Foottapper is a number one for Hartman

HOBBY trainer Graeme Hartman turned the clock back nearly sixty-years when Foottapper greeted the judge in the second event at Menangle on Tuesday and become a number hit all over again.

Part-owned by Graeme, the son of What The Hill charged through an opening with 200 metres of the race to complete, following a kind peg run, finishing strongly to defeat Tarentaise and Malibuu.

Driven to perfection by Josh Gallagher, Foottapper has matured over the past 12 months after a slow start to his career, and at start 10, the gelding managed to experience that ‘winning feeling’ for the first time.

The former renowned publican, and part-time reporter for the ABC, as a member of the Rugby League around-the-grounds coverage during the 1980s, Hartman explained how the gelding was named.

“As a teenager, I was learning how to play the guitar and one of the big instrumentals in the sixties was Foot Tapper. It was the first song I learnt to play.” Hartman said.

Foot Tapper was a number hit in the UK back in 1963 for the multi-award winning group The Shadows, which had a host of huge instrumental hits while also being the back-up band to Cliff Richard, when he launched his career.

Hartman has enjoyed plenty of success for over 40 years, combining his ownership of various, popular ‘watering holes’, mainly in Surrey Hills and Glebe, with a large number of well-known racing and rugby league journalists from News Limited, keeping him busy behind the bar, with his love of harness racing always being the topic of conversation.

A noted driver for a number of years, as well as being an astute trainer, Hartman enjoyed success with Luvstuenthral and Rayleighs Crown, along with two of his long-time favourites, The Black Assassin and Kyvalley Boomerang in particular.

Judging by the win of Foottapper, it won’t be the last time the bay is seen ‘topping the charts.’

• MIKE KOCASS