IN pursuit of ticking another track off his ‘bucket list’ the race is on for Bendemeer horseman Len Clement as he swings by Junee this weekend. Engaged in the opening race on Saturday with his mare Lifeslittlesecret, Clement is looking forward to his first official drive on the Riverina circuit. And following this, Clement only has 17 tracks to visit before he can claim that he has driven on every track in New South Wales.
“I worked out that prior to starting this trip I had driven on 11 tracks across the state . . . I have a few to go!” Clement said.
For those that don’t know the background to this story, Clement had a dream of driving on every track in NSW. And, after a handful of years, decided to turn this dream into reality. But he is not doing this alone – his wife Christine, their pacer Lifeslittlesecret, the cat and dog and yes, even the kitchen sink are all part of this journey too. They all embarked on this voyage two months ago and have already developed a following.
With a race named in their honour at Junee on Saturday, the Clement entourage have received a warm welcome from the Junee harness racing community. Popular trainer-driver Bruce Harpley, has opened his stable to provide somewhere for Clement to keep his mare, Lifeslittlesecret, while the Junee Club have allowed Clement and crew to stay on track grounds this week.
“I knew of Bruce Harpley and had driven against him a long time ago at Narrabri in a Sires’ Stakes race but for him to give us somewhere to house our mare and not really know us goes to show what nice people there are in this sport,” Clement said.
“And it is getting to know people like this that are making this such a memorable trip for us.”
Following Junee, Clement intends to head to Blayney for the Carnival of Cups meeting on November 22.
“We have had to shuffle our trip around after our mare qualified for a final at Griffith’s Carnival of Cups meetings and we stayed in Griffith for a bit longer than intended,” Clement said.
“Blayney is the next track on our list and then hopefully we can try get to Albury and Wagga after that.”
Stay tuned for more on Clement’s journey. And for more background on this story refer to this month’s e-gazette at www.harnessmediacentre.com.au
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
