By Duane Ranger.
John McNee admits he might not have ever embarked on a harness racing career had it not been for prominent New South Wales trainer, Alf Phillis.
“I was born in Sydney, but we lived in Austral, about eight miles from Liverpool (NSW) and we used to go over to Al’s place because he had a swimming pool and TV.
“Then one day not long after I finished school I was walking along the road and he asked me if I wanted a job. My family had never really been involved in harness racing, but he asked me if I wanted a job mucking out the boxes,” 77-year-old Mr McNee said.
Looking back a naïve Mr McNee said he might not have got into the sport had he known how tough and ‘economical’ his first employer would be.
“I was 15 or 16 and had only finished Liverpool High School. I knew Alf was one of the top trainers in New South Wales at the time, but I didn’t know he was going to be a tough task master.
“He offered me five pound a week, and Tuesday off with every second Sunday. Then there was a little bit more if we won, but ole Alf wasn’t the most generous of bosses. Commissions from winnings less than what he suggested.
“When I worked for him, he got smashed up pretty good in a cart accident at Harold Park. The wooden shaft on the sulky left a big hole in the back of his head. He was out for three months,” Mr McNee said.
“My brothers, Ray and David also worked for Alf, and I only worked for him for three or four years. I’d honestly say he’s the toughest and tightest horseman I’ve ever worked for in more than a half a century’s involvement in the game. If I knew how tough it was going to be, I may have never pursued a career in the industry,” Mr McNee said.
He said he only ever got to fast-work one horse in all the time he was with his first employer. That’s why he left in 1962.
“I always wanted to go to New Zealand and Western Australia to work, but instead I went and worked for Doug and Fred Coy at Warwick. That was the first time I’d ever been out of my home State.
“I worked for them from May 1962 until Christmas 1963, and while I was there, we won 50 races in 12 months.
“The Coy brothers were astute horsemen. Doug only passed away in June this year aged 94.”
Mr McNee said Mr Coy was well-known for training and driving champion Queensland pacer Stormy Water, who won on Albion Park’s opening night in 1968.
Stormy Water was retired to Junabee Stud in Coy’s in Warwick, where the horse then stood with great success.
Mr McNee said Mr Coy’s legacy would last forever, with sons Jeff and Neil both following in their father’s footsteps as successful drivers in their own right.
Doug’s son-in-law, Richard March, still trains to this day, and grandson, Dayl, is a driver and thoroughbred trainer.
David Millard, also a son-in-law to Doug, is a harness trainer with grandsons, Andrew and Brad, driving for the family.
Mr McNee remembers when he got his driver’s licence.
“We had two other reinsmen go around the track with you and you had to show them you could judge speed, and also race in three different positions. It’s a bit different to today when drivers have to achieve 25 or so trial drives before they can get on.
“It’s a much more aggressive sport these days. The drivers seem to have no mercy and really go for it,” Mr McNee said.
He said he achieved his first winning drive on what he termed “the billy-goat” two-and-a-half furlong track at Toowoomba.
“The horse’s name was Dusty Lad. I’ve only trained and driven perhaps 200 or 250 so winners, but the winners increased when I came to Redcliffe in Christmas 1963. I trained 50 in one season one year.
“I got a job at the local council and later worked for Golden Circle Cannery before marrying Colleen in 1967. We have two children of whom I’m very proud,
“Mark is a trainer and a blacksmith while Annette has also had horses,” the now Deception Bay-based pensioner said.
He said the best horse he trained was a pacer named Stormy Dew.
“I saw him as a colt at Paramatta Lodge and paid 158 pounds for him. He was a nice looking horse and went on to win 18 races for me. He was the best horse I had,” Mr McNee said.
“He was only a tiny little thing though – just 14 hands. I think the Lismore Cup was his biggest win,” he added.
Mr McNee, who married wife Colleen in 1967, said he gave the sport away for several years when his children were born and later worked for another Redcliffe harness racing legend – Rodney Balford. (https://duanerangerharnessracing.com/meet-the-ekka-prodigy-who-became-a-redcliffe-legend/)
“I’ve been in this game for more than 50 years and Redcliffe Paceway is by far, my favourite track. There’s no other course like Redcliffe – I love it!
“There’s three straights and it’s a test of your driving skill. You get beaten on your merits there, but like I said the game is more cut-throat now, and I don’t like the “cheat lane” (passing lane). My horses used to always come from behind and win.
“It’s not fair that a horse can sit in the trail, so nothing and win, yet the horse outside the leader has gone a bigger race.
“The best thing they could have done was move to Redcliffe Paceway from the Showgrounds in 1957,” Mr McNee said.
His son Mark said his father also drove for Rodney Belford, Ken Joseph, Cliff Gasman, and Keith (Chicka) Charlwood.
“That’s just a few or the more prominent names. He also drove some nice horses such as Flight Derby, Woodland Joe, Western Rebel, Sunshine State and also the smart mare back in the late 1960s named Kilkennys Return.
“The Redcliffe track has a close affinity with our family with Mum’s family helping to build the original running rail as well as working on the grounds and running the canteen.
“As a young kid (about five) I remember Dad being involved in a bad fall turning for home. He was driving a Rodney Belford trained pacer called Flight Derby.
“The betting ring used to be at the top of the straight where the current play ground is, and there was no outside tin fence, so you could be driving down any road around the track and see the racing action,” McNee (Mark) said.
“There’s a bit of history in our family. My grandfather Jack (John) Curley, built the original running rail at Redcliffe,” he added.
These days Mr McNee said he still liked to watch the races with his wife.
“It’s in my blood and I always like to watch the trots and see what Mark’s up to. We love it here in Queensland. We’ve been here a long time.
“Redcliffe is the best track in the State, I know that,” Mr McNee said.
