Ken Casellas | Photo: Pacepix
Kody Charles, a unique character in sport as the only person in Western Australia to have trained winners in the three codes of thoroughbred, greyhound and harness racing, took the night off from his regular commitment as a trainer at the Cannington dogs to enjoy the success of his exciting young pacer Heez A Vibe at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
It was a moment to savour as the 36-year-old Charles watched with his parents Kevin and Annette as champion reinsman Gary Hall Jnr drove Heez A Vibe to a most impressive all-the-way victory in the $20,250 Garrard’s Horse And Hound Pace for two-year-olds.
Kody Charles and his wife Brittani own Heez A Vibe and have a special bond with the New South Wales-bred gelding who survived a rough start in life to develop into a strong, healthy and talented pacer.
Charles has concentrated on breeding and training greyhounds and breeding pacers for the past 16 years, but he took an interest in a broodmare with a weanling foal at foot who were advertised for sale on the Internet about two years ago.
The broodmare (by outstanding sire Art Major) was named Lettucerockher, who failed to finish in the first four in any of her nine starts in NSW and Victoria as a two and three-year-old. It was the fact that Lettucerockher’s full-brother Lettucerockthem and her half-brother Lettucerocku had been highly successful on the racetrack that drew Charles’s attention.
Lettucerockthem had amassed $1,042,176 from 49 wins and 62 placings from 226 starts, with his 21 victories in NSW including four at Group 1 level before he went on to forge an excellent career in America. Lettucerocku earned $662,610 from his 47 wins (17 in NSW and 30 in America) and 73 placings from 320 starts.
These significant facts influenced Charles. “They were not overly expensive, considering the mare’s pedigree,” said Charles. “So, I purchased them, and booked them to come across to WA. But the transport company rang me and said that if we tried to get the weanling to WA he would probably die.
“He was very skinny and in very poor condition, so I agisted them in Melbourne for a month, trying to put some weight on them. Finally, when the mare and foal arrived in WA they looked terrific. Brittani and I had a bond with the youngster from day one.”
Heez A Vibe, prepared by Baskerville trainer Ryan Bell, shows excellent promise and has earned $30,435 from three wins and a second placing from five starts. He will be set for the $100,000 Pearl Classic on August 25.
On Friday night Heez A Vibe was the $3.20 second favourite, with his stablemate Franco Encore the $1.50 favourite. Heez A Vibe revealed his sparkling gate speed from barrier four to burst straight to the front.
Franco Encore (from barrier two) trailed Heez A Vibe until Kyle Symington eased him off the pegs 650m from home. The final 400m sections were covered in 28.7sec. and 27.7sec. and Heez A Vibe beat Franco Encore by just under a length.
Kody Charles drove about 50 winners, and pacers he trained to win races included Takem Easy, Royal Opera and Racy Lacy. He had the distinction of driving a winner and training a greyhound winner at a dual code meeting at Northam’s Burwood Park in 2007. His solitary thoroughbred winner was with Slash And Burn at Northam in 2015 before he relinquished his thoroughbred training licence to concentrate on training dogs and breeding pacers. He has trained in excess of one thousand greyhound winners.
“I have never got out of harness racing, and I am right into the breeding of pacers, operating under the KTC Bloodstock banner,” he said. “Dad and I are passionate about breeding, and we have 33 mares in foal this year. We will also have 26 yearlings at the Perth APG sale in 2024.
“We have about 110 horses on the property at Hopeland, and I have about 45 greyhounds, including 23 in work at the moment.”