Much-loved Sydney harness racing icon Harry Martin will celebrate his 79th birthday shortly, but he has the drive and energy of a man half his years.
"Yes I can say that I'm still as enthusiastic as ever. I'm still up and about between 5 and 5.30am – a routine I've had forever," Harry said with a laugh.
Martin, who's trained out of Menangle Park for over 60 years has a team of four in his stable at the moment.
And two of these have certainly hit a purple patch of form in recent weeks.
Half-brothers in Double Encounter and Double Bliss are both in line for a hat-trick of wins following two victories apiece this month, with in-form reinsman David Morris at the helm.
Double Encounter (Village Jasper-Lombo La Shelly (Pacific Fella) took out the $22,400 Seppelt One Mile Drive Pace on August 3, then a fortnight later claimed the Group Three $30,600 Campbelltown Catholic Club Pace, both at Menangle.
"He is a very nice horse who can sprint quickly," Martin said.
"He's now a winner of 15 races, 10 of these at Menangle, and is nearing $150,000 in stakemoney so he has been very good for his owners."
Double Bliss (Blissfull Hall-Lombo La Shelly (Pacific Fella) is a lightly raced chestnut gelding with six wins and 12 placings from only 27 career starts.
The pacer has been successful at his latest outings at Bankstown on August 9 and then six days later at Penrith. Martin said while he preferred to race at Menangle, he also enjoyed competing at other tracks near Sydney.
And while he's currently enjoying another nice run of success, it would be unforgivable to write a story and not wind back the clock to the spine-tingling days of the champion pacer that made Harry Martin a household name.
Double Identity (Embrace Me-Mercy Lyn (Southern Gentleman), who raced from August, 1999 to October 2006, had a rockstar-like cult following in that era, with fans embracing the gelding for his dogmatic will-to-win.
"Gee I'd love to have one like him again-it probably won't ever happen, but I'll keep looking and hoping. I won't ever give up," he said.
Double Identity had his first two dozen starts for trainer Colin Grimson, who won nine races with him. When Grimson decided to move to the country, the owners offered the gelding to Martin.
The pacer took Martin on the ride of a lifetime during one particular campaign when he won eight of 10, culminating in the rich Group Two Winter Cup at Brisbane's Albion Park.
But the gifted, gritty pacer wasn't without his challenges.
"He was a chronic knee-knocker. I was never able to get him off his knee completely, and the old plastic-type knee boots that were around back then would be totally destroyed in about two or three weeks – he would just put a hole in them," Martin said.
"But by using spreaders, and I would pull them up really tight, I was able to reduce the impact and get it as good as I could."
The astute horseman, who remarkably still shoes all his horses to this day, found a square-toed aluminum shoe the best for Double Identity.
The inimitable Double Identity driven by Harry Martin in his heyday –Gary Wild photo
With scalps in the Gold Coast Cup and the Queensland Pacing Championship, along with a close second in the Newcastle Mile, the target then became the 2002 Miracle Mile at Harold Park.
In a brilliant display and aged 62 years, Martin would, at the time, become the oldest driver to win the feature race. He lobbed in the one-one from the wide six alley, pulled three wide on the home turn and held off a late run by Smooth Satin to win by half a head.
Further wins came in the SA Cup at Globe Derby, a second Queensland Pacing Championship and a comfortable Truer Memorial victory.
Then came success in the Victoria Cup – a win Martin believes was the finest ever recorded by Double Identity during his sensational career.
"I remember I'd given up going down the back for the last time. They kept the speed on and I was struggling," he said.
But the mighty horse dug deep from the 600metre mark and overhauled some classy rivals to post a winning time of 1.58-2 for the 2570m trip.
The combination won another nine races to take his lifetime record to an amazing 51 wins and 39 placings from 146 starts and more than $1.2 million in stakes.
Martin said after being retired, the life of Double Identity came to a sad end.
"He was 10 years old and hit a corner post in a paddock. He wasn't in a good way and suffered a heart attack later," Martin said.
Although Double Identity was clearly Martin's best-ever horse, he is rarely without a handy conveyance or two in the stable.
"Double Event has been one of the nicer ones lately. He's just recently retired (after 17 wins and $188,000 in stakes) and he's landed on his feet. He's taken to riding under saddle really well, so that's always good to see," Martin said, with obvious pleasure.
But the search goes on for another Double Identity, and if there's one within reach of wily veteran trainer Harry Martin, he'll unearth it. And he's got some faith in a rising two-year-old by Heston Blue Chip, purchased at the sales this year.
"We keep looking! While you are keen and willing, you never think about stopping. That's the way I look at it anyway. Besides I don't know anything else – horses have been my life."
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura