By Duane Ranger (courtesy of Redcliffe Paceway)
Thagoona horseman, Dallas Wilkins, recorded two sentimental victories within 49 hours of each other last week – both with a 7-year-old trotter-turned-pacer Wilkins described as the slowest winner he had sat behind.
“Time doesn’t change the winner’s cheque though, but ‘Leroy’s’ no star. He’s only lightly-raced (43 starts) for his age, but to be honest had it not been for the Qbred bonus scheme he would have been retired as a pony hack by now. But I’m so glad I didn’t retire him, especially now he’s won all of his bonuses.
“But the penny still hasn’t dropped with him on race-day. He’s a lovely boy and I think when he does work this racing game out it, he should win more races,” Wilkins said.
“Leroy doesn’t possess a lot of speed. He just goes the one pace all the time, and thankfully on Sunday he had too much stamina for them,” he added.
‘Leroy’ is a Shadow Play brown gelding, Could It Be Me, who is the first horse that Wilkins has owned, bred, trained, and driven to win. Sunday’s (July 21) 2:00.3 mile-rate nose victory ensured a fourth career triumph in race seven on Sunday (July 21). It was also Could It Be Me’s third win this season, which was highlighted by his Consolation Showcase Consolation Final victory, also at Redcliffe Paceway on June 21 at odds of $58.
Could It Be Me’s most recent victory as the $15 fifth-favourite came at ‘The Triangle’ at 8.35pm on Sunday. Two nights earlier at 8pm, Wilkins also drove ‘Leroy’ to win the Doug Massam Memorial at the Gatton Show. That was three hours after they cleaned up in the heat.
“I’ve been a big supporter of the Shows for many decades now, and going to them since I was eight as a boy rider and then started with the trotters in early 1980s, so that’s a long time ago. It was just so satisfying to win a race named in honour of a great Show man like, Doug.
“To me the Shows are a place where you learn to be a quality horseman like Doug was. These days I often see a lot of young horsemen pull up at the races in their Utes with no horses behind, just a sulky. To me the Show is a place where you educate the horse and also advance yourself as a horseman or woman. I was so proud to win the Showcase Consolation with “Leroy’.
“Last year there must have been 20,000 people in the Exhibition Arena watching the pacers go around. When the races were over the stands were empty. In saying that it’s a shame that the governing body has put a restriction on the Show number entries. I’ve seen horses and people turned away continually,” Wilkins said.
“All sports have feeder clubs. The Broncos, the Lions, and the Reds, so surely harness racing in Queensland should do the same with Shows, especially now that there’s only three tracks in the State, and old favourites like Rocklea no longer exist. Three horses from Gatton went on to win at Redcliffe on July 21. Shows and travelling does horses the world of good I know that for sure,” he added.
Wilkins said he attended five Shows in April at Wauchope, Kempsey, Macksville, Maclean, and Grafton in 18 days with ‘Leroy’ recording a startling eight wins from nine starts and finished second in the other.
But with so many Show wins over more than half a century, then how come records show that Wilkins has only trained four winners – all behind ‘Leroy’ since 2022?
“I’ve been around a whole lot longer than that. The statistics say I’ve been driving since 1985-86 (87 wins), but I started driving before that date too. I drove my first winner on the Aoril 4, 1987 behind a horse named Lord Rankin at Rocklea. I only really started training in my own name when my good friend Ray Cross left Calvert for Victoria just over four years ago. My wife and I have bred 45 foals over the years. All my winners have been in Ray’s name,” Wilkins said.
The lifetime horseman, who spent more than 30 years of his working life in the printing industry, said he would get his horses three-quarters fit before passing them onto his good mate, Cross, who is now 85 and a resident of Maryborough (Victoria).
He said another reason he couldn’t drive at the trots was because of his previous job where he was employed from 1pm to 9pm.
“I was made redundant from my factory job just over four years ago, which has now freed me up to breed, train, and drive. I can now get to the Shows and race meetings. I miss Ray, but since he’s gone I’ve worked the horses on my own. I’m very proud to say that ‘Leroy’ is the first horse that I’ve trained driven, bred and owned with my wife Catherine and son Dennis.
Could It Be Me is the only foal out of the 2011 Grinfromeartoear 10-race maiden, Phoebe’s Grin, who was bred by his wife Catherine.
“I’ve since given the mare away to a stud farm to be used as a surrogate Mum. I’m also breeding out of the 7-year-old Mr Feelgood maiden mare, Feeling Pretty. She has left us a Caribbean Blaster 2-year-old filly named Bold Personality. She’s also left a Hes Watching yearling filly, and a daughter of The Storm Inside, who was born in September.
“That’s three fillies, so at least there will be some girls to breed on from,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins was born in Ipswich and educated at St Edmunds College. He always wanted to be a jockey, but weight and the death of his brother during a polo cross game when aged just 18, pointed him in the trotting direction.
“The death really hit our family and Mum didn’t want us riding horses any more. My two other brothers also enjoyed trotting as well, owning and breeding them. For me it’s a great way to spend my retirement, because horses have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Wilkins said.
For the record: Thagoona is a settlement 15.6km west of Ipswich, and 54.6km south-west of Brisbane. It has a population of 1,077.
