LIFE’S getting tough for small country trainers looking for a regular start with their horses.
This means they work harder, travel further and turn up at small non-TAB bush meetings just to get a run.
But that didn’t stop Swan Hill’s Helen Burns racking up a good win and a second from three starters at the weekend.
Although it required a 460km round trip to Berrigan in NSW to win a $14,000 miler on a five-race card.
“These days everyone is going everywhere just to get a run, there are so many horses and not enough places to get them in,” Burns said.
“Yesterday I sent a few horses to Horsham, which was a meeting transferred from Mildura, and while I had been looking for a 0-58 race, we have had to take on BM58s and 64s.
“So I was expecting mine to go around at 100/1 – or worse.”
However, she was much happier talking about Sanctimonious, her nine-year-old gelding which racked up a fifth win in 59 starts, taking his career earnings close to $200,000.
With apprentice Chris Pang at the controls, Sanctimonious spent a fair part of the first 1200m bringing up the back end of the 14-horse field.
But Burns said one of the good things about the Berrigan track is its 400m straight.
“As they came around the corner, Chris took the horse wide and found a gap, and once he got through did a great job of first running down the leaders and then holding off the challengers,” she said.
“Chris first rode for me at the Swan Hill carnival.
“I was struggling to find a rider and he helped me out, which was great, and then wanted to thank me for giving him the ride, which was a nice touch.
“So I have been happy to work with him when he and I have had the chance, and his ride on Saturday was very impressive.
“He followed instructions, he didn’t panic, and he simply waited for an opportunity and grabbed it.”
In the end he would win by more than half a length, crowning a pretty good day out for the part-time trainer, who couldn’t be at Horsham to watch her horses run yesterday – she had to be at work.
She was beginning to think she might have a few too many horses in work right now.
“Twelve is a lot to manage when you also have a full-time job, so I rely really heavily on family, on my track riders Connie and Alana, and also Tai, who turns up at the stables at 5am every day to help me out – and then heads off to school,” Burns said.
Burns’ day at Berrigan started with First Division running a strong second and, in the penultimate of the day, Effort might have finished at the back of the field but was still within 3.5 lengths of the winner.
