Country Victorian harness racing trainer-driver Brett (Shippy) Shipway is a full-of-life kind of guy who thoroughly enjoys a bit of fun and laugh
Shipway, based at Carisbrook, near Maryborough, is still sporting a big smile after some missteps and good fortunes presented him with a surprise win at Charlton on Monday afternoon with bay mare A Nip Will Do.
“We’ve been having some bad luck in our last few goes, so I guess it was time things swung our way,” Shipway laughed.
“I’d describe most of our horses as average, so that means following others and driving for luck. But I thought our girl went good at Charlton anyway,” he said.
“She is our old workhorse; an old pet that we have around the place. She doesn’t do a great lot of work at home because we only gear her up race day. But she’s been good to us—she pulls in about $1000 a month.”
A Nip Will Do (Bacardi Lindy-Earls Gold (Earl), starting at 16/1, took out the $7000 Charlton Welcomes Tetrick Racing Trot in what developed into an action-packed affair.
“Someone said to me it was a ‘Bradbury’ type victory, but the name of the game is to keep trotting-and we did that,” he said.
A Nip Will Do was tucked away three back the pegs for most of the way, and turning for home appeared no hope. But Shipway grabbed the opportunity to angle out into the clear in the final straight – just in time to avoid the washup from two of the leaders breaking up.
A Nip Will Do strolled to the line, grabbing a deserved win for her owners, Shipway, his partner Colleen Batson along with Stan Lythgo.
Brett Shipway and his mare A Nip Will Do after their Charlton success
The mare has now won four races this season with nine placings. Her lifetime racing career stands at 181 starts, six wins, 13 runner-up cheques and 35 thirds for over $90,000.
Shipway, who says he’s been around horses for as long as he can remember, has five racehorses in training with another 10 two and three-year-olds ready to come back in.
“I was prepping most of them up and then a few meetings got called off due to coronavirus, so when I wasn’t sure what was going to happen I turned a lot of them out,” he said.
“They are all square-gaiters. I haven’t had a pacer for years. I’ve never really had the passion for them.
“Dad always had horses around the place—back in those old days everyone had trotters. I remember when you used to drive around the district, you’d always see a jinker or a gig outside the front gate of the farms. Horses are an addiction.
“We came from the Hawkesbury and Richmond region, outside of Sydney. Dad raced at those tracks as well as Penrith.”
Shipway does all of his own shoeing but admits to being in the wars of late.
“I’ve had one foot that’s been worrying me for a while, and then the other day a horse stood on my good one. But we all get mad horses now and again.
“Earls Gold, the dam of A Nip Will Do, was a bit crazy. She could also be nasty, but she could run. As a two-year-old she set an Australasian record.”
Shipway said it was easy to nominate the best horses he’d been involved with over the years.
“Dad had merry-go-round horses and all the carnival gear and he’d do promotional work with them. I was only 16 or 17, but the money they would drag in was unreal!
“We’d have to replace their glass eyes now and again because the kids would pull them out, but they didn’t need much looking after!”
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura