South Australian trainer Brian Mueller has been remembered as an astute horseman after dying peacefully, aged 87.
Former Strathalbyn trainer Brian Mueller has been remembered as an astute horseman after passing away on Monday morning, aged 87.
Mueller died peacefully in an aged care facility at Woodside after a lifetime in the racing industry, training in excess of 500 winners across South Australia and Western Australia.
Among his best horses were Mr Kildaine, Just Sybil and Little Akie – all successful in stakes grade – with his last victory coming via Hi Smokey at Balaklava on April 28 last year.
Friend and fellow trainer Bruce Potter said Mueller got the best out of his horses by doing things his own way.
“He was a good trainer, very astute,” Potter said.
“He started off here at Murray Bridge then he went over to Western Australia, trained over there and won a couple of premierships and he moved back here (to Strathalbyn) about 30-odd years ago.
“None of them were trained like you’d imagine a racehorse to be trained. He used his property to his advantage in the sandy soil and we used to do a lot of work at the farm with them and not even come to the track much at all.
“He had it worked out and he knew his horses, because he bred all of them.
“He’s had a lot of winners considering he’s never gone to high-profile stallions. He was very conservative and got the best out of his horses, without a shadow of a doubt.”
Potter enjoyed a close relationship with Mueller, in many different guises, and holds him in high regard.
“We’ve been friends for about 35-odd years, I was his foreman for a while and when he got ill I took over training for him,” Potter said.
“He wouldn’t give you a lot of information but he opened up a fair bit to me when I took over his horses.
“My son Justin was an apprentice to him and he turned out to be pretty successful as a rider.
“He’d been struggling with health for a couple of years really and went into the home at Woodside about 12 months ago.
“They wouldn’t renew his licence last year so I took over training for him until the rest of the family ended up selling the horse side of it.
“Lorraine, his wife, moved out into the home out with him a couple of months ago from their farm.”
Mueller is survived by Lorraine, while he also has two sons and a stepson, who are based in WA.
Originally published as Former Strathalbyn trainer Brian Mueller remembered as astute horseman
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