Voice Of The Media
At the age of 19, Ken Casellas began writing for The West Australian newspaper as a harness racing correspondent. The first meeting he covered in this role was the 1956 August Cup meeting at Gloucester Park when Phil Coulson drove Larking to an all-the-way victory. In just four years Casellas became the newspaper’s chief harness racing correspondent.
Though city born and educated, Casellas discovered an affinity with horses and would ride his bicycle to the South Suburban Trotting track at Cannington twice a week, clock horses on the track and soak up as much information about pacing from great horsemen such as Stan and Alan Woodworth, ‘Pop’ Kersley and his son Fred Kersley Snr.
It was in the late 1950s that Casellas broadened his involvement in the sport and began broadcasting, calling one or two races on the seven-event programs at Gloucester Park for radio station 6KY. He then began calling country races, starting at Wagin and Williams before graduating to Northam, York, Harvey and Pinjarra. He covered Inter Dominion Championships in Perth (1957), Adelaide (1958) and Melbourne (1959).
Late in 1960 Casellas resumed as The West Australian’s chief harness racing writer and for several years during this era, had his own 15-minute segment on Channel Seven’s World of Sport program on Sundays, ‘Spotlight On Trotting’, which had the same title as the special weekly column he penned for The West Australian.
Casellas was the driving force behind the establishment of the WA Trotting Media Guild in 1977, being the inaugural President. It was a position he held for many years.