Big Red Machine sets track record

Harness pony driver Colin Mello blazed his way into the record books at Vesey Street last week and then renewed calls for a larger a race track.

The past Bermuda Horse and Pony Club executive set a new track record (1:02/3) during the Free for All as six-year old stud Big Red Machine lived up to its name.

Big Red Machine, co-owned by Robert Lopes, shattered the previous mark (1:03) held by female driver Katrina Sims set two years ago in the sulky of It’s Speed Time.

After raising the bar, Mello struggled to come to grips with his record-breaking exploits.

He said: “The reality still hasn’t really sunk in, people said we were flying. I thought he’d (Big Red Machine) get close to the record, but I never thought he’d go as fast as he did. It feels pretty good to break the record.”

Mello attributes his recent success at the racetrack to dedication to training.

He added: “I’ve just been training and putting the time in. What you put in is what you get out and if you put the time in it eventually shows.”

With the track record under his belt, the 31-year-old landscaper has now set his sights on other milestones.

He said: “We have the stakes races coming up and so hopefully we can do well in the stakes races. Hopefully we can end up in the champions of champions and win that.”

Big Red Machine is no stranger to breaking records, having covered the half mile in 58 seconds flat to “unofficially” equal a world record as a five-year-old competing in Indiana.

“It’s only one other horse that has achieved that time,” Mello is quick to point out. “As a four-year old he went 1:03/3 and then we shipped him to the states to race and he set records out there. But at the end of the year when he had to measure for the world record he measured out so what he achieved didn’t really count. Everybody knows he did it (equalled world record), but it’s just not official.”

Prior to amendments to International Trotting Bred and Pacing Association (ITPA) measuring rules, all ponies had to be measured by the height at their withers before they were allowed to race at the beginning of each racing season. All ponies that equalled or broke track records then had to be re-measured in order for their times to be officially recognized as a record.

Mello believes even lower times can be recorded on a larger racetrack at Vesey Street.

Bigger track

He added: “We need a bigger track, that’s what we need. We race a half mile race on an eighth of a mile track, which means we have to do two and a half laps to make up a half mile. It’s like racing on a bull ring.

“Two straightaways would be nice to have because we have some of the fastest horses in the world and so a bigger track will certainly help times come down.”

Mello reckons harness racing is one of the fastest growing family-oriented sports on the island.

He added: “I’ve noticed a lot more families coming out bringing their grandparents and grandkids….. it’s definitely a growing sport. Every year we also seem to get new people racing from the age of 14 to 65.

“We’ve had good crowds this year and it would be nice to see even more people come down here because harness racing is a family oriented sport.”

Other top performers during last Friday night’s racing was 65 year-old driver Johnny Paynter who picked up three wins on three different ponies and Phillip Correia (Cherokee Kibbitz) who was a double heat winner. n