Family ties: Whittle follows his father into training

GROWING up in a harness racing family, Ashley Whittle always seemed destined to join his well-known father in the training ranks, but it’s safe to say the move took a little longer than expected.

About 10 years ago, Whittle purchased a property at Ingliston, between Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, with a view to building a house and putting in a training track and stables.

But as often happens in life, other things take precedence, including starting a family.

In a sign he wasn’t going to let go of his dream, 12 months ago a track went in and Whittle got down to work with his two homebreds, the pacer Moonlight Kate and the trotter Moonlight Billy.

As fate would have it, the pair debuted a day apart last week, giving Whittle his first two starters.

The mare Moonlight Kate was the first to hit the track at Ballarat on Thursday night, followed by Moonlight Billy at Bendigo’s Lord’s Raceway on Friday night.

Far from anticipating everything to click immediately, Whittle admitted having modest expectations with both horses first-up.

“As long as they can go around and compete and do everything right, that was the main aim,” he said.

“Moonlight Billy has improved each trial, but he’s still got a long way to go to be a sure thing in a maiden race, that’s for sure.

“He’s no champion, but we’ll have some fun.

“I’ve had some troubles in getting their gait right, but we’ve got there in the end.

“Still, it’s another milestone we can tick off.”

As he anticipated, Moonlight Billy was the better performed of the two, finishing fourth in a sound debut.

Coming from a family steeped in racing, Whittle – who combines hobby training with his full-time job as an accountant – believed it was inevitable he would eventually follow in his father’s footsteps.

“All my life I have been around horses through Dad and when I was at school I was always helping him out on weekends and whenever I could,” he said.

“As I got a bit older, I started playing football and that made it a bit harder to spend time with the horses.

“But as my football career came to an end, harness racing took over. It was one thing to the next.”

His football career comprised more than 200 games with Ballarat league club Bacchus Marsh.

Whittle said his move into training would not have been possible without the support of family, specifically his partner Tennille and their daughters Emily and Chloe, mum Carol and dad Graeme, and younger brother Matthew.

“Mum and Dad, in particular, put a lot of time and energy into, A, horses, and B, work around my place like fences and building tracks and sheds,” he said.

“We all work together and the whole family puts a lot of time into it.

“Dad’s been pretty successful over the years. Going back to the showground days, he had some really nice horses in Tweedsmuir and Joueur, and a lot of trotters over the last 20 years that he broke in and got going. More recently Prohibited Grace, who’s won a few of the bigger races.

“A lot of success with minimal horses in the stable.”

Like father, like son, and given his work and family commitments, Whittle intends keeping things simple with a small team.

“Three (horses) is probably too many and one too little … I probably don’t have the time to do any more than two with a full-time job and kids running around,” he said.

“And the property is ever developing; there’s always something being added and improved and changed.

“I’m more than happy to have one or two that consistently go to the races.

“I’d love to break in another young one and see how we go.”

Inevitably, father and son are destined to clash at some point at the track with their horses.

Whittle insisted the real battle would be fought pre-race, with both wanting to lock in the services of Matthew as driver.

“We’ll no doubt be fighting over our driver, so we’ll see what happens there,” he said.

“Matthew is doing most of the driving these days, so there’ll be decisions to be made.

“Maybe Dad can get back on.”

Father Graeme is undeniably proud to see his son join the training ranks.

“It’s his first step into training, but in reality he’s always been there next to me,” he said.

“When he was a three-year-old I got him carrying things around the stable.

“It’s a good lifestyle being around horses.

“He’ll definitely make a good go of it … he’s got the track, the stables and the lot on his property.

“We can’t wait to see what he does.”