Opportunity knocked and gave a seasoned trotter a change of pace, delivering his much-travelled owner one of his greatest trackside thrills.
Charles Ewert, president of Cobram Harness Racing Club, has had few better racing moments than when Forestspider came from last to first to win Monday’s Betta Electrical Pace at his home track.
It was a result made all the more remarkable by the fact the trotter of 36 starts was having her third start in a pacers’ race.
“I wasn’t expecting that she would win,” Ewert said. “Probably the biggest thrill was the day that she won the Gold Bracelet at Maryborough (in July 2013), because it was a classy run, but Monday’s win was on a par with that one.”
Trained and driven by Grant Forrest across the border at Henty, Forestspider is one of many Yankee Spider sired horses Ewert has in his keeping.
In fact the dairy farmer has 15 Yankee Spider weanlings, yearlings, two-year-olds and three-year-olds at his and wife Jan’s Strathmerton property, having a part share in that stallion, who stands at Jan and Ken Wills’ property Niota Bloodstock.
Coming in addition to his presidency of the Cobram club, Ewert’s involvement has snowballed significantly since he first dipped his toe into trots when a friend of his wife wanted to go shares in a horse.
“Now I’ve ended up with about 30 horses,” Ewert said. “You get the bug, and if you stick at something one of them will come through for you sooner or later.”
Few have given him more than Forestspider, whose 39 starts have produced 10 wins amid 22 placings and almost $60,000 in stakes.
“We’ve been lucky with her,” Ewert said. “Greg and Grant (Forrest) has been very patient with her. It’s taken a while. She’s a typical race mare, she has got a mind of her own and has to be handled carefully.”
And they’ve also been creative, showing a willingness to run the trotter in pacing races, where she finished seventh at Coolamon, fifth at Wagga and then won at Cobram.
“The thing was there wasn’t any suitable trotting race floating around and they needed to see how fit she was. She is a horse that likes to run. You just have to keep giving her the opportunity.”
And Ewert has been there to see them all.
“I’ve only missed two races that she has run in, both were at Menangle,” he said. “That’s the exciting part, going to the race. Just the relaxation of getting out to the track.”
Forestspider’s next outing will likely be back to her more traditional gait, with a TM0 at Tabcorp Park Melton on June 10 targeted.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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