Admiral Darcy getting the win at Kellerberrin Photo by Photography by Jodie Hallows
A leg injury almost two years ago saw Admiral Darcy put in the paddock and ‘forgotten’ about, but when Ivan Miles received a phone call to say he had to bring him home, he made the decision to put the then six-year-old back into work, and on Sunday at Kellerberrin, the lightly raced seven-year-old saluted after over two years away from the winner’s circle.
Commencing his preparation in November 2023, he took a new approach in his training with Admiral Darcy, with Miles admitting he usually works his horses quite hard; he was forced to adapt to working the gelding on a jogger instead of in the cart, with a lot of his initial work done at the beach.
“I worked him for about six weeks before I sent him back to the paddock for a couple of months because of the harsh summer we just had, then I brought him back up slowly.”
With Miles describing the long break as doing the horse wonders, he had initially ‘written the horse off’ and had planned on finding him a nice retirement home, but changed his mind last minute, a decision he hasn’t regretted for one second, with Miles impressed with the horses run at Northam 15 days prior when he finished in fourth place.
Admitting it wasn’t his money that saw Admiral Darcy start as the $2.50 in race four on the card, the run two weeks prior must have impressed punters, and he didn’t disappoint, pressing on for the lead after starting from barrier four over the 1730m trip to lead all the way.
Admiral Darcy will continue to race in the country for his next few starts, before Miles hopes to head to a mid-week Gloucester Park meeting.
“I’m hoping he can make a Friday night horse.”
Like many in the game, Miles got his foot in the door of the industry through his father’s involvement, but unlike many, his introduction was a fairytale that many can only dream of.
With his father Jack Miles being a highly regarded horseman and the trainer of one of the best horses ever seen not only in WA, but Australia wide, Mount Eden has given Ivan Miles memories that will last him a lifetime.
“Everyone wants a Mount Eden, but it wasn’t easy.”
Having a horse that attracts the publicity like Mount Eden did, even back in the 1970’s was a lot for anyone of that generation, but that’s exactly what Mount Eden did for the Miles family, and harness racing in not only WA, but in Australasia.
John Tapp described Mount Eden as the best horse to never win an Inter Dominion, and that is one of the memories that Miles remembers most; As a young boy heading to New Zealand to tackle the Inter Dominion, and although unsuccessful, he remembers the time trial in 1971 where he went 1:56 3/5.
“They put on a time trial on the final day, and he set the track record for Addington, they arranged that especially for him,
“Then he went over to Syndey and won a Miracle Mile after that, beating the horses that had placed in the Inter Dominion final.”
“I remember one night when Dad took him to trials at Gloucester Park, there used to be Tuesday night trials and there was about 12,000 people at trials, to see the horse trials,
“No one understood it then,
“Everyone just thought it was the way of the world then.”
The trots was the place to be all those years ago, before WA entered the AFL and other sports ramped up in those social prime times.
“When you started to get the AFL extending into WA and the first of it, I think, was when the basketball started, the Wildcats started, and you had Friday night entertainment other than horse racing and dog racing and that’s when it all started to diversify.”
“Dad and Greg have been great, they’ve mentored me, Greg and I have our difference of opinion on lots of things, but he’s a very good horseman and he’s very good with young horses, so all the young horses I’ve broken in and introduced to the track, he’s taken them through their educational trials and sometimes their early racing, and they’ve always been good to handle.”
Learning from an ‘Old School’ trainer in his dad, Miles has adopted plenty of his dad’s tricks of the trade, including his treatment of ulcers in the horses.
“I’ve just gone back to using raw eggs like the old man did, and they seem to be working better for me on the horses than the vet treatments do,
“You’ve got different horses now, they seem to have faster twitch muscle fibres, and they’re quicker on their point to point and those sorts of things, but there are still some things that stand the test of time.”
Mount Eden raced just 20 times throughout 1970 and 1971 for 14 wins and two placings, before he was sold to America for an incredible $300,000.
Unraced in America due to a bowed tendon, his stud career was dismal in the US, before being sent back down under where he stood back here in WA.
In 1991, some 20 years after his incredible feat, NSW Harness Racing Club brought the then 23-year-old out of retirement, where he led the Miracle Mile field onto the track, his final appearance before settling back into the paddock life.
Jack Miles who was unfortunately too frail to make the appearance himself, passed away the following day on November 30, 1991.
