By Duane Ranger (courtesy of Redcliffe Paceway)
Just 279 days after passing away in Caloundra Palliative Care, Mick Bielby’s, memory lived on strongly at Redcliffe Paceway on Wednesday night (September 11) – thanks to his equine namesake, Littlemickey.
And his wife of almost 60 years, Dawn, dedicated the 2.8-metre victory to her late husband, whose first name was actually Neville, but he preferred to be called Mick. Mr Bielby passed away from prostate cancer on December 7 last year, just three days short of his 78th birthday.
“I always think of Mick. He was my life. We got married when I was just 17-and-a-half, but when our horses win I think of Mick even more. He loved horses and he loved me. I actually shut down for six months when he died, and I’ve only really started to live again.
“I was going to make it into the races on Wednesday but a big storm hit us not long before I was going to leave, so I decided to stay at home. ‘Mickey’ winning was a pleasant surprise,” Landsborough-based Mars Bielby said.
The 3-year-old son of American Ideal and Annika Magic (Grinfromeartoear), who is trained by Ben Battle at Mutdapilly, and was driven by Nathan Dawson, drew one and then bolted along the passing lane to win easily.
He paced the 1,780m mobile in 2:11.4 with 31.3, 30.4, 28.8, and 30 sectionals. Littlemickey has now had two starts (10 this season) for two wins, and dive placings ($12,516).
He also won at ‘The Triangle’ on January 18, when drawing four as the $2.15-second favourite.
Trainer, Battle, had the following to say about the lightly-raced colt.
“He’s been a bit of a slow maturing boy, but continues to improve. His mother was a very nice Listed Classic-winning racehorse, so he’s very well bred. He is a very consistent pacer, and I hope he will continue to improve with age and race experience.”
Littlemickey recorded a personal best mile-rate of 1:58.8. Both the time and victory surprised Mrs Bielby.
“The win came as a pleasant surprise, because Ben told me not to expect too much because the horse is still learning. I didn’t realise he was one of the favourites,” Mrs Bielby said of the $6 third-elect.
“I love the horse, and Ben and Tamara have done a wonderful job with him. They are very good communicators and always keep me updated with what’s happening with my horses. We raced his mother, and then took her to Burwood Stud to breed from,” she added.
Littlemickey is out of the late 2010 Grinfromeartoear – Eileen Annika (Holmes Hanover) mare, Annika Magic (1:51.4), who won 25 races and placed 47 times ($197,191) between April 2013 and August 2019.
Annika Magic won the Listed Classic $25,000 Ladyship Stakes in track record time (1:51.4 – which she still holds) at her penultimate start at Albion Park on July 13, 2019, and also placed in the Listed Classic $26,000 AGL Energy Tabcorp Final at Menangle on September 26, 2015.
“We only bred Littlemickey out of Annika Magic and then let Noel and Christine Denning (Burwood Stud) take over the breeding. They have since bred a couple of foals from her I believe.”
Those two other foals are a 2-year-old Poster Boy colt named My Ultimate Felix (one win from three starts), and a yearling colt by The Storm Inside. Sadly, Annika Magic died while giving birth to a Soho Tribeca foal in 2023.
“We actually got back into the sport through Kerry and Sue Smith (K&S Racing) in Caboolture. Mick and Kerry had been mates with Mick since they were 15. They hadn’t seen each other for some time and then in about 2012 Mick asked Kerry what it took to own and breed a horse – and it all went from there. We went shares an Art Major gelding named Projectile (1:58.8), which Kerry trained for us at Caboolture.
“I think he won about 12 races ($70,602). He also trained Bills Delight for us. He won six races,” she said.
The Bielbys also raced Billy Badlands (1:47.5 – 22 wins and $122,805), and Elliott Bromac (1:55.0 – 14 wins and $81,306), Just A Beach (four wins and $15,367), and Wandary Delight (see below).
“Both ‘Bills’ are now happily retired at a 10-acre Beerwah property leased by my son Neville, where I also adjist three horses. I loved Billy Badlands to death. Projectile and Elliott Bromac are housed at Sue’s property at Caboolture. Billy Badlands was a lovely big horse, but Annika Magic would be the best horse we raced,” Mrs Bielby said.
Mrs Bielby was born in Landsborough and educated at Nambour High School. She then became a nurse, and now helps her son with the family business base at Caboolture, which is named Mick Bielby House Restumping, and is based in Landsborough.
She has three sons, Neil, Neville, and Keith, as well as four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild – aged one month.
The Mrs Bielby-Ben Battle combo also had another starter line up at Redcliffe Paceway on Wednesday evening. The Bielbys bred the 4-year-old Bettor’s Delight mare, Wandary Delight, who finished fourth in race six, again in the hands of Nathan Dawson. She was the $6.50 fourth favourite and is also trained by Battle at Mutdapilly.
That brown mare has won two of his 29 starts and has placed six times for $15,394.
She is the first live foal, and most successful foal out of the above average 2008 Blissful Hall chestnut mare, Wandary Splash (1:52.7), who won 22 times and placed on 47 occasions ($158,393) between May 2011 and August 2016. She was also a Listed Classic placegetter.
Wandary Delight was the only horse that the Bielbys bred from Wandary Splash before Burwood Stud also took over the breeding.
Footnote: Landsborough is in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It is situated north of the Glasshouse Mountains just off Steve Irwin Way, 82km north of Brisbane, and 58km north-west of Redcliffe Paceway. It boasts a population of 4,446.
Dawn Bielby’s hometown of Landsborough.
