EARLY MEMBERSHIP REWARDED
HARNESS BREEDERS VICTORIA IN ASSOCIATION with Niota Bloodstock and Alabar offered free services as prizes in a HBV early bird membership draw for those who paid up before September.
Niota, and Peter Fizgerald, who won a service to firstseason pacing stallion The Storm Inside from Alabar.. Gus Underwood also won a service to trotting stallion Kvintet Avenger from Niota.
Congratulations to major winners Robert Colquhoun, who won a service to trotting sire Great Success from
We spoke to Robert Colquhoun and Peter Fitzgerald about their background in harness racing.
LEARNING FROM THE BEST ROBERT COLQUHOUN HAS ALWAYS BEEN AROUND horses. With his late grandfather Peter Murrell a harness racing breeder, owner and trainer, there was always a big chance he would also be involved in the sport. It wasn’t his grandfather’s choice for him though. “He tried to steer me away,” Colquhoun said. So when it came to entering the workforce, Colquhoun took up a motor mechanic apprenticeship. However, when you grow up with a close association with Graeme and Dot Lang, and their family, it goes without saying the harness racing bug is going to get you in some form. And with him describing Graeme Lang being like another grandfather, this is exactly the path Colquhoun followed. As well as those early years with the Langs, Colquhoun has either worked with or helped out the likes of trainers Merv Williamson, Ray Pace, Jodi Quinlan and Lance Justice at various times. It has been a matter of learning from the best. While he knows all about the cut and thrust of the industry having spent time at the coal face harness racing and like anyone possesses a strong desire for success, there has also been another side to the time Colquhoun is able to spend with horses. He was involved in a road accident in 2013 - leaving him unable to continue in his trade as a motor mechanic and with some mental scars. Colquhoun having horses provided an important outlet for him in tough times. “It’s great to just be able go out and watch them.”
Robert Colquhoun with Breakmyheart And he has the perfect setting to do it on 20 acres at Majorca, south-east of Maryborough in Central Victoria. It is a property originally acquired by his grandparents in the early 1980s as a weekend getaway. Colquhoun has tried his hand at all aspects of the industry. He’s been a driver, breeder, owner and trainer. Colquhoun said he had tried his luck with breeding, but the success he has had as trainer has come with purchases he has picked up at the Echuca horse sales. Breakmyheart was the first horse he trained and would be his first winner.
Trackbred October 2020 | 16
