Tasracing

When Ted Medhurst was just a tacker mucking out stables for his harness-trainer father, the late Ted Snr, he had visions of following in his footsteps.

That dream never quite eventuated, but he has managed to carve a successful career as a greyhound trainer and today he stands tall amongst the best to slip a collar on a chaser in Tasmania.

Having turned 61 earlier in the year, Medhurst is old enough to have survived some of the bad hands dealt to the racing industry over the years but this latest upheaval, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is unprecedented.

“We are facing very tough times and hopefully we can come out at the other end and still have a racing industry,” Medhurst said.

During the shut down caused by the coronavirus restrictions, Medhurst is trying to stay positive and reflecting on the past has been a good tonic for the multiple Group 1-winning mentor.

Very few feature races have eluded Medhurst during his 45-year career with two of his kennel stars, Buckle Up Wes and Bell Haven, winning multiple Group races around Australia.

Buckle Up Wes was the first to win an Australian Cup-Top Gun double and ended his career with Tasmanian record career earnings of $551,965 and Bell Haven was arguably the best bitch he trained winning a Group 1 and multiple Group 2 and 3 events around Australia.

Bell Haven with Ted Medhurst.

Growing up in a household that pretty much revolved around racing, Medhurst has fond memories of harness racing, growing up in an era that remains one of the best in the code’s history in Tasmania.

“I grew up watching pacers such as Golden Alley and Halwes and even today they are gods to me,” Medhurst said.

“I remember when Halwes ran his last race at the Hobart Showground and I had the privilege of going up to the horse and patting him and to this day it remains one of the great highlights of my involvement in racing.”

Medhurst admits since those halcyon days, racing has taken a backward step in terms of its popularity amongst the general public.

“If you had a good pacer in Tasmania during that golden era of harness racing you were revered and for a long time it was much the same in greyhound racing but sadly those days are gone.”

Medhurst remembers attending harness meetings at Oatlands and Westbury where he helped his father with gearing horses up and he loved to watch his Dad drive in races.

Medhurst senior made the transition to greyhounds soon after Ted junior acquired his trainer’s licence and they became the first father-son training combination.

Medhurst’s involvement with greyhounds has never waned since snaring his first winner Clun’s Maid when in his mid teens.

His interest in greyhounds stemmed from attending meetings at the old TCA Ground in Hobart where family and friends raced their greyhounds and gathered for social outings.

He was keen to start training greyhounds but at 16 he was considered too young to handle the responsibility.

However, thanks to the boss of the National Coursing Club, Des Illingworth, he was granted special permission to train.

“I got my licence when I was 16 and that started with a tried dog and it was great just to be involved and I was keen to learn.

“I was an apprentice carpenter and I continued with that while training part time.”

Medhurst took on greyhound training professionally in the mid 1980s after being given a couple of good litters to train by owner-breeder Tony Keep.

Winning feature races started becoming the norm for Medhurst, with those close to him declaring he had a sixth sense when it came to greyhound training.

The kid from Kempton had a dream, like all greyhound trainers and that was to win a Group 1 Hobart Thousand and he accomplished the feat in 2004 when the Barrie Heawood-owned and bred Regent Thunder scored an emphatic win on the Royal Showground circuit.

“Any trainer that has blood running through his or her veins wants to win a Hobart Thousand and I’ve been lucky to have lived the dream.”

While Regent Thunder’s Thousand win was brilliant, Medhurst has great memories of Blazenka’s Flyer, the dog that virtually launched his career as a serious young trainer.

Keune with trainer Ted Medhurst and her part-owner Debbie Cannan after the Minister’s Gift win.

Blazenka’s Flyer was the compete package, with his sizzling early speed matched by his great stamina.

Blazenka’s Flyer raced only 38 times for 23 wins and eight minor placings with many of his wins on interstate tracks.

Medhurst has fond memories of the red brindle dog winning the 1990 Devonport Cup and events leading up to that race that he shared with life long friend and fellow trainer John Cameron.

“Back in those days we would go to the races at Devonport and invariably stop at the Deloraine pub on the way home for a couple of drinks.

“Johnny (Cameron) was on leave from work so he travelled with me to the races and this day Blazenka’s Flyer set a track record and on the way home we stopped at the Deloraine pub to celebrate.

“When we walked into the bar the locals were a burly lot and they gave us the stare-down making us feel a bit uncomfortable but we ignored them and knocked off a bottle of scotch before making our way back to Hobart.

“Two weeks later Tim (Blazenka’s Flyer) won the Devonport Cup and we stopped into the same pub to celebrate and again the locals gave us the old stare-down so I looked at them and said we’ve just won the Devonport Cup and the drinks are on us.

“They all cheered and all of a sudden we were their best friends. It was a brilliant way to end a fantastic win by Tim.”

Medhurst said there were many similar yarns during his career but Blazenka’s Flyer’s win was the standout.

One of the keys to his success is having a constant flow of well-bred dogs in the kennel which Medhurst has managed to maintain right up until this season.

When Tasmanian racing restarts, Medhurst will be ready to go with a handy team but he says the industry needs to be back up and running as soon as possible.