Brittany Graham's biggest fan watching Inter Dominion series with pride

By Jordan Gerrans

As Queensland’s Brittany Graham aims to land her beloved Majestic Harry in the Inter Dominion Grand Final on Saturday night, her earliest mentor with trotters is watching on beaming with pride.

Majestic Harry – who won a golden ticket into the series by claiming the Group 2 Trotters Sprint at Albion Park last month – is right on the borderline of forcing his way into the ID series’ 2022 decider.

With Brittany in the bike, the Majestic Son gelding ran a huge race in the opening heat at Ballarat to pick up valuable points in the series as he finished third.

Just a few days later, he was not as prominent at Shepparton and with one heat remaining at Geelong on Saturday evening, the Graham-trained trotter has 16 points to his name.

That puts him in equal 12^th position as the team go searching for more points in the third and last heat of the series.

While Brittany has been around the harness racing industry for much of her life, her affinity for the square gaiters came from one of her close family friends, Brett Cargill.

“I now love trotters, so Brett might have had something to do with that,” Brittany said recently.

Cargill is a popular member of the industry in the Sunshine State and is fighting his way back through rehabilitation after recently suffering a stroke.

While Cargill cannot be as hands on with the standardbreds as he would like, he has not missed one of the Inter Dominion heats yet on television. 

Cargill has spent long periods of his life working under trainer Darrel Graham – Brittany’s father – with the trotter transferred to Stephanie Graham – Darrel’s other daughter – for the feature Victorian series.

“I am very proud of the way Brittany is going, both her and Steph and what they are doing, they are doing a great job down there,” Cargill said on Friday morning.

“I could not be prouder to watch on from here.

“They have been going really good.

“I sent them a text message just the other day saying that to him that they should be proud of the job they are doing with the horse.”

In his younger years, Cargill would spend the summer months in Queensland before heading to Melbourne to work for the Lang team across the winter.

That is where he found his love for the square gaiters, he says.

And, when he would return to the Sunshine State a few months later, he would pass on that feeling to a young Brittany.

“I started putting her on an old trotter I used to have, he was a bit of a cranky old bugger, Go Ahead Makemyday,” Cargill said of Brittany.

“She started driving him for me and she got on very well with him.

“The horse could have been a bit funny at the start but she did not have too much trouble with him.”

Embracing Pacing earlier this year kicked-off the TAB Queensland Summer Harness Racing Season at Albion Park by hosting the “Brett Cargill Fundraiser Evening”.

The respected trainer and driver – Cargill – was able to return to the track and catch up with friends and fellow participants, who he had not seen in some time due to his rehabilitation efforts from the stroke.

On Friday morning, Cargill said his recovery was coming along well and he would be much happier if he could be down in Melbourne with the horses during the Inter Dominion series.

“When you drive a good trotter, it is a much better feeling than a good pacer,” he said.

“They are harder to get going, they are more of a challenge, I think that is another reason why I like them.”

As of Friday afternoon, the TAB has Majestic Harry listed as a $51 chance to claim the last of the three heats in the series.

The Graham camp will be hopeful of running in the top four on Saturday night over the staying trip to force their way into the big dance seven days' later.

“It was a big thrill to compete so well on the first night of the Inter Dominion there at Ballarat,” Brittany said.

“We are on the cusp there with a few other horses for getting into that last spot of next Saturday night’s grand final.

“We have not been helped a great deal by the barrier draw in the last round of heats at Geelong.

“It has been a great experience to be involved in the series.”