HUNTER Valley trainer Tony Griffiths only has one racehorse in work. Scottish Duchess has been a long term project and while last Sunday’s victory in a heat of one of Muswellbrook’s feature races was a good reward, a win in this Sunday’s Muswellbrook RSL Final would be even better.
Scottish Duchess started her career in New Zealand before joining the Shane Tritton stable in 2014. After three runs the daughter of Elsu was transferred to Griffiths who showed plenty of perseverance.
“She wanted to gallop on the corners so I had to work on a few things with her and then about six months ago I took her to the trials and she won,” Griffiths said.
“Straight after the trial I had issues again so I had to stop and give her some time off but she has come back well and I was happy with her victory last weekend.”
Scottish Duchess won a trial at Newcastle prior to her winning return and Griffiths was glad to see her included in the draw for this weekend’s race.
“Being back in the draw was a big plus, she has got good gate speed which she showed at the trials and the front row draw is going to help her on Sunday but there are a number of winning chances in the race.
“She only fell in when she won the heat but I think the run was a lot better than it actually looked on paper, there was a false start but she chased the gate after being 100 metres behind and Peter (Hedges driver) reckons he would have been running 29 second quarter speed to catch the gate so I think she’ll be better for that hit-out.”
Griffith wasn’t entirely happy with the way the mare paced around the final corner but expects her to handle the track better this Sunday.
“Going into the final corner she was right on the back of the leader and then when she got into the straight she had lost a half length. Peter said she nearly galloped so she did a good job to balance up and chase down the leader.
“She is owned by Adam Sofoulis and I’ve got to thank him for his patience but the racing game can sometimes be like that, hopefully she can do a good job for both of us.”
Griffiths works fulltime and still manages to find time to be involved in harness racing.
“Scottish Duchess is the only race horse I’ve got, I’ve got a few babies there but it has been a pretty tough year because I lost one of my broodmares and foals when the mare was giving birth. Then a flood went through my place and it must have brought a bacteria with it because I had to have all of the foals down to the Newcastle Equine Centre to be treated for it.
“They’re all better now and you wouldn’t know looking at them but it has been a pretty rough twelve months.”
As a truck driver, Griffiths is up each morning by 3:30am to attend to his horses before heading off to work for the day. Most evenings Griffiths is home by 7pm and while the days are long he enjoys spending time with the horses.
“The horses are a bit of fun, I like to breed my own and break them in. I’ve sold a few at the sales over the years and some I’ve kept.”
“While Scottish Duchess has given me a few headaches since I’ve had her, it was rewarding to see her perform last week, fingers crossed she can do the same this Sunday.”
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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