By Dave Di Somma, Harness News Desk
There are good days at the races and then there are days like Hayden Cullen had at Addington last night.
The West Melton-based trainer took four horses to the races, and produced the perfect result with two stable quinellas. In Race 3,the Downbytheseaside Making a Splash 2YO Fillies Mobile Pace the unfancied Winelight and General Jen were first and second, only for Justcallmemiki and Wish Me Luck to repeat the dose in race 5, the Hydroflow Mobile Pace.
“They can’t go much better can they?”
“Four is the most we’ve taken to the races since setting up here so to do that was a great thrill,” says Cullen, “and one of the biggest highlights of my career.”
And they were very contrasting races.
Justcallmemiki and Wish Me Luck were the two favourites in their race with Justcallmemiki trailing his stablemate before getting the gun run up the passing lane to win by a neck. It was Justcallmemiki’s fourth win in just nine starts.
In the two-year-old fillies race Gone Surfin and Stella Rouge dominated the market and at the 900 metre mark Gone Surfin had surged to the lead, leaving Winelight three back with General Jen seemingly snookered five back the fence.
But turning for home the gaps appeared and it was the Cullen-trained pair who shot clear.
Winelight and Olivia Thornley prevailed by three quarters of a length with General Jen and Craig Ferguson five lengths ahead of the rest.
Winelight paid $61 on the fixed odds and $31.60 on the tote, with General Jen $4.10 a place. The Cullen quinella paid $161.10.
“I was a bit surprised by the market, if you look at her last trial she ran through the line well and they went 2:28 and she carried a flat tyre for the last 1200 metres.”
Winelight finished fourth to Just You Wait at that trial at Rangiora on September 12.
“Both of them had been trialling well actually,” says Cullen.
It was Winelight’s first win after a third and fourth in her first two starts.
With last night’s double Cullen now has 14 wins from 50 starts this year, giving him a very handy .4111 strike-rate.
And he’s excited that he’s got plenty more firepower to come including Group 1 winning star We Walk By Faith and last start winner Major Cyclone. His ultimate goal will be the $500,000 THE ASCENT slot race for the three-year-old trotters at the Show Day Twilight meeting at Addington on Friday, November 15.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
