By Duane Ranger (courtesy of Redcliffe Paceway)
Gundiah horseman, Dean Weller, has some consolation knowing that he put a smile on his father, Joe’s face, just hours before he passed away at his Bald Hills home at 5am on Tuesday (January 23).
Former horseman Perry Joseph Weller was 79.
Nine hours and 14 minutes earlier (Monday 7.46pm), Weller trained and the Leonard Cain-driven Major Mischief to win the last race at the Redcliffe Harness Racing Club’s meeting at ‘The Triangle’. He paid $5 and $1.60. Showem Simon, with Weller in the sulky, ran third in the same race, at odds of $17 (fixed odds place).
And five hours prior to that in race one (5.05pm) Weller had also run third behind another one of his trainees -Mullum Boy, at odds of $20.10. The two-place-getters opened at $151 to win.
“My mother (Caroline – aka ‘Tubby’) and Dad don’t have Foxtel, and Mum said she put the radio up to Dad’s ear so he could hear the races. When I heard that, it brought a tear to my eye, because I know he would have had $20 each-way on the winner and $20 to place on the roughies.
“It was very heartening to know that Dad won a few ‘bob’ on our horses. To put a smile on his face in his final hours will remain with me forever. Both him and I only ever trained rejects, and for Dad to bow out watching our horses is some consolation after losing the man that taught me everything,” Weller said.
“It was also pleasing to know that he had $20 each-way on Courageous Leo, when he last won at Redcliffe on January 11. He paid $20s and $3s that night.
“Dad taught me everything I knew in harness racing and in life in general. He was a very good horseman and farrier, who shone at the Shows. He told me to never be afraid to ask others for advice. That’s what he did. He always said two brains were better than one. I’m gutted. He was a great man and even better father,” said Weller, who is the oldest of two sons.
Weller said his father’s heart and lungs had got the better of him and he passed away after a life of working horses. He is survived by Caroline, Dean and Darrel. Dean’s partner Terri, and granddaughter Kalee.
Mr Weller was the ninth of 11 children to Edward and Doris. He was one of three boys and eight girls, and was born in Brisbane and educated at Pinkenba Primary School and never attended High School. He was breaking in horses in Queensland at 16.
Weller said his father was also an accomplished amateur jockey out west, who also won many races including several country cups.
“Dad (Edward) always wanted a cricket team, and he got 11 of us. Joe loved horses. I remember one of his first ones was a Sydney horse full of drugs called Dual Ratio. Sadly, only four the 11, – Lyle, Emily, Grace and myself are still alive,” added youngest sibling, Roslyn said.
The Weller family comprised (in age order): Eddie, Lyle, Grace, Tahlia, Emily, Velma, Muriel, Joe, Averal, and Roslyn.
“Dad was primarily horseman, but his father and Uncle used to race speed horses bareback at the Shows, and then standardbreds. His brother Tom was responsible for all the horses that were drafted overseas during the Second World War. The wharf and horses consumed a lot of their life,” his son said.
Weller said his father had a varied ‘equine life’ outside the Shows and harness racing, where he trained dozens of winners at former tracks like Rocklea and Ipswich.
“Tom also was also selected to ride saddle bronc riding when it was a sport at the Olympics in the 1950s, but didn’t have enough money to fund the trip. Dad helped prepare ponies for the Boondall Drive-In-Movies, which had sideshows with horses etcetera. My father was the complete horseman. He knew how to shoe them, he knew how to train then, and he knew how to get along with them – the complete horseman,” Weller said.
However, he believes his greatest moments with horses came via a Show Champion named Chitarne, who also won dozens of races at Rocklea.
“If Chitarne drew one or two, he would nearly almost win. He was a lovely horse who I bred (in 1973) out of Silk Byrd and River Craft. His Ipswich Show win must have been nearly 50 years ago. Joe was very proud of this horse,” said breeder Keith Luck.
“Dad never really had any superstars on the racetrack, just lots of rejects and some bread-and-butter horses like me. But Chitarne was one of his better ones. I have lots of photos of him winning races against top drivers like Don Ross and Geof Dawson back then, but the big black stallion, Chitarne won 99 per cent of his races.
“Shows were huge back then. There were 40 to attend. Chitarne was so good he won one Show event by half the track. In fact, the fella who ran second thought he won, and put in a protest. That’s how far ahead Dad and Chitarne were.
“He was Dad’s pride and joy, and all he ever wanted to do was win the coveted Ipswich Cup, and he did that once. That was his proudest Show moment, because he beat some nice Free-For-Allers from Sydney in that final,” Weller said.
Weller has inherited his father’s riding and driving genes. The 58-year-old has won numerous bull-riding competitions the world over. He even finished fourth in the World Masters Bull-Riding Championships in 2014.
But he will have his next local drive in race one (5.02pm) at ‘The Triangle’ on Monday night (January 29) behind the Gary Gerard trained Glenlea Bella – who has drawn four (of nine).
Mullum Boy, Major Mischief and Showem Simon will also line up in Weller’s silks at the same meeting in races three, six, and seven respectively.
Two days later his father’s wake will be held prior to the Redcliffe race meeting on Wednesday (January 31). Mr Weller’s funeral will be held at 10.30am at Albany Creek Memorial Park (400 Albany Creek Road, Bridgeman Downs), before heading on to Redcliffe Paceway.
