The King of Bundaberg exits the building

By Jordan Gerrans

Klaus was the king wherever he raced across the Sunshine State but arguably his greatest victory was at his home stable in Bundaberg.

It is fitting that cult hero King Klaus would officially be retired during the Magic Millions carnival as the tough sprinter competed in the rich series back in 2022.

Prepared by Gary Clem throughout his career in the ‘Rum City’, King Klaus was a popular galloper who was known for travelling across the state with great success – walking away with 16 victories to his name.

He went to the races on 38 occasions after debuting with a victory in February of 2020 and earned $319,675 for his loyal connections.

King Klaus won multiple metropolitan races and competed in black-type events.

He won at eight of the nine tracks that he competed at in his career, with the only club he did not score at was Nanango, which was where he ran his final race in the middle of December last year.

The son of Love Conquers All was more than a racehorse for the Clem stable.

The trainer’s partner Angie Bloom battled cancer in the latter stages of his racing career and Clem says the grand old sprinter lifted her spirits in her recovery.

“He helped her through it and she went there to be with the horse at his stable – the horse comforted her,” the trainer said.

“She had breast cancer but she is cleared of it all now – thank god. It hit us pretty hard, the cancer.”

Bloom and Clem train their team of horses together with Bloom taking King Klaus to the races if he was unavailable due to work commitments.

The 61-year-old Bloom was diagnosed with cancer in January of last year and looking back on it now she refers to it as a ‘traumatic’ time in her life. 

It took a serious toll on her mental health and when she was feeling up to it on a rare occasion, she would head over to the stables.

“I would sit in the corner of King's stall – and I was crying – and he would put his head in my lap and just stand there,” Bloom recalls.

“In my experience, racehorses do not do those types of things very often.

“He always had a gentle soul as a horse and he knew I was struggling, he was there for me.

“Honestly, he was a once-in-a-lifetime horse and he has left a huge hole in our lives and our hearts.”

King Klaus raced on Wave day during the 2022 Magic Millions carnival and finished fifth in an Open Quality Handicap over 900 metres.

King Klaus was a renowned leader in his races and always aimed to shoot to the front as soon as the machine opened.

Central Queensland broadcaster Russell Leonard described the gelding as an ‘old tent fighter’ after a victory at Rockhampton in July of 2023 when he appeared to be finished halfway up the long Callaghan Park straight before fighting back to score.

Caller Josh Fleming referred to him as ‘the big King from Bundaberg’ in a Caloundra victory just a few weeks before.

As Bloom notes, many gallopers have a favourite track to run at but ‘the King’ showed his versatility by scoring at almost every facility he raced at.

And, it needs to be considered that the sprinter was always travelling long distances to race in the metropolitan area as he would often head south from ‘Bundy’ on race day.

“Everywhere he went, he had that following,” Clem said.

“Legend footballers, CEO’s of companies – they all followed him. For a horse to come down from the bush to take on the best sprinters in Brisbane – he was pretty good.

“The horse had enough of racing – he was starting to lose his pace – so that is when we made the call. We wanted to look after him.”

King Klaus’ last victory was on the sand at Gladstone in late September of last year.

He won at Eagle Farm, Doomben, Toowoomba, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast (five times), Rockhampton (twice), Gladstone (twice) and Bundaberg (three times).

“He was a stable favourite and meant the world to us,” Clem said.

“He was the best horse I ever trained, by far. You would have to go a long way to get another horse like him.

“He was easy to train and never put a foot wrong, he was good in the stable and he waited his turn to be worked. He loved people and was easy to do anything with.”

The stable retired him sound and he will live out his days at part-owner Dennis Dickman’s property in Far North Queensland at Tolga.