17 January 2022 | Duncan Dornauf
Devonport trainer Bevan Thomas ended a run of outs when five-year-old mare Kermadec flashed home to score in Hobart on Sunday night to give the 78-year-old trainer his first winner since February 2018.
The daughter of Betterthancheddar ended up one-out and one-back in the mile event before running over the top of her rivals late courtesy of a well-judged drive by in-form driver Conor Crook.
“She was knocking on the door. She ran third in Launceston and then a second in Burnie before her last start in Devonport,” said a delighted winning trainer Bevan Thomas post race.
Kermadec was only having her sixth start since joining his stable and arrived in his care on the advice of Barrie Rattray.
“I leased her off Barrie Rattray, I had a mare here of my own that I had been working and I took her up to the Carrick trials for Barrie to test her out for me, and he told me that I was wasting my time with her and that he had a better one at home in the yard that I could lease, so that’s how I ended up with Kermadec,” explained Thomas.
Bevan Thomas currently has three in work and was one of the last trainers based on track at the Devonport Showgrounds.
“There is plenty to do, and it keeps me moving, and you can’t go anywhere in the world now. I only come home and go to the stables,” said Thomas about his hobby.
The winning trainer has been involved as an owner and breeder for many decades but only took out his trainer license in the 2004/2005 season.
“My wife Dianne’s father and uncle used to have horses at Scamander many years ago, and we ended up with the horses, so along with my brother-in-law, we used to breed them and break them in and send them off to other trainers to race.
“Then when I moved to Devonport, I use to jog them up, and my brother-in-law Billy Semmens use to train them in Hobart at the Showgrounds, but when that closed down he gave them away, so I finished up training them in here at the Devonport Showgrounds,” explained Thomas.
The winning trainer and part-owner indicated he would look to find suitable races for Kermadec going forward.
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