IT was Boxing Day, not Christmas Day, but near enough was certainly more than good enough for Swan Hill trainer Helen Burns.
Because It’s A Sahara delivered her with the best of presents as a winner at Kerang – its first victory in 15 months.
But more important for Burns, it was her first winner of the 2021/22 racing season – a drought stretching from April 10 this year when her horse Lady Maggie was a winner at Hillston.
And the win was made even more special because her 86-year-old mother, Mary, also a part-owner of the five-year-old mare, was trackside at Alexandra Park to see the horse notch up its fourth win in 25 career starts.
Burns wasn’t the only one celebrating a first winner for the season – Heath Chalmers also got one on the scoreboard when his four-year-old mare Palace Road ran away with the second of the day to win by more than a length.
Chalmers said he has only had the horse for three months – this was its third start for him – but he had sensed it was running into some form and he was spot on.
Tying the two big wins together was Warrnambool jockey Melissa Julius, giving herself a late Christmas present with a double.
Burns said she was now regarding It’s A Sahara as a bit of a Boxing Day specialist after it was a December 26 winner at Nhill in 2019 (it didn’t have a Boxing Day start in 2020).
And it was a heart-in-the-mouth win as the photo separated first and second by little more than a lip.
“It was a great result because the horse has not had much luck in recent starts, with bad barrier draws and limited opportunities with the way some races panned out,” Burns explained.
“But today she had every chance and fought it out to the line; and it was great to have so many of the owners here, including mum,” she added.
Burns also pointed out It’s A Sahara needed some extra attention in training, especially when it came to things such as swimming.
She said the horse would not use the pool in town because she cannot feel the bottom.
“She gets quite panicky if she can’t feel the bottom and keep her head above water so we have switched her to trips to Lake Boga, where she can walk into the water and goes up to chest deep and she loves it,” Burns said.
“We tried that a bit with her last year and now that’s where she goes for all her swimming.”
Burns had runners at Nhill as well as Kerang; but opted for the closer track and was glad she did, getting to share the moment with family and friends.
“Mum loved the day out. She spent much of the time sitting in the car but when we had a horse running she would get out and stand at the fence around the 300m mark, cheering them on,” she said.
The trainer said she only had six horses in work at the moment but also has a crop of two year olds in the paddock.
But don’t let size fool you, according to racenet.com.au; if you had been following It’s A Sahara for its 24 starts you would be getting a 22 per cent return on investment.
Chalmers was the other small trainer to bring home the bacon.
“I could see she was coming good, despite a shocker at Stawell, which was rider error not horse, so I was pretty confident going into the race,” Chalmers added.
“The jockey also did a good job, did all that we asked her to, so that was great – now I’ll be looking for a race for her in January,” he said.
“I’ve only got five horses in work at the moment, I have wound it back a bit for summer as I would normally have 10-12 up.”
While Burns and Chalmers were having a ball at Kerang, the Swan Hill flag was also flying high at the other Boxing Day meeting – the Nhill Cup.
Where local trainers and/or jockeys figured in the finish of every one of the seven races in a dazzling display of festive finesse.
In order, from race one, the locals went second (trainer) and third (trainer/jockey); in the second is was a quinella (trainer/jockey and jockey); the third saw another win (jockey); in the fourth it was a second and a third (jockey and jockey); the fifth saw us back in the winning column (trainer/jockey); while the next race, the Nhill Cup, saw a third (trainer/jockey) before the seventh and last of the day saw first and third go to local jockeys.
It was a red-hot day dominated by the Coffey and Hobson stables; but it was Hobson’s apprentice Zoe Lloyd who starred above all with two wins – race two for her master on Highway To Success and she then took out the lucky last with Andrew Bobbin’s Boom Boom Sweet.
In the first of the day Hobson’s Humpback finished second, just ahead of Austy Coffey’s Northvic, ridden by son Harry.
Lloyd on Highway To Success was followed over the line by Harry Coffey on Daniyah; then in the third Coffey steered Andrew Bobbin’s Princess Pancakes to his own success.
A race later and it was Lloyd coming second on Nana Dulce; with Coffey settling for third on Areyoulistening.
In the fifth Coffey and Son reached their high point for the stable when Bannerton saluted the judge; but they could not back that up in the Nhill Cup, the sixth of the day; as their horse Category Five did slightly better than its name suggests; and it ran third.
Then in the lucky last, Lloyd and Bobbin combined with Boom Boom Sweet to end their combined day on a genuine high – two for Lloyd and a treble for Bobbin, who trains out of Lake Fyans, between Stawell and Halls Gap. He also picked up the first of the day at Kerang with Carpentasia.
