It may be 35 years since Gammalite's final race but Chris O'Connor remembers "nearly every one".
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O'Connor, the son of Leo and Maureen who owned Gammalite, is not the only one reminiscing about the champion horse.
The Terang Harness Racing Club will host its metropolitan class meet on Saturday night.
The club has named its $30,000 feature race in Gammalite's honour.
"We're thrilled it's called the Christian's Bus Gammalite Cup, it's an honour to have a horse be a local legend," Chris said.
Gammalite, who was trained by Leo and had success in the late 1970s and 1980s, brought people together.
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Chris explained he and his seven siblings helped their parents with the family stable.
"Trotting is probably more a family sport than some of the other (racing) codes," he said.
"We were always very much part of the trotting scene as we grew up.
"We all contributed in our own way, some of us contributed with helping the horses, others kept the rest of the operation going - the farm and the other things we had going as a family.
"So we all contributed in our own way and we all felt part of the Gammalite story.
"It was basically shared around the family, it was really a family horse."
Chris was in his early 20s during Gammalite's prime.
"We bred Gammalite not long after I left school so I was milking the cows and working at the abattoir in Camperdown," he said.
"And also working with the horses."
Chris didn't get the opportunity to watch Gammalite's first Inter Dominion Pacing Championship success in Auckland in 1983.
The Inter Dominion is regarded as Australia and New Zealand's premier harness racing event.
Chis looked after the farm and watched it live on TV.
"Harness racing was quite a big deal back in those days, different to what it is now," he reflected.
"It probably had a lot of promotion and coverage so of course it was live on television.
"We were able to watch the race live and it was a great thrill. It was prime time television in Victoria."
Driver Bruce Clarke was there though.
"The first one was very special, the fact we travelled over to New Zealand," the reinsman said.
"His arch rival was Popular Alm, another good horse of that time."
Bruce said Auckland was where Gammalite's "iron constitution" came to the fore.
"As he progressed through the carnival he got better and better," he said.
"Consequently, when it came to the final, he was too strong for them."
The champion horse went back-to-back winning the 1984 Inter Dominion in Adelaide.
"He was a short-priced favourite the next year because some of the other good horses were unable to come to Adelaide and of course he won again," Bruce said.
Chris has fond memories of the celebrations.
He said more than 100 Terang people came back to the team hotel "en masse".
"We weren't a family to pour the champagne and party, we didn't go to a nightclub or those types of things," he said.
"We went back to our premises where a lot of others were staying and just celebrated into the early hours of the morning. Just did it as family and friends."
Chris said it was satisfying for the family.
"We got a great deal of pleasure to see the pleasure other people from the local area got," he said.
Bruce can recall when Leo asked him if he'd drive Gammalite.
"Leo was always a close friend of the family and lived a short distance from us," he said.
"We used to take horses down to work with Gammalite when he was being educated.
"Leo said to me 'would you like to have a drive of him?'"
Bruce won his first 10 starts with Gammalite.
"Then it was very difficult for Leo to put me off," he said with a laugh.
Bruce and Gammalite would share 65 victories together.
Gammalite, who was retired from racing in 1985, finished with $1,386,480 from 179 starts for 94 wins (52.51 per cent); according to the Inter Dominion Hall of Fame website.
He was the first Australian Standardbred to win more than $1m, according to the same website.
Bruce believes Gammalite's iron constitution made him a brilliant horse.
"He could race all over Australasia and still perform at his best," he said.
"Many horses that travel, sometimes when they leave home they don't perform at their best; they fret for their home environment."
Chris also highlighted Gammalite's ability to travel well.
"One of his greatest achievements was getting on a plane which was quite unusual and going across to the Auckland Cup (1982)," he said.
"In those days, travelling horses was very difficult and it took virtually a day and a half to get to his Auckland stall.
"And he had to run within 24 hours."
Chris said Gammalite came from well back in a strong field to achieve "mission impossible".
Bruce added Leo's commitment to Gammalite was second to none.
"When you have a very special horse like Gammalite it's a 24-hour a day job with him," he said.
"You have to be with him all the time.
"No one came near what Leo did with the horse when he carted him all over Australasia. It meant sometimes travelling late at night."
Bruce said Gammilite had left a lasting legacy at the Terang Harness Racing Club.
"He was a special horse at that time and the O'Connor family recognised that because they lived across the road from the track," he said.
"They've been very special to the Terang club and the winning post at the track is named the Gammalite winning post.
"The O'Connor family have been very generous to the club."
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