Chester Bullock was rewarded for his long-term involvement in Tasmanian harness racing when he was last night inducted into the Tasmanian Harness racing Hall of Fame.
Bullock is a long term active participant in almost every aspect of Tasmanian harness racing including ownership, breeding, training and administration.
Born at St Marys, Chester's father Keith was the St Marys Trotting Club Treasurer and his mother, Doris, loved to have a small wager on horse racing.
Chester spent much of his youth at St Marys at the harness stables of Linton Bullock and Eric Bean, before moving to Launceston when he was 16 years of age.
Chester put his toe in the water with his first purchase, a yearling, Thunder Fame which won two races in 1984 when trained by Eric Bean.
Chester had been bitten by the bug and acquired more mares, yearlings and racehorses and in 1986 decided to purchase a property at Riverside to accommodate his rapidly expanding harness operation.
An 1,100 metre track was constructed on the flats adjoining the Tamar River, where the legendary Jack Stamford previously trained.
Many prominent trainers took up residence at the Bullock training establishment. David Angus was the initial trainer and Mark Stanley, Rohan Hadley, James Rattray and Todd Rattray all had stints training from the Bullock property.
Chester acquired his training license in 1990 and has prepared 68 winners from the complex. They include Cardinal Nelson (10 wins) and Cardinal Tucker (7 wins).
In 1998, Chester and his daughter Julia established an AI Breeding Station at the Riverside property. Since then, Fred and Pauline Barker, Trevor Leis and Lloyd Whish-Wilson have been some of the many prominent Tasmanian breeders who have used the facility.
Chester has played a significant role in racing administration. It commenced at the Launceston Pacing Club (LPC) at Elphin in 1984. Three years later he resigned from the committee while he filled the position of Project Manager for the new Mowbray Racing Complex including the 1,000 metre harness track. He returned to the LPC committee in 2000 until the present day and took over as President in 2016.
Chester joined the Northern Tasmanian Light Harness Association in 1995 where he has served 23 years as President.
In 2006, he joined a group of participants to establish the Tasmanian division of BOTRA, the Breeders, Owners, Trainers and Reinspersons Association and he was immediately elected President, serving seven years in the role.
Since 2009, has represented the LPC and/or NTLHA at the quarterly Tasracing Harness Industry Forum meetings and he is also a member of the Tasracing Harness Yearling Sale Working Group.
Through his company Bullock Consulting, now 60 Degrees, Chester has been one of the major harness sponsors in Tasmania over the last 23 years, extending sponsorship and support to all clubs around the state as well being the major sponsor and supporter of the Youngbloods Series for our young star drivers of the future.
Peter Staples