By Matt Markham
They say that a change is as good as a holiday and in the case of Buster Brady it’s worked the oracle.
After a frustrating period of a lack of form, the talented pacer got things back on track with an impressive performance to beat a high quality field at Addington on Friday night in his first start since spending some time out at the Woodend Beach stable of Regan Todd.
Still officially trained by his initial trainer, Kyle Austin, the four-year-old pacer picked himself up off the canvas to run past some talented competition in the final stages of Friday night’s assignment, shocking both Austin and Todd in the process.
“We were heading a bit into the unknown with him really,” Todd said.
“From working him on the beach you could tell that he was a pretty nice horse, but you never really know until you get into the race environment exactly what they are going to be like.
“But it seems the change of scenery has helped him a lot because he showed a lot of fight.”
It was a big call for Austin to make to send the best horse he has ever trained to someone else to try and reinvigorate his star, but he said that at the end of the day it was the best decision to make by the horse.
“I’ve had a few concerns that he’s got a couple of niggly little issues for a while now and that was why I don’t think he was showing his best form.
“So, we decided that it was best to see if the beach would help him and it would appear it has.
“I thought his effort on Friday night was great, he looked dead and buried on the home turn but really dug deep to find the line.
“It was a lot more like him.”
With some good stake money in the bank this season, Buster Brady currently now sits 12th on the order of entry for the Four-Year-Old Emerald at next month’s Harness Jewels meeting in Ashburton.
While accepting it would be nice to start there, Austin said it wasn’t something they would chase.
“If he does enough to get in the field then that will be great we will head there and have a crack against some really top horses.
“But there are other options for him, there’s also the Sires’ Stakes race a couple weeks after that so if he doesn’t make the Jewels we can just have a look at the race instead.”
Todd and Austin plan to return to Addington this Friday night to try and make it back-to-back victories.
The challenge will be slightly more difficult for the camp with some strong nominations for the $20,000 event including Heaven Rock’s, Classie Brigade, Piccadilly Princess and Moonrock.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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