Brotherhood: Brendan (left) and Hayden Barnes have both had a stellar 2013/14 season in the sulky Photo by Jnr Jnr Photography
Meet the Barnes boys.
Two brothers with a deep passion for harness racing sparked by a fierce competitiveness and a desire to succeed in a challenging and at times tough business.
Hayden, 18 and his younger brother Brendan, 17 have kick-started their budding careers following breakout seasons where both boy’s enjoyed strong success with their respective stables.
Like most cutting their teeth in the sport, they floated from stable to stable trying to gain as much experience as possible in the early stages before locking down full-time positions with bigger stables.
Now, they’re on their way.
Hayden made a switch mid-season from the stables of Darrel Graham to Chantal Turpin and Pete McMullen while Brendan jumped at the opportunity to leave Bart Cockburn and link with the bigger stables of Vicki Rasmussen and Shane Graham.
Both thoroughly enjoy the driving aspect of the business and love being out on the track and since they took on their new roles, they have been a regular site on the track.
“We love to drive and luckily, our new roles have provided us with a great opportunity to spend more time racing and it’s been great. It’s all about experience and you can’t get that sitting in the stands, both Brendan and myself were very thankful for the opportunities we got from previous stables we worked with and that’s steered us in the right direction.” Hayden said.
Although younger, Brendan has risen to prominence quickly and only last season, finished with 40 winners for the term, therefore, outdriving his concession claim for the year.
On August 23, Brendan landed his first metropolitan double at Albion Park when successful with the Vicki Rasmussen trained Drunken Desire and the Brian Manzelmann prepared Getinbehind.
And not to be outdone, Hayden landed his first metropolitan victory at Albion Park on the final night of the season in a FFA event when My Jellignite surprised his rivals in a 1;53.3 milerate.
My Jellignite is prepared by Chantal Turpin.
Both boys have played significant roles for their respective stables which enjoyed milestone moments last season.
Vicki trained over 200 winners for the season, a record in her own right and the only female trainer to achieve the feat during the year while Chantal registered her first century of winners for the term.
“It’s been a hectic season but it’s been great fun along the way and we’ve learned so much both on and off the track. We’ve worked long and hard but this is what we like doing and we wouldn’t swap it for anything.” Brendan explained.
“Both Hayden and myself realise we are lucky to have sounding boards like we do in Shane and Peter, they’re great drivers and are happy to give us any advice we need and that’s crucial when you’re competing on track.” He added.
And both boys know they have another mentor at all times, their father Al, a horseman in his own right who is proud as punch watching his two sons enjoy life.
