ANDREW KELLY...CEO..QUEENSLAND HARNESS RACING..
Name...ANDREW KELLY..No nickname given---we will have to find one for him..
Age... 35 years..
Involvement in Harness Racing.....Full time administrator..
Time in the game...About 5 years.Was an occasional attender at Geelong Trots,and when on footy trips to Tasmania..
Introduced into the sport by...HRV Chair,NEIL BUSSE--- direct recruitment to admin post..
Role Models....Not big on " role models" as they often let you down.Likes to take the good parts,and mould them together.(Maybe we can call him "JIGSAW MAN" ).
Best horse owned...None,as HRV staff were denied ownership.Ironically.family,and footy/cricket friends have raced horses in a small syndicate in recent years.Their first winner was AVEROSS at Bendigo with Matthew Gath in the sulky.
Best horse driven...Training trips with CLASSICOLA.
Best horse seen....ELSU--Hunter Cup win was awesome.Evergreen SOKYOLA continues to amaze.
Best trainer...MAREE CALDOW--Training performance is great,but gets extra nod for attention to detail,presentation of herself and her runners,communication with their owners and a willingness to promote the sport off her own bat.
Best driver..."Iceman" GAVIN LANG.Outstanding,and wins hands down.
Most useful piece of harness/equipment...A horse float--how else would you transport them to the races.
Worst moment...Being close to the action when "Iceman" was involved in a fall at Mildura in April this year.Thought it was all over for GAVIN LANG.
Best Moment...Watching JAG DE BELLOUET win the 2006 ELITLOPPET at SOLVALLA in Sweden.1.51.7 for the mile on a 1000 metre track.Just awesome.Pity about the subsequent disqualification for a positive swab.(JAG DE BELLOUET trotted 1.54 for 2100 metres in Finland 7 days later ---world record---and came up clean)..
Best advice recieved...It was related to Harness Racing Admin---The order of benefit from a decision taken should be--INDUSTRY--STATE--CLUB---SELF.
Describe yourself in one word...Reliable.
Ambitions...My ambition in Harness Racing is to lift returns to Queensland stakeholders,in line with the quality product they produce.
Summary...ANDREW KELLY has come to Queensland from one of the more viable harness operations.(HRV).We must give him support as this horse(QHR) may be a bit harder to drive than CLASSICOLA..He has a good barrier(No 1 ),he will need a bit of luck in running---lets hope he gets the money..