By Tim O’Connor (HRV)<\/p>\n
Bob Kuchenmeister was the toast of the industry last Saturday night after landing a special victory with his mare Leanne Leeann at Tabcorp Park Melton.<\/p>\n
The 82-year-old trainer-driver partnered his squaregaiter to a narrow win in the last race on the card, the Western Ford Trot \u2013 a second success at Victoria\u2019s harness racing headquarters for the octogenarian.<\/p>\n
Post race, Kuchenmeister said he felt pretty good and \u201ckinda thought she would fight it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gets her nose in front and says that\u2019s me, I\u2019m staying here. I\u2019m not the driver, she is.<\/p>\n
On the corner coming into the home straight, the 82-year-old thought she started to buckle a bit and thought she was being a bit naughty.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe had a few stutter strides and I thought it would be best to run second than break, so I just held her and she took off again after that,\u201d Mr Kuchenmeister said in a post-race interview with Jason Bonnington.<\/p>\n
Kuchenmeister holds a rare place in history, with Metropolitan driving wins at the state\u2019s premier tracks of The Melbourne Showgrounds, Moonee Valley and Tabcorp Park at Melton.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s very many of us \u2013 I think we\u2019re a very small number now and that\u2019s just because of our age,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201c37 I would have been when I won at The Showgrounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, he didn\u2019t start his racing career until the age of 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Tim O’Connor (HRV) Bob Kuchenmeister was the toast of the industry last Saturday night after landing a special victory with his mare Leanne Leeann at Tabcorp Park Melton. The 82-year-old trainer-driver partnered his squaregaiter to a narrow win in the last race on the card, the Western Ford Trot \u2013 a second success at […]<\/p>\n