GRAEME Johannesen could not be more matter of fact in recalling the profound influence Gavin Lang had on his champion trotter True Roman.
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"Without Gavin, he would not have been as good a horse as he was," the former Sebastian-based trainer said of the revered champion reinsman, who partnered True Roman to victory in the 1988 Melbourne Inter Dominion at Moonee Valley and most of his 73 career wins.
"He looked after him - not only him, he looked after all horses - but he looked after him pretty special."
Lang, who died in April this year after a long battle with a rare form of lymphoma aged 61, and his father Graeme, who died three weeks later aged 87, will be honoured at Friday night's race meeting at Bendigo's Lord's Raceway.
Each has a Group 3 two-year-old trotters race named in their honour, with the names of the other nine races paying homage to some of the Langs' champion horses - such names as Scotch Notch, Wagon Apollo, Sumthingaboutmaori and, of course, True Roman.
Johannesen could not be happier with the gesture.
"If anyone is entitled to be duly recognised they are. They (Graeme and Gavin) and the family have been great for trotting," he said.
"When GA (Graeme) started at Watchem with his dad, I think Tommy Allen used to train their horses a bit then.
"But he started from a farm with a horse as a hobby and went through to become the leading trainer in Victoria on occasions, and Gavin was probably the best driver we've seen.
"Perhaps sometimes I'm biased, but there's no doubt he's recognised as one of our best drivers."
Equally as satisfying for Johannesen as the tribute to the Langs is the meeting's billing as an all-trotting affair.
"It's amazing how far trotting has come in the last decade - it's gone ahead in leaps and bounds," he said.
"I reckon harness racing would be struggling a bit at the moment without the trotters, as they make up a lot of the programs.
"And they have staunch followers, people will watch the square-gaiters that don't watch the pacers.
"We've been lucky to have the likes of Aldebaran Park, which has specialised in trotting and is so keen on promoting them, as well as Yabby Dam Farms."
Johannesen, who has not held a trainer's licence for more than a decade and these days refers to himself as his partner Jenny Johnson's stable hand, has plenty of fond memories of Lang and just as many stories.
Many of them revolve around the champion True Roman, whose many feature race victories included his unforgettable Inter Dominion win and a pair of South Australian Trotters Cups.
"I remember he won a race on him one night and the stewards reprimanded him because he hadn't touched him (with the whip) in the straight," he said.
"Gav told me, 'he was always going to win, but I said ' he only won by a head'.
"He looked at me and said 'that's not even a photo finish'.
"Nowadays they would say that's great you never hit him, but in those days you were supposed to show a bit more vigour.
"Then I drove True Roman one night in Adelaide - Gavin couldn't go.
"He won and I thought I was smart, but gee he gave me a payout about how many times I hit him (with the whip). He told me he hadn't hit the horse that many times in the last three years.
"He was funny, Gav. He was dry and so was his dad - very dry senses of humour - but you got to know when he was pleased."
While Lang often said True Roman was the horse to 'put him on the map', he and Johannesen enjoyed plenty of other success together.
In fact, the duo combined for at least one win on every Victorian track, at a time when the state had 26 tracks in operation, stretching from Mildura to Traralgon.
Early on in their association, Lang produced a streak of 11-straight wins on Johannesen-trained horses he was driving for the first time.
"I know it was at Hamilton, he came back with a horse one day and remarked, 'trust this skunk to get beat' and I said, 'what do you mean, he's alright," Johannesen said.
"He said, 'yeah, but it broke our sequence'.
"I had no idea at the time, but he definitely knew."
Lang's first drive for Johannesen was a winning one at Kilmore aboard Alma Nandina, best known as the mother of 1987 Australian harness racing horse of the year Rufus Youngblood.
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