Last week I visited the Donald Cemetery to pay my respects to the late Gavin Lang.

Gavin was laid to rest on Thursday, April 30, following his funeral.

Standing there, memories of this true champion and remembering some of the tributes that I have read, written by some very well known identities, some of whom have been harness racing supporters for many long years, was staggering.

One of Gavin’s early winners, which put his name up in lights, was a trotter called True Roman, trained by Graeme Johannesen.

It was a winning drive when Gavin was just 18 years old.

And his first drive for Johannesen started a partnership that lasted for many years.

In the 19802, when still a young man, Gavin had outstanding success with True Roman. This trotter won 73 races, of which 36 were at Moonee Valley, most of them with Gavin in the sulky.

After Gavin’s passing, Graeme Johannesen said that True Roman was able to race on further than other horses due to Gavin’s ability to care for horses through a race.

Gavin and Johannesen’s partner, Jenny Johnson, will be linked forever in history, by winning the last ever race held at Moonee Valley with a horse called Strident.

A local horse, names Lee Vegas, trained by Mark Boyle, at Charlton, was another horse that gave Gavin multiple wins during her racing career.

In 2013, Gavin was inducted into Harness Racing Victoria’s Hall of Fame. He joined his father, Graeme, who was inducted in 2011.

Recently, John Tapp, a former race caller and TV identity, put Lang’s achievements into some sort of perspective.

Consider the fact that Gavin’s driven harness horses for the same number of years as veteran N.S.W. jockey, Robert Thompson has ridden thoroughbreds.

Robert has ridden more winners than any other jockey in Australian racing history — his current tally is over 4,500.

Gavin Lang’s winning tally of 6,3030 — “wow!”

Some of Gavin’s greatest winners, according to some experts, are: Persistency, Golden Reign, Captain Joy, Philadelphia Man, Vanderport, Manifold Bay, Franco Tiger, and the list goes on . . .

Tributes

The list of tributes to Gavin Lang recorded on the special Website created by Harness Racing Victoria is simply amazing.

Here are some that caught my eye:

From Adam Hamilton: “Gavin was without peer through so much of his career. A champion and legend. The ultimate tribute was that just about every driver who came in after him ‘wanted to be the next Gavin Lang’.”

Kerryn Manning: “What a sad day. A legend is gone but will never be forgotten. You always told me to follow the best drivers in the races. If ever you get held up, they will get you out of trouble. Never truer when I followed you. You never failed to get a gap. RIP Gav. The best ever.”

Andy Gath: “Gavin Lang entertained us for many years on the race track, but plenty of us were also entertained when he was near a karaoke machine.”

HRV chairman, Dale Montieth: “No words can truly describe the man that his friends knew and loved. He’ll be so sadly missed.”

Racing identity John Tapp drew a comparison between Gavin and Michelangelo, as they were in the genius stature. He said in a recent press release course photographer, Clair Weston, has purchased an named a star in honour of Gavin, and it is called Group 1 Gav. For those of you astronomically enclined, its position is RA 16.515, declination -26.52.

Local Cup Winners

Gavin Lang’s success in local cup events with pacers and trotters reads as such:

Charlton Pacers: 1988, Scamp Racer,; 1995, MIster McKinzie; 2014, Five Star Anvil. Trotters: Nil. St. Arnaud Pacers: 1988, Our Navy Lady; 1989, Voight; 1998, Off The Old. Trotters: Nil. Wedderburn Pacers: 2000, Kid Me Not; 2009, Sammy Maguire; 2010, Village Of Dreams. Trotters: 2009, Don King. Boort Pacers: 1985, Paper Prince. Calder Pacing Cup: 1988, Jump N Jive.

Watchem Connection

Over many recent years, Gavin had some very loyal supporters in the Dickie boys, Ray and Garry, formerly of Watchem and now living in Western Australia, and Bob Egan, from St. Arnaud.

The Dickie boys and Bob, have a very promising pacer called Sirletic, which was formerly trained by Gavin, and is now under the care of David Aiken, based near Seymour.

Speaking to “Butch” Dickie on his kost recent visit to Donald, he said Gavin said he had high expectations of the horse.

And my final word: Farewell, Gav, “Another Star in the Sky”.