Gareth Rattray won the first of his 10 successive state driving titles in the season of 2005/2006 and in the process became the youngest driver ever to win a state premiership when he drove 54 winners as a 19-year-old.
The following season, he increased that tally to 87 winners and in 2007/2008 he broke the magical three figures for the first time when he drove 113 winners which is an unbelievable feat to achieve in Tasmania.
In Part 1 of this two-part series with Jamie Cockshutt, Gareth and Jamie discussed his introduction into racing and those who have had the biggest influence on his career, his family.
In Part 2 they discuss Gareth’s representation of state and country, the horses that have helped him make his mark and his introduction into the Tasmanian Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
Victorian Stint
When Gareth returned home from New Zealand after taking out the Young Drivers Series, he was deemed a senior driver despite only being a 17-year-old because he had outdriven his claim in Tasmania.
Gareth therefore decided to go to Victoria to still use his claim.
“It was a great experience to initially go and spend some time with Ted Demmler and his son Craig,” explained Gareth Rattray.
“I spent about four months there but was finding it hard to pick up drives with my concession claim so after talking it over with Dad, I decided to go and try my luck at Great Western.
“I was lucky enough to team up with Andy Gath and Kerryn Manning and her father Peter at Great Western who had a great team of horses at the time.
“I spent a little over six months with them and managed to drive plenty of winners all over the state for both Andy and Peter and I learned so much in my time there and actually it’s still in my mind today” said Gareth.
While he was in Victoria, Gareth drove 36 winners. One of his highlights being when he won with the horse he had travelled across from Tasmania with, The Grouse.
“Grousey won a three-year-old race at Moonee Valley which was a huge thrill,” recalled Gareth remembering the victory in April 2004.
Representing Tasmania
Gareth had the honour of representing Tasmania on four occasions in the Australasian Young Drivers Championship.
The first of them was in 2003 where the series was held on the South Island of New Zealand in the Canterbury region with the heats being run at Timaru, Rangiora and Addington.
“It was a great thrill to compete in that series as I was only 17 at the time and some of the drivers who competed have gone on to become some of the best in the country today,” said Gareth with the competition including the likes of Gary Hall Jr, Blake Fitzpatrick, David Harding and Shane Graham.
With placings at Timaru on Buttercup Baby and with Chestique at Addington, Gareth was sitting at the top of the leaderboard with one heat remaining.
“The last heat was for the trotters and I never had much experience in driving them at all but I was able to keep New Year Whiz trotting all the way which enabled me to run third and take out the title,” said Gareth on what was a huge achievement for a 17-year-old, his 63 point haul for the series good enough for a 13-point victory.
Gareth contested the series again in 2004 where it was held in Perth and 2006 across both Victoria and Tasmania.
“I never had much luck in these series as my drives were mainly outsiders but as always it was a pleasure to compete against the best young reinsmen in Australasia” said Gareth.
Representing Australia
In 2009, Gareth was given the great honour of representing his country in the World Drivers Championship in Norway.
Gareth still didn’t have much experience in driving trotters, so his father rang Graeme Lang as he had champion trotters such as Scotch Notch and Wagon Apollo in earlier years, so it was a great opportunity for him to learn about driving them from one of the greatest of all time.
He spent about three months at Graeme’s learning as much as possible while also gaining invaluable experience driving, and this assisted him greatly when he ultimately ventured across to Europe for the World Drivers Championship.
“There were five rounds of heats that were conducted at different tracks around the country. Those tracks included Bergen, Biri, Jarlsberg, Sorlandets and Bjerke” recalled Gareth.
“It was a great series, but it was also very challenging for me due to my lack of experience with the trotters with my highlight definitely coming on the second day of heats at Biri aboard a trotter called Plenkrutt.
“I didn’t know much about the horse, but the trainer said the horse had been disqualified at his previous six starts due to galloping in his races, so I really thought that I may have my work cut out keeping him trotting all the way.
“But as the race unfolded, I was able to keep him in his gait the entire race and he went on to win well. I can’t explain how excited I was that I had actually won a heat of the World Drivers Series on a trotter. I was also thankful for the interpreter they provided as I had no idea about the language but the look of excitement on the trainers face said it all” laughed Gareth.
Last Young Drivers Series
In 2010, Gareth competed in his fourth and final Young Drivers Series in New South Wales with heats being held at Harold Park, Menangle, Penrith and Newcastle.
“The new Menangle track had just opened and I was looking forward to having my first drive on this spacious circuit and was lucky enough to win the opening heat on a horse called Setting the Trend which was trained by Shane Tritton. 
“I was also able to win another heat aboard Mysterious Quartet at Penrith and with placings at Harold Park and Newcastle I went to the final heat at Menangle with a pretty good lead in the series,” said Gareth.
The final heat was held on Inter Dominion day in March 2010 with Gareth in pole position to take out his second career title in the series.
“I was able to run fourth on a horse called Emjayem Grand which was trained by Ben Settree. I was thrilled to be able to take out my second Young Drivers Championship and the other highlight of the day was watching Blacks a Fake win his fourth Inter Dominion which is something I don’t think I will ever see again in my lifetime” remembered Gareth.
Gareth won that series with 76 points, 20 clear of his nearest rival who was Dexter Dunn from New Zealand.
Best horses driven
Gareth reflects on some of the best and favourite horses he has driven throughout his career.
Beautide
“Beau was always going to be a very smart horse from day one. I did most of the work with him and educated him and take pride in the fact that I helped him become the superstar he ultimately became.
Beautide (Gareth Rattray) gets up to defeat Wundababe (grey) and Winewomenandsong (obscured).
“I was also lucky enough to drive him in 35 of his starts which included 21 wins and nine placings. Beau’s three-year-old season was just brilliant as he was only beaten once and that was in the Tasmanian Derby where we had no luck at all.
“I still pinch myself thinking how lucky I was to get to drive a dual Inter Dominion and Miracle Mile winner in the first half of his career.”
Cody Maverick
“Cody will go down as just about the most gifted and talented young pacer that I ever got the chance to sit behind.
“It wasn’t until his fourth start that he finally broke through for his first win, then it all clicked as he went on to win nine in a row including the heat and final of the Dandy Patch.
“Pop decided to set him for the 2008 Breeders Crown Series at Bendigo in Victoria as it was worth $300k. Cody won his heat very impressively beating the smart Captain Joy and this led to him being installed as one of the favourites for the prestigious final the following week.”
The Grouse
“Will go down as just about my all-time favourite horse as he did so much for me in the early years of my career. I was lucky enough that the owners let me take him to Melbourne when I ventured over there as a youngster.
“He also gave me my first winner at Moonee Valley in April 2004 and I still remember that race like it was yesterday. We won five races together during my stint in Victoria and then we returned back to Tasmania where we combined to win the 2005 Hobart Pacing Cup and beat the likes of London Legend, Safe Rambler, Fleet Express, Hexus and Queen Carey and it was just a huge thrill to win this race on my old mate Grousey.”
Barringtonboutique
“She is a very special horse to me as she was the first I got to drive in a race.
“I ended up winning five races on her and she gave me great success in the first six months of my driving career. I was fortunate enough to be given special permission to drive her in the 2002 Devonport Cup which was a huge thrill and she ran a very game race to finish fifth behind one of Tasmania’s greats in Flashing Red.
“Her stand start manners were one of her best attributes and enabled her to take out the Les Bromfield Memorial at New Norfolk which has another highlight of her career.”
Devendra
“I only got to drive him in two of his wins as Todd and James have driven him through most of his career.
“He always showed that he had the potential to be a top-liner as he was a very tough type and blessed with amazing gate speed. Everybody knows that he is a proven grand circuit performer given his great performances in the Inter Dominion series in Perth where he was able to win two heats but had no luck at all in the final.”
Motu Crusader
“He was not a family owned or trained horse, but he deserves a special mention. He was owned by leviathan owners Merv and Meg Butterworth and trained by Zeke Slater it was a privilege to get the chance to drive for them.
Motu Crusader (Gareth Rattray) wins the Golden Mile in Launceston.
“I got to drive Motu on 10 occasions which resulted in six wins with one of those being the 2013 Tasmania Cup which was huge as it was a race I had always wanted to win as a youngster.”
Benediction
“Was a very good horse throughout her whole career, she made a clean sweep of the two-year-old fillies features winning the Sweepstakes and Evicus Finals and as an older mare she captured the Hobart Pacing Cup.
“I was fortunate to drive her in all of her career wins which was 19 in total so she will always hold a special place with me. Her dam was also Queen Carey.”
Queen Carey
“Queenie will go down as the best mare that I have driven to date, but she was driven by dad throughout most of her career.
“I did win a heat of the four-year-old Vicbred series on her at Moonee Valley. My other win came on her at the first ever race run at the new Elwick track on 20 October 2005 where she rated 1:56.3 winning by 10 metres.”
Mister Tehaych
“Was a very nice horse that I had a good association with who was trained by Craig Hayes at Stowport.
“I was able to win 15 races on Tehaych with a couple of his feature wins being the Golden Slipper as a two-year-old and the Prince of Pace as a three-year old. He went all the way through to Free for All grade which is a testament to the horse’s ability to be a star juvenile and go all the way through to that class.”
Faithful Gabby
“She was been a great racehorse for Melissa and I as we owned her, She had 18 starts for us for 10 wins, five seconds and one third and won over $80,000 in prizemoney before heading to James at Menangle.
“She won numerous feature races as a three-year-old but her big race win came in the 2014 Granny Smith Sires Stakes for the four-year-old mares which was a night for all of us and it’s one we will never forget as the whole family was on track to celebrate with us.”
Hall of Fame
It is very rare to see a sportsman make it into the Hall of Fame in their chosen sport at the age of 29, but with Gareth nobody was more deserving of the honour as his record as a harness driver is second to none.
“It was a huge honour to be inducted at the young age of 29, to be up there with the likes of my dad who was inducted the previous year is something that I will treasure forever,” said Gareth who clearly prefers deflecting to others when discussing his own achievements.
“Now that pop has been inducted into the Hall of Fame that now means there are three generations of the Rattray family which is a huge achievement by us all with hopefully more of the family to join us in future years.
“It was also an honour to be up there with the likes of Neville Webberley and Ricky Duggan who I have the upmost respect for and looked up to as they are champions of our sport,” added Gareth.
Gareth’s family on his achievements
Mum and dad on Gareth
“You can only admire Gareth, his work ethic is second to none, be it his courage, preparation, attention to detail but most of all his desire to succeed at the highest standard possible. He was always going to be a driver, despite all of the numerous challenges that life has thrown at him.
“The stories of his time as a youngster in the bath, with the pony and the race programs are all factual as are many more.
“We have said on many occasions that Gareth was the most experienced driver to have never driven in a race. By that I mean that when he did get to finally drive, as the situations ultimately confronted him, they had been played over and over in his mind so many times before, so it was probably the easiest thing he has ever done by driving in a race”
Nan and pop on Gareth
“Gareth has always been very special to all the family as he has had to overcome plenty of obstacles in his life especially in his early years.
“We honestly don’t think there wouldn’t be any other person in the industry that has been as dedicated to his profession as Gareth as he just lived and breathed harness racing from the day he could walk, his love for the standardbred is second to none.
“We always knew that he would be the driver he is today from a young age, his greatest asset is that he always gives his drives the best chance of earning a cheque for their owners whether it would be driving for luck on one at odds or driving the favourite like he was the best horse in the race, so in our eyes he is the best driver in the state and his record proves that.
“He is an outstanding young man who is a credit to himself and the whole family and the professionalism that he has showed throughout his career is which makes even more special to us.”
James (brother) on Gareth
“Gareth’s real passion was the horses as he just lived and breathed them since a very young age. When Gareth started driving, he was as well advanced as anybody I’ve ever known for a junior driver, so he was always going to succeed.
“Looking back at what Gareth has achieved so far is unbelievable which includes winning 10 straight driver’s titles, two young Australasian Drivers Championships and representing Australia in the World Drivers Title in 2009. Most drivers would love to have a resume like that at his age.
“I am so proud of what Gareth has achieved and I’m sure he will achieve plenty more in the years to come.”
Ricky Duggan on Gareth
“Gareth is a credit to himself and what he has been able to achieve in his career to date is something that people will go a long way to see again.
Ricky Duggan and Gareth Rattray prior to representing Tasmania in the Australian Drivers Championship in 2015.
“He has the unique ability to get the best out of every horse he drives and that has allowed him to reach the heights he has and become one of the greatest of all time.
“I have had the pleasure of representing Tasmania in the Australian Driving Championships alongside Gareth which is something that I will cherish.
“Gareth always conducts himself in a professional manner and his preparation and dedication are second to none.”
Closing
In writing this story, Gareth’s journey is one that has touched my heart. A very courageous young man, he has had to overcome many things as a youngster and with a huge amount of guts and determination he has become the champion he is today in a sport he has lived and breathed since a young age.
One only needs to speak to Gareth to gain an understanding of how he has achieved the success he has, his dedication and desire shines through above many of his peers.
His knowledge of Tasmanian harness racing is simply amazing for somebody his age.