Harness
Greg and Skye Bond: Journey to the WA Racing Hall of Fame
Skye Bond’s family once feared she had died in a fall from the harness racing cart as she was desperately striving to forge a career in the code.
And while the incident temporarily took her away from those dreams, a later union with her now husband Greg and Skye Bond rekindled her equine passion. Now, with the pair's induction into the WA Racing Hall of Fame, she has become the first female harness figure to achieve the high honour.
"I'm gobsmacked ," a stunned Skye blurted on being told of the induction by WA Racing Hall of Fame chairman David Hunter on Tuesday.
"I never thought that would be on our CV. But what we've done over our time, we've done because we just love the game … we love the horses, we love the thrill, we love the people involved.
"To have this doing something you love is just fantastic."
She said reflecting on the honour took her back to the incident that almost stole her harness racing dreams, which had been sparked by her grandfather Dick Moore , for good.
"I was about 13 and working a horse for my Pop and had an accident on it," she recalled.
"They thought at the end of it that I was dead and Pop never let me out on a cart again. It really traumatised my grandparents at the time and it wasn't until I met Greg several years later that I got back on a cart.
"Maybe if things had been different, I would have ended up driving, but it wasn't to be."
Greg said his wife was an incredible horsewoman, who had been the driving force behind the ascension of star pacer Minstrel- the winner of the past two WA Pacing Cups. He had no doubt she could have been an accomplished driver.
Since joining forces on and off the track, the Bonds have won more than 2900 races and their career starters have combined for $35.2 million in prizemoney. Greg described their Hall of Fame induction as "humbling".
"I never really considered myself a real horseman, as such," Greg said.
"But since Skye and I got together … it's complimented the whole business model that we run to the level it's got to now. There are a lot of names on that (Hall of Fame) honour roll who I regard as sensational horsemen, so I'm not really sure how it sits with me.
"But it's very much an honour and great that people view us as being in that space. When I met Skye, what has evolved from there is beyond what I thought we could achieve.
"It's been a great journey and it's still got legs."
Skye joked that her husband had "come a long way" in his horsemanship.
"Greg was used to working with tractors a lot when I first met him," she said.
"So, the horses were a little bit like tractors to him - they had their programs and everything just fitted into the mould. But he's softened in that a little bit over time and I think that's where we've become such a good partnership.
"He still has a bit of that regimented side to him and I've got my side. Together, we form a really good team … to look back now, it's been a great journey and I wouldn't change it for the world."
Hunter said the Hall of Fame was the "epitome" for participants in WA's thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing codes and believed the Bonds were deserving inductees.
"Greg and Sky have both had distinguished careers in the harness racing code in their own right," he said.
"But since they've come together, they've really become a force to be reckoned with, not only in WA harness racing, but in harness racing across Australia. They've had nearly 3000 winners, they've won the past couple of premierships, they've won the past two WA Pacing Cups with Minstrel and they are very much focused on winning the big races.
"And to be recognised in this way by your peers and the wider industry really is an accomplishment and achievement."
Gloucester Park CEO Michael Radley said the Bonds were outstanding ambassadors for the harness code in WA.
"What they've done is amazing and their record stands up against any trainer who has come before them," Radley said.
"They bring a lot of top quality horses into the industry, but they also breed and bring a lot of younger participants through. They would do anything for the industry and the way they conduct themselves and set the standard is really important."
The Bonds will look to continue their domination with five runners tonight at Gloucester Park's annual New Year's Eve fireworks event.
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