There’s nothing I’ve enjoyed more over the years than the many conversations I’ve had with veteran horsemen - especially harness horsemen who were around in the days when the sport was drawing big crowds all around Australia. One of my prime “targets” was the late Kevin Newman in the days when he dominated the Harold Park driving and training ranks. I recall an occasion in the early 1980’s when Percy Hall and Jim Caffyn swapped yarns in the feed shed of the Luddenham property on which I was living at the time. I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough to be sharing the recollections of these icons of Harold Park’s golden era. The very spot where Percy and Jim stood that day, is now a dot somewhere on the dual-parallel runway system at the new Badgerys Creek Airport.
There was one long phone conversation in 1975 that left a lasting impression on a thirty four year old racing commentator with a passion for harness racing and its long history. I’d heard that J.D. “Jack” Watts was battling cancer and had been confined to bed by his doctors. I dialled his phone number one morning not knowing what to expect. Not only was the legendary horseman happy to chat, but he began to regale me with stories about the famous horses and horsemen he’d known in a fifty year career. What a joy it was to hear his memories of race drives on champions like Ribands and Caduceus, but the clincher was his summation of his association with the freakish pacer Walla Walla. Jack had numerous race drives on the horse whose name would be perpetuated in the Australian vernacular. The expression “further back than Walla Walla” came into vogue as a result of the huge handicaps imposed on the champion in the standing start days. J.D. Watts gave me more than my money’s worth on that unforgettable morning forty eight years ago.
It was always a special treat to catch D.J. “John” Heath in a reminiscent frame of mind on or off the track. This man is a true aficionado of Australian harness racing, and as fine a handler of the standardbred horse as you’ll find anywhere in this country. In his busiest days he could train and drive with the best, he could shoe a horse with great expertise and had a profound knowledge of pedigrees and the finer points of horse breeding. He also has deep respect for the history of the sport in this country. John’s greatest fear as he enters his eightieth year, is that future generations may not have the same respect.
John Heath competed successfully against stern opposition in Harold Park's golden era - courtesy Club Menangle.
Tuesday October 29th 2002 was the day Johnny Heath’s life underwent a dramatic change. He was fifty nine years old and had been going a million miles an hour for four decades - training, driving, shoeing and attending to the countless jobs that come with stable life. He’d work all day, before rushing off to a night meeting at any one of four or five Sydney tracks. Missing meals or eating on the run was common practice. His body registered the ultimate protest during a race at Harold Park in which he was driving a handy mare called Two Dollar Bronwyn. “I was three back on the pegs and suddenly felt chest discomfort,’ said John. “In an instant I dismissed it as indigestion and put my mind back on the job. I finished out of a place and on pulling up I knew something was drastically wrong. I jumped out of the cart and went straight to the race day ambulance. They laid me down and took emergency measures, at the same time requesting a second ambulance from nearby RPA Hospital. I was actually having the cardiac arrest as they took me into surgery. Two stents were inserted in an angiogram procedure, and I was out of danger. Being so close to the hospital almost certainly saved my life.”
20 years on and John is still a regular on Sydney tracks. Here he is with son-in-law John Ogden on a cold Penrith night.
John’s recovery was swift. Within a month he made a quiet return to duties, and it wasn’t long before he was back to normal. He did make one dispensation to his worried family, and that was his promise to retire from race driving. He’d been successfully competing for four decades, against the very best drivers Sydney harness racing had to offer. He soon grew accustomed to using capable substitute drivers, and threw himself more diligently than ever into the training of his horses. He’s had to deal with other health issues over the past decade, but is currently on top of the situation and getting on with the business of trying to unearth a good horse.
The late Charlie Parsons, horseman extraordinaire and John's early tutor - courtesy Club Menangle.
John Heath grew up in Bankstown, the only son of Darold and Eileen Heath. He was in fact christened Darold John Heath after both his father and grandfather, and could see confusion looming if he didn’t use his middle name. He did this with the blessing of his parents, and he’s been John Heath ever since. Living right next door to the Heaths was his mother’s brother Charles Parsons, already making a name for himself as a very proficient trots trainer. At the time of his passing in 2014 Charlie was lauded as a master conditioner and a wizard with troublesome horses. He also proved to be the best tutor his young nephew could have wished for. “He was just a wonderful all round horseman with an amazing capacity to solve shoeing or harness problems,” said John. “He had an inventive mind and would try all sorts of things to get a horse going kindly. People sought his opinion all the time about their horses.”
Charlie Parsons was the trainer of Soft Touch, the horse to give young Johnny Heath his first driving win on the little Bulli track in 1961. He also supplied his nephew’s first Harold Park winner, a little sit and sprint mare called Raiarmagh Lass. John would go on to drive dozens of winners at the famous track and was saddened by its closure in 2010. “It’s hard to explain what Harold Park meant to the public and participants,” he said. “It had an atmosphere we’ll never see again. You could hardly move in the place all year round and every leading driver had his own fan club. There were dozens of bookies catering for big punters. High profile politicians and the occasional Prime Minister would turn up to present trophies. Country horsemen were proud to have a runner there. It was an amazing part of Sydney’s history.”
Johnny Heath was on the crest of a winning wave when he met Buddy Abrahams in Sydney in the early 60’s. Abrahams was a New York publisher who had a great passion for harness racing. He attended many meetings during his extended business trip, and got to know several local horsemen. John’s talents hadn’t gone unnoticed. “You could have knocked me over with a feather when he approached me about working for him in America,” said John. “He already had several horses in work at Roosevelt Raceway on Long Island, and intended to buy or lease a few Australian horses to take back with him. “I was twenty four and still single. It was a wonderful opportunity to see how they did things on the other side of the world. I had absolutely nothing to lose.”
John had the distinction of winning the first race ever run at Bankstown with Roger Hall in the mid 1960s. He received the trophy from Tom Austin - courtesy Club Menangle.
Over the next eighteen months John showed the Americans that Aussie horsemen could hold their own anywhere in the world. He was based at Roosevelt where crowds of 40,000 were commonplace at regular Saturday night meetings. John was very much at home on the half mile track and won his share of races in the Abrahams colours. One of the Australian horses to go to New York was former topliner Idle Raider who’d won thirty one of sixty four starts at home. The Canowindra bred gelding had raced and beaten some of Australia’s best horses but more often than not had “bombed” his chances with slow starts.
Despite a tardy beginning he was much too good for the opposition in the 1963 A.G. Hunter Cup which promoted him to equal favouritism with Cardigan Bay for the Inter Dominion Championships on the tiny Wayville track in Adelaide. He recorded two wins and a second in the qualifying heats. Eyewitnesses said he had the grand final at his mercy when he fell without warning on the hometurn, creating carnage in the field. Cardigan Bay went on to a well deserved win from Dusty Miller and Waitaki Hanover.
Sadly Idle Raider was never the same horse again. He raced on for some time, but in the end was struggling to win country Free For Alls. “I can’t remember whether Buddy purchased or leased Idle Raider but next thing I know the horse turned up at Roosevelt,” recalled John. “He had nasty quarter cracks when he arrived and had become a high maintenance horse. He was OK in the warmer weather but really struggled through winter after the track had been frozen over. Despite being way past his best he still won a number of races in the US. In Australia hopeless manners deprived him of a champion’s tag.”
A ground level shot at New York's Roosevelt Raceway in 1966. John Heath leads around the final turn on expat Aussie Idle Raider (inside). The former NSW pacer was past his best but managed to win several races in the USA.
John later campaigned the Abrahams horses at Sportsman’s Park in Chicago, and even followed the sun to California for a brief stint at the famous Hollywood Park track. In the 1960’s the harness horses raced on the main dirt gallops track, and the balmy climate brought good crowds to the trots. It’s now history that Hollywood Park was swallowed up by developers in 2013. John looks back on his eighteen months in the USA as an unforgettable adventure.
By the time he was back in Australia young Heath knew he was in harness racing for the long haul. He’d become a student of the standardbred horse and a great industry supporter. He’s never trained sufficient numbers to figure on premiership ladders, but has rarely been without a handy horse. To cover all of the talented animals to pass through his hands would require much more space than we have available. From a driving perspective he looks back on a brief association with Bay Foyle as a career highlight. “My uncle Charlie Parsons prepared him beautifully throughout a career which brought him something like 35 wins and 25 placings,” said Heath. “Among his many major wins were a Miracle Mile and a NZ FFA. I’m proud to say I drove him in six early wins.”
John drove the brilliant Bay Foyle to 6 early wins for his uncle Charlie Parsons. Here they are at Harold Park in 1970 - courtesy Club Menangle.
Of the nice horses he trained himself, Karamea Minna is among John’s all time favourites. The daughter of Thor Hanover won more than twenty races despite having difficulty with half mile tracks. “She won a stack of races at Harold Park even though she barely got around the track,” said John. “Whenever possible I’d slip around to the chair. She was OK one cart off the fence but very awkward when she got three wide. She was as tough as she was fast. She somehow got around Penrith to win a Renshaw Cup, but was a lot happier on the big Richmond grass track where she won a Tom Austin Cup.”
“She absolutely flew in a few wins on the 1000m right handed Hawkesbury track, and she was good at Moonee Valley. She won the Kaiser Stuhl there one night from a standing start in record time. She was a mare with enormous ability and a great heart.”
Frosty Red is another of John’s perennial favourites. The genuine son of Koala Frost raced with great consistency throughout his career and was a favourite with the Harold Park punters of the 1980’s. “He was a very good horse, but just a touch short of top class,” recalled John. “He was too good for them as he came through his classes, but levelled out when he got to the top grade. Mind you he was still very competitive and placed in elite races on a couple of occasions.”
Another of the trainer's favourites Frosty Red after a Harold Park win in 1983 - courtesy Club Menangle.
John enjoyed every minute of his association with the brilliant trotting mare Arizona Blue between 2009 and 2011. The daughter of Dr Ronerail raced 47 times for 21 wins, 13 placings and $236,000. Her career highlights were wins in the NSW and Victoria Trotting Derby Finals, the Breed For Speed Sprint Series Final and the La Coocaracha Trot on the big track at Coolamon. Arizona Blue won five races during a stint in Victoria with David Aiken, while John’s son-in-law John Ogden was the driver in her other 16 wins. The mare’s career was cut short by foot problems.
The success achieved by his youngest daughter Elizabeth has given John as much pleasure as he’s ever derived from his own lofty achievements. Unlike sisters Jacqueline and Amanda who pursued careers away from harness racing, Elizabeth has wanted to do nothing else other than work with horses. “She was a champion girl rider as she grew up and took to the harness horses like a duck to water,” said John. “She tried an office job in the computer programming field at one stage, but didn’t last very long. She couldn’t get back to the horses quickly enough.”
John and youngest daughter Elizabeth at a HRNSW function in Sydney.
Liz has developed the talents of several high achieving horses with Threepence and Excel Stride at the top of the list. She trained Excel Stride for his first twenty six runs which yielded seventeen wins including the Breeders Challenge 2YO Colts and Geldings Final and the 2011 NSW Pacers Derby.
Without question the horse to kick start Elizabeth’s training career was New Zealand bred filly Threepence, a daughter of champion sire Holmes Hanover. Under the guidance of her young trainer, Threepence raced 32 times for 17 wins, 7 placings and $253,000. Her wins included the Seymour Nursery Final, the Pink Bonnet, the J.L. Raith memorial, the Tasmanian Oaks, the Gold Coast Oaks, and the Harold Park Queen Of Hearts. Her minor placings included seconds in the NSW and Victorian Oaks Finals. She was driven in 16 of her wins by Elizabeth’s brother-in-law John Ogden and by Kate Gath in the Queen of Hearts, a race for all female drivers.
The brilliant Threepence (John Ogden) wins The Pink Bonnet at Harold Park - courtesy Club Menangle.
Elizabeth is currently busier than she’s ever been. When leading trainer Kerry Ann Morris was sidelined for a recent swab irregularity, Liz was selected as caretaker trainer for a team of forty horses housed in the Menangle barn. Only last Thursday night she landed a winning treble at the Penrith meeting - Kingofglitter and Darkndusty for the Morris barn, while Alta Sierra from the Heath yard was the middle leg of her treble. By an amazing coincidence Alta Sierra is a son of Elizabeth’s favourite Threepence. The talented trainer posted another winning double and three placings on behalf of the Morris stable at Menangle on Saturday night, and followed up with another double at headquarters on Tuesday (July 4th).
Elizabeth tried her hand as a driver for a short period of time and actually drove a handful of winners on outside tracks. Riding was still her principal source of recreation at the time, but that came to an abrupt halt when her warmblood pleasure horse, put on a rodeo exhibition at home one day. Liz sustained a badly broken leg which sidelined her for a lengthy period. On resuming duties around the stables, she made the decision to leave the race driving to others. Of his daughter’s training talents John Heath simply says, “She’s a thinking trainer with a great gut feel for horses. She sometimes spots little things that others miss. She knows when to back off horses, and she knows when to give them more.”
The pink bonnet looked good on Threepence. John joined Liz and John Ogden at the presentation - courtesy Club Menangle.
John had a huge opinion of a gelding called Big Fella Mach who was never completely sound through a 45 start career which yielded 17 wins and 11 placings. “I trained him initially but handed him over to Elizabeth after a few runs,” said John. “He had as much ability as anything we’ve trained in the last twenty years, but was never without an issue of some kind. He was the one that got away.”
Since 2018 the Heaths have been ensconced on a 40 hectare property at Medway, a stone’s throw from the historic village of Berrima. The farm had previously been home to a thoroughbred trainer, and offered many of the appointments John and Elizabeth required. There was an ample number of boxes and yards, a sand roll, spacious paddocks and a walking machine. “Our only commitment was to construct a decent work track, and we couldn’t be happier with the result,” said John “It’s as good a half mile track as you’ll find, with excellent camber and a forgiving surface.”
The Heaths were compelled to find a suitable place when the NSW Government resumed their 20 hectare property on Elizabeth Drive at Kemps Creek. The acreage was needed to accommodate part of the multi lane freeway now known as the M12 which will provide fast access to the new Badgerys Creek Airport. The property was owned originally by Charlie Parsons who sold it to the Heaths in 1997. “Charlie continued to live on the property right to the end, and it was always a bonus to have his wise counsel,” said John. “It’s a strange feeling to drive past there now and see this concrete monster crossing the place where we worked horses for twenty years.”
You can say one thing about the Heaths - when they move to a new place they stay put for a while. Prior to the move to Kemps Creek, they spent twenty two years on a property at Clarendon which backed onto Hawkesbury racecourse. This afforded John the luxury of working his horses on a nearby one mile training circuit owned by the University of Western Sydney but maintained by HRNSW. That Hawkesbury property is now home to successful gallops trainer Brad Widdup who’s currently enjoying his best ever season.
John’s elder daughters Jacqueline and Amanda pursued careers away from harness racing before marrying and settling down to raise families. Amanda however is married to John Ogden, a former air conditioning specialist who’d had nothing to do with horses until he met the Heath family. To say he was besotted is no exaggeration. Under the tutelage of John and Elizabeth he quickly learned the fundamentals, and it wasn’t long before harness racing became his sole focus.
John Ogden has gone on to drive many winners for the Heath training duo competing at the top level behind some very talented horses. He’s currently training Amanda’s homebreds on their Mulgoa property. The Ogdens are the parents of Daniel (23) and Cyane (16), while Jacqueline and her husband Martin have a teenage daughter Chelsea (15).
John Ogden, a former air conditioning technician was captivated by harness racing from the moment he met the Heath family - courtesy Club Menangle.
John and Anne Heath are perfectly settled on the southern highlands and enjoying their involvement in harness racing as much as ever. Anne, John’s wife of fifty five years continues to contribute to the running of the busy training operation. “I couldn’t begin to tell you what a tremendous help she’s been over the years,” said John. “She’s a good hand with a horse and looks after all the little things while Liz and I get on with working the team. Anne is one in a million.”
So where do we find Darold John Heath in 2023. Oblivious to the fact that he’s eighty years old, the gifted horseman continues to drive fast work on his new half mile track. He doesn’t shoe horses as frequently as he did, but enjoys “tinkering” with the front feet of an animal that might have gaiting problems. The knowledge stored in his agile brain is a veritable treasure trove, and he’s happy to share it with any young trainer seeking a second opinion. Thank goodness Johnny Heath still enjoys a chat, especially when harness horses dominate the subject. I’ve enjoyed every word of every conversation I’ve ever had with the horseman who bridges the generations.