25 July 2023 | Ashleigh Paikos
Karen Bennett had her eye on Bonnie Rae for quite some time before she finally made her way to her stable, but her perseverance in attaining the mare has paid off in dividends with the four-year-old Westbred mare taking out two of her last three races.
Previously trained by astute horseman Robbie Williams, Bennett approached him after one of her races at Gloucester Park, but after initially being told she wasn’t for sale, Williams then approached Bennett a few weeks later with an offer she couldn’t refuse.
“I’d been watching her racing and Lauren came off the track one day she said I think he’s sick of that horse,
I thought about it, I don’t usually do it, but I got home and I said to Frank I’m going to ring him up and see if he wants to sell her,
“So I did, but he said no she’s not for sale, so I thought oh well, at least I tried, but I told him to have a think about it and give me a ring if you change your mind,
“Three weeks later he rung and said he’s going to sell her and do I want to buy her, I said yes. This was 2 o’clock in the afternoon and by a couple of hours later the money was in the bank and he brought her to Gloucester Park, and she came home with us. “
Out of the nine times winning mare Char Ming NZ who was part owned and raced by Robbie Williams, Bonnie Rae is the first and only foal out of the mare, by trotting stallion Majestic Son CA. Bred by the Williams family, she had six starts for the stable before being purchased by Karen Bennett for $10,000 in May this year, with Bennett confident she showed enough that she would go on with it.
Bennett took her to trials in June, qualifying her for stand races, with the mare going on to run second first up for the new stable at Pinjarra on June 19, before breaking through for her maiden win just three weeks later at Pinjarra with Lauren Harper in the cart.
With Karen making mention that Bonnie Rae was quite ‘toey’ behind the mobile, she’s now had six starts for the new stable, five of which have been in the standing start trotters’ events, but her one attempt in the mobiles for Bennett was one that is quite memorable for her and her husband Frank.
“Frank drove her in the mobile and he said his bum wasn’t on the seat half the time she pulled that hard,
“We’ve changed it up, we’ve got pacifiers on her now, and she stepped really well yesterday (Monday), so hopefully that helps her in the mobiles as well, we’ve had a bit of luck with pacifiers in the past.”
Bennett currently has five trotters in work but is open to the idea to adding another to her team, but she is hoping to get back to New Zealand for a holiday before her team gets too large to leave.
Bonnie Rae will race again next Monday at Gloucester Park.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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