WHILE Heath Bourke has been able to achieve some recent success on the harness racing track, the Portland local said it’s a family tradition which goes back multiple generations.

“My grandfather Tim Bourke was quite well-known around these parts for harness racing, and he passed that on to my father Barry and it continued on from there,” Bourke said.

“It’s a tradition that I hold dear… it gets in your blood and ingrained in your DNA.

“The fact that I’m carrying on a legacy helps give me a reason to keep going, even when things aren’t going according to plan.”

Bourke himself has been a part of the harness racing industry for more than three decades, having started driving competitively when he was 16, and has since been a trainer before more recently becoming a breeder.

“I got my trainer’s licence a number of years back, but now I’m into the breeding side of the industry… I’ve been doing it for about five years now,” Bourke said.

“It’s now my main focus, but the experience I’ve had as a driver and a trainer certainly helps inform me in what to look for when I’m picking out horses… looking for the right traits and matching up the sire and mare.

“To be honest it’s been a good experience becoming a more well-rounded horseman and getting an appreciation for the different facets of the industry.”

Bourke has achieved significant success even in the early stages of his career as a breeder, with Remi Lou winning the Victoria Premiere Stakes and running as a placegetter in the NSW Pink Bonnett.

Will He Reign came runner-up in the $150,000 Group One APG Vic Gold Bullion (Two-Year-Old Colts and Geldings) Final in 2022, with Bourke saying he has a number of other horses which have shown great promise.

“We’re yet to set the world on fire… but as I said it’s only my fifth year as a commercial breeder so to have this many horses showing potential is fantastic,” Bourke said.

“Some of the other progeny are just making their way through the country grades, nothing too spectacular at this stage… they’ve got potential and sometimes it takes a little bit of time.”

Bourke said there’s a great sense of accomplishment in being a horse breeder, and he said he keeps a keen eye on the horses he’s had a hand in developing.

“I take great pride in the success of all my horses, I watch each and every single one race, I cheer them on at home or at the track as if I was the owner,” Bourke said.

“I’ve been there since they were foaled, and I certainly feel that when they win it’s a bit of validation for the work I’ve done and that sort of drives me on.

“I want to see my progeny and the ones I’ve bred make group one races and even the Grand Circuit races down the track when they’re older.”

While the success that Bourke has been able to have in the short term has been amazing, he has his sights set on bigger things in the long run.

“Refining the mares I’ve got is a key one… hopefully I can really put my stamp on the juvenile races going forward, and progress on from those races and onto the Grand Circuit,” Bourke said.

“I’m investing in getting access to some of the best sires in the world, it will be a big outlay but if you want the best you have to go to the best.”

Last month Our Ultimate Layla – trained and owned by Bourke – ran fifth at Melton in the APG Gold Bullion Four-Year-Old Final, and followed that run up with a third placing at Ballarat.