says he has a few more in the pipeline that should make their mark in the coming seasons.

“I've got a lot of nice horses on the ground at the moment, I am looking forward to it,” he said.

“If I can just keep them all going well, it should be a good year coming up. I will back off Why Tanya Sue a little bit, as I've got a few other ones that I've got to put a bit of time into.

“So, she might just go for a three-week, four-week break, and then I'll bring her up again.”