At 92 years of age, harness racing stalwart Helen Head is still as passionate about the sport as she has ever been.
And the Shepparton local makes no secret that when she is trackside at another Inter Dominion Final at Alexandra Park in Auckland tonight, she will be cheering for her hometown hero San Carlo.
Nine-year-old "Murray" as he's known around the stables, is prepared by joint trainers Steve O'Donoghue and Bec Bartley at Morley Park, Kialla, just outside Shepparton.
"It would be wonderful if they could pull it off, but I'll be barracking for all the Aussies," Helen said.
"I've been over here in New Zealand as part of a tour group and we've all had a ball. We've been taken here, there and everywhere. The winery visits have been a lot of fun," she laughed.
"At my age, you may as well enjoy things when you can, you know!"
And after a lifetime of racing a host of quality horses and breeding many of the country's best, it's most fitting that Helen Head is sitting back to enjoy tonight's "big dance" in Auckland.
Helen, who was honoured as a recipient of the Angelique Club's Pearl Kelly Award in 2016, recalls attending her first Inter Dominion Championship back in 1974.
"I sort of got hooked on them because there's really been very few that I've missed since," she said.
Helen and her late husband Graham developed a reputation over decades as one of harness racing's best known and most successful names in breeding and ownership.
Helen shared the couple's remarkable story a few years ago with harness racing scribe Gus Underwood, recalling that as a young dress designer in Melbourne in the 1950s, she'd always dreamt of one day owning her own horse.
Graham had started his working life as a structural engineer at the age of 16 and after the couple shared a trip around the world in a converted Volkswagen, they purchased their first farm at Sunbury, 40 kms north-west of Melbourne and their harness racing story began.
After trying their hand at running cattle and sheep, Helen saw her dream of horse ownership come true with the purchase of a mare as a pleasure horse – but before she even got to ride it, the mare was put in foal!
Selling their farm to developers, the couple moved to Seymour, then to nearby Mangalore, on the Goulburn River. This was to become the renowned Grenada Park and over the next 20 years, Graham and Helen got fully involved with standardbred breeding.
They had the support of a close friend in Graham Cochran, then Chairman of the Victorian Trotting Control Board, who was a keen breeder, but owned no property.
Their first foray into breeding was with the Bachelor Hanover matron Madame Han, who left 10 foals and established a great winning line.
A decision to downsize in 2000 saw the couple purchase Manna Lodge from Gerald Farrell at Congupna and they continued their breeding pursuits, although now as a partnership, after the death of Cochrane. The couple considered renaming the property Grenada Park, but to prevent any confusion, left it as Manna Lodge, but adding to the title: 'Home of Grenada Park'.
Countless top horses were bred at both Mangalore and Congupna, and in 2007 the Heads were named Victorian Breeder of the Year.
Sadly, Graham passed away in 2009, but, after 57 years of marriage, Helen's upbeat approach to life saw her commit to continuing the couple's breeding program.
"I think there's now been 24 of our breed who have each won over $100,000 in stakemoney," Helen said yesterday.
"And there's also been two-Safari and Garnet River- who passed the half a million dollars mark. Safari was trained by Clayton Tonkin and Emma Stewart, and won 28 races while Hughie Cathels had Garnet River, who later ended up over in America with Noel Daley."
Choosing a favorite among recent topliners is no mean feat, but youngster The Storm Inside (bred from Spirited Storm, a filly Helen travelled to America to buy) must surely rank highly, with the stunning colt recording 14 wins from only 16 starts for Tonkin and Stewart.
Helen Head with Emma Stewart after The Storm Inside’s APG win
But it's the sensational Tell Me Tales (Tell All-Soaring Falcon (Falcon Seelster) that Helen names as her first choice.
Tell Me Tales put together a string of 11 consecutive wins during her 3yo season in 2018 before serious injury two months ago. Her record stands at 20 wins and seven placings from 32 starts for $360,000 in stakemoney.
"Tell Me Tales is definitely my favorite, and I was very sad when she broke a bone in her hind leg," Helen said.
But this optimistic nonagenarian always has an eye to the future and a positive outlook.
"We've had it pinned and she's doing well – and we've taken an embryo as well, so she might also get a foal and that would certainly be lovely," Helen said.
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura