Hollywood Remembered

Tonight, the Albion Park Harness Racing Club honours the memory of harness racing great John McMullen with the sixth running of the J C McMullen.

John (Hollywood) McMullen was the doyen of Queensland harness racing for more than half a century and his achievements were recognised as one of the original Queensland Harness Racing ‘Hall of Fame’ inductees.

Introduced to harness racing via the show circuit as a teenager, ‘Mulley’ as he was then known was instantly attracted to the sport after making his first drive a winning one.

Taking the reins aboard Queen Caroline at the Ipswich Show, McMullen was able to claim victory in the heat before going on to win the final and from that day, harness racing was his life and passion.

Initially starting out living in a horse stall at the Ipswich Showgrounds to immerse himself and learn more about harness racing, McMullen would drive trotting races in the day and ride in rodeo events at night.

Building a career and profile in the sport, McMullen eventually set up a training base adjacent to Albion Park where he could have up to 36 horses stabled.

Making use of the nearby Breakfast Creek, many of his team would be swum off the back of an old rowboat, before being walked back to the Nariel Street stables.

Always looking for a different edge, McMullen started to venture to North America, taking teams of horses at a time and registering success on various US racetracks, and soon a new nickname of Hollywood was bestowed.

As well as exporting and racing stock in the US, McMullen was a passionate breeder and imported many stallions to Australia, making his mark on the breeding industry with the majority of these stallions standing at Success Stud with John Gibson.

Some of the more notable horses that McMullen had success with included Viking Reign which finished third in the Australian Derby behind Another Bart and Rowleyalla, Maker Reign, Monty Reign, Toliver Bye Bye, The Aircraft and the 1984 Queensland Derby winner, Alba Wings.

The legacy of J C McMullen extends beyond the equine in harness racing, with sons John and Chris both trainers, John having registered over 1,500 training wins, while his grandchildren continue to make their make in the sport.

Pete, Narissa, DanniElle and Taleah have combined to record over 5,500 driving wins, and all four will be competing in their grandfather’s race on Saturday night.

Both Pete and Taleah have won the race previously, Taleah winning in 2023 with Whata Roller, trained by John, with Pete having won twice with Uncle Shank and Will The Wizard.