The great Wondai’s Mate is one of the several pacers that stands out in Michael Brennan’s mind when he reflects on growing up on the Darling Downs and attending the races at Albion Park.
Many decades on from Wondai’s Mate’s sparkling career, Brennan will get his own chance to create history around Brisbane’s premier harness track over the coming years.
Previously based in Western Australia while preparing his stable, the multiple Group 1-winning conditioner has shifted across the country with the Inter Dominion prize on his mind.
It will be Pinny Tiger first who he hopes can emulate some of his favourite’s such as Wondai’s Mate.
But, the barn should also have a production line of smart young horses coming through the ranks after being busy at sales across the country recently.
The 49-year-old took a detour into hockey for a large portion of his life but has landed back in his home state around the code he grew up around.
“Harness racing in those days, we had tracks at Toowoomba,” Brennan recalls.
“I used to come to Albion Park with my dad and a few guys I played hockey with, they were involved with harness racing, as well.
“I still fondly remember going to watch champion horses such as Wondai’s Mate and others at Albion Park, they are some of my all-time favourites.
“My uncle Clive was a gallops trainer at Toowoomba and I used to get down to the stables a fair bit and I remember going to the races in the transport track back in the day.
“I have always been a very avid horse racing fan.”
Labelled as one of the best pacers to come out of Queensland, Wondai’s Mate ended his racing career with the remarkable record of 121 starts for 73 wins, 34 placings and $456,536 in prizemoney.
In recent years, the Albion Park club have named a race in Wondai’s Mate’s honour and it is always hotly contested through the carnival.
Wondai’s Mate collected a total of 43 victories at Albion Park and was later inducted into the Queensland Harness Racing Hall of Fame.
Brennan will have a team of around 20 pacers in the Sunshine State.
Brennan’s current stable star Pinny Tiger has raced in Group company across Australia throughout his career, claiming victory at the highest level in his four-year-old season in WA.
With the Queensland Constellations and Inter Dominion Championship on the horizon in 2025, the trainer is hopeful Pinny Tiger will be able to compete against the best.
“He is a proven Group 1 horse,” Brennan said.
“He has travelled over really well and I am really happy with how he is coming up.
“He will look to start by hopefully the middle of May and he is definitely the type of horse that will really suite Queensland racing. Everyone knows about his gate speed – he has scintillating speed.
“Just the opportunity to train him here at this property, it gives me a few more avenues with his training program. He is the one I am most excited about.”
Brennan has also recruited Kiwi driver Korbyn Newman to join his Queensland team.
The 25-year-old Newman has around 80 winners to his name in his home country and has recently shifted across the ditch.
The team have combined with a couple of Queensland starters and trialers in recent weeks as their presence on race day ramps up.
They nabbed their first winner together around 'The Triangle' on Wednesday evening when Ultimate Miki landed the prize in comfortable fashion.
“It was a good opportunity that popped up, it is something different as I think I needed a change,” Newman said.
“I was due a change and here I am.
“Obviously Michael has done a good job and trained Group 1 winners and does a really nice job with his horses.
“When he rang me, he was bloody good to talk to and it seemed like the right now.”
Newman also tried his hand at training in NZ with his biggest driving triumph a $100,000 country event.
He has been in the bike behind Pinny Tiger since the 20-time winning gelding lobbed.
“He has been good, I got to drive him the other day and he went super,” Newman said.
Brennan and his group of owners – headed by Joshua Davine of N40 Racing - were active at the recent Sunshine Stars Yearling Sales and aim to be major players on the QBRED front over the coming years.
The trainer first broached the idea of a return to the Sunshine State when he travelled across in January to inspect a property at Biddaddaba.
“Once we saw the place, it was decision made – it was pretty much instantaneous” Brennan said.
“Once we drove up over the hill and looked down over the property, it is an incredible property.
“Josh has given us a great opportunity; we have settled in now and we are really looking forward to what is ahead for us.”
While Brennan has made a name for himself in the pacing code, it was another game that he departed Queensland for to chase his dreams in as a teenager from Toowoomba.
He won two Olympic medals for Australia in men’s hockey: bronze in 2000 and gold in 2004.
The Queensland midfielder retired after Sydney, but returned to the sport and was instrumental in the Athens success, which was Australia’s first gold medal in men’s hockey.
Australasia’s premier harness racing event will headline the Queensland Constellations Carnival for the next three years.
In a major coup, the Inter Dominion Championship will call the Sunshine State home from 2025 to 2027, acting as the centrepiece for the nation’s most exciting and innovative winter carnival.
Brennan says 'ID' finding a home in Queensland was ‘critical’ to his decision to move across.
“I think harness racing and racing in Queensland is definitely heading in the right trajectory,” he said.
“We were heavily involved at the sales this year with a view to the QBRED bonuses, which I think is an incredible bonus system and is probably the best in the country.
“The lure of the three Inter Dominion carnivals over the next three years is also something that enticed us to come and solidified the decision.”
