After a few high-profile hiccups earlier in his career, trainer Melissa Gillies believes her stable is finally getting the best out of talented trotter Northern Heights.
Now a four-year-old, Northern Heights landed the highest honour of his 22-start racing tenure on Saturday evening at Albion Park as the square gaiter was a dominant winner of the annual Jim McNeil Trotters Championship Final.
Northern Heights was poised for Group 2 glory in the early stages of his racing career, starting as a $2 shot in the QBRED Trotting 2YO Final of 2023.
Not much went to plan on that occasion as Gillies was forced to settle for second alongside stablemate Gait With Grace, who finished third as a $1.80 chance in the event.
In the Springboard series Final for two-year-old trotters back in 2023 as well, Northern Heights started as a $1.30 hot pot and ended up finishing almost 24 metres behind stablemate Gait With Grace.
Fast forward to March of 2025 and Northern Heights did not figure in the concluding stages in either of the Jim McNeil heats over 2138 metres.
But, with Pete McMullen in the bike for the decider over the longer trip, he ate up the extra ground.
The 41-year-old Gillies is yet to win a black-type event in her training career so to win the time-honoured Jim McNeil series, it was a significant milestone for her stable, which she refers to as a ‘family effort’.
“It was really exciting because we loosely planned this series from a long way out,” she said.
“Not everything went to plan along the process but to get him there and then to pull it off – it was very exciting.”
A respected businessman and horse owner, McNeil was a pioneer of trotting races in the Sunshine State, helping lift the horse population around Brisbane as well as increasing the profile of the form of racing.
The Jim McNeil Trotters Championship has been run since 2011.
Northern Heights’ victory was one of five at the city meeting on Saturday evening for reinsman McMullen.
It was the fifth time in his illustrious career that McMullen had driven a handful of winners on a metropolitan program.
Like a number of runners in the field, Northern Heights was yet to contest the 2647 metre trip at Albion Park, which the Jim McNeil series decider was run over.
The Wanora-based Gillies had some trepidation about her trotter stepping up in distance but Northern Heights most certainly appreciated the extra trip.
“We were confident that we had him well and his work had been good,” she said.
“But, we were a bit cautious of the distance, we were not really sure how he would accept the 2647 metres.
“As he does race pretty keenly and he has never gone over that distance before.
“He definitely ran it out well in the end and hit the line really strong.”
Following Saturday’s feature victory, Northern Heights has now collected five victories and eight minor placings from 22 starts.
Bred and owned by Kathryn McLachlan, the Gillies camp was handed Northern Heights to prepare by his connections alongside Gait With Grace as yearlings.
Looking ahead through the rest of 2025, Gillies will target four-year-old trotting events with Northern Heights.
“He has been a lovely horse but frustrating at times as a typical trotter, he has made a lot of mistakes,” she said.
“He has sometimes made those mistakes when it counts the most, he blew it in the two-year-old Triad pretty bad.
“Fingers crossed he is starting to work it out and put it all together now.”
Gillies prepares a team of 10 with assistance from her family alongside working part-time as a school teacher.
She heads to the races on Tuesday with another Trotter from her barn, Ignite.
With McMullen booked to do the steering, Ignite will be chasing his first victory since November of last year.
“He is always there abouts and never too far away,” Gillies said of Ignite.
“He will pop up every now and again when he gets his right luck in running.”
