Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Toby Lynn stands 6ft. 4in (193cm) tall and towers over his rivals in the sport of harness racing where the emphasis is on small, lightly-built drivers.
He is pacing’s man of the moment after driving six winners in the space of seven days early this month — and he will be in the spotlight at Gloucester Park on Friday night when he drives comeback pacer Major Express in the 2130m Taste Of WA Pace.
Appearing more like a muscular AFL footballer with the task of bruising his opponents, the 25-year-old bearded giant has surprisingly soft hands and a relaxed demeanour which horses appreciate and respond to his cajoling.
Major Express, a ten-year-old New Zealand-bred stallion, will be racing first-up on Friday night after a 17-month absence when he begins from the No. 3 barrier, with Lynn’s father Brad, a Birchmont trainer, having given the oldstager a diligent and not too strenuous preparation over the past four months.
“We have taken our time because he has had a bad leg,” said Lynn Snr. “He did a pastern a couple of years ago but is now in good shape. He is a beautiful horse, and Toby will be trying to get him into the running (one wide) line, and hopefully we will see a good performance.
“We wanted to give him an easy trial (over 2185m at Pinjarra three Wednesdays ago). The weather was terrible and the track was very wet, and Toby said he felt amazing.”
Major Express raced in fourth place in the Indian file trial, with Lazi Dais setting a brisk pace with quarters of 29.4sec., 29.1sec. 28.1sec. and 29.5sec., and Major Express ran home fast without being extended to finish second to Sweet Coco, who rated a smart 1.55.6.
Major Express was purchased by Barry Howlett as a yearling and he had five starts as a two-year-old in New Zealand in 2018 for trainer-reinsman Brent Mangos for one win at Cambridge and one third placing before travelling to Western Australia where he made his Australian debut at Bunbury on December 17, 2019, as the $1.80 favourite, and racing first-up for 18 months.
He raced in seventh position and surged forward, four wide, to move to second on the home turn where he broke into a bad gallop and dropped back to finish last. Since then, Major Express has had enforced lay-offs with tendon troubles. He was out of action for periods of 15 months, 16 months and 17 months.
After his initial failure Major Express won three in a row in the space of three weeks in December 2019 and January 2020 before breaking down. They were the first three in a remarkable sequence of nine victories spread over just under four years.
Three of those wins were at Bunbury and five at Pinjarra before he completed the winning streak with an impressive victory at his Gloucester Park debut on November 3, 2023. But leg problems kept him out of action for 17 months before he resumed as the $3.60 favourite in the 2503m Easter Cup on April 18, 2025. He raced in in the one-out, one-back position before starting a three-wide burst with 900m to travel and fought on grandly to finish third behind the pacemaker Ideal Muscle and the fast-finishing Spyglass.
He goes into this week’s event with a record of eleven WA starts for nine wins and one third placing after his first-up failure. His overall record stands at 16 starts for ten wins, two thirds and $78,452 in prizemoney.
Barry Howlett, who died in January this year at the age of 70, always wanted Major Express to return to racing, and his nephew Brad Lynn accepted the request from his aunty Lyn and his cousin Katie to train the handsome stallion.
For the record, Toby Lynn’s recent six winners in the space of seven days were: Princess Diamond ($3.80) at Gloucester Park on September 8; Mystery Fred ($7.20) at Gloucester Park on September 11; Crown General ($1.70), Princess Diamond ($1.80) and Paroquet ($8.30) at Pinjarra on September 14; and Bazaar Package ($8.30) at Gloucester Park on September 15.