24 November 2022 | Ashleigh Paikos
“I’ve changed his training about five times trying to get him interested.” Shane Steele said.
Monday was the day for Mango Tango, when the 42-start maiden finally broke through for his first win, a true testament to the patience and persistence of his trainer and driver Shane Steele.
At huge odds, the four-year-old got the job done, paying a whopping $151 for those who took the punt on the double Westbred gelding who had just six lifetime placings to his name.
The early speed of the race suited Mango Tango, coming from well back in the field in the late stages to win by 1.5m in winning mile rate of 1:58:0 over the 11684m sprint trip at Pinjarra.
The Steele family purchased the gelding in late 2020 and have put in the time and effort to gain the elusive first win. Gait issues have been a problem, raising questions about his ability.
“He wouldn’t run fast enough.” Shane joked.
“We were having trouble getting him to pace, he just kept galloping for no reason.
“He started going alright, then he started galloping out of the gate for a while, and then came good again.”
Shane decided to give the occasionally troublesome gelding three starts in trials and call it a day if he didn’t qualify.
Fortunately he did, renewing the faith of the Steele family.
The win was just the start of a great couple of days in racing for the family, with Stormy Skyes getting the win on Tuesday night at Gloucester Park
Two-year-old Hez All The Rage NZ was impressive in the first, leading all the way to make it two in a row for the Howlett and Chris Lewis combination.
Anyloveisgoodlove also broke through for her maiden win in race two on the card, with the three-year-old double Westbred filly successful at start seven in her career for the Young sisters, Jocelyn and Maddy.
Kim Prentice and Mitchell Miller celebrated a double on the card with the first of the festivities kicking off in race four with short-priced favourite Elli Mirando getting the job done. Soho Down Jones brought up the second leg of their double after taking out the 2116m standing start in race eight, after working his way to the lead from the 10m handicap.
Dylan Egerton-Green trained and reined the winner in race five, with Alta Hurrah NZ making it two in a row for connections. After surrendering the lead, he was able to make full use of the sprint lane in the concluding stages to take the win by a head.
Symington came off 100 winners on Saturday to drive another one on Monday, this time teaming up with Nathan Turvey to salute with consistent and in-form pacer, Benji NZ.
Tracey Reay and Emily Suvaljko took top honours in race seven, with Baltic Ace NZ getting the win over the 2692m staying trip.
The last on the card saw the trotters race with the well performed Nickys Son getting the win for Kendall Laidlaw, giving Chris Lewis a book end double at the meeting.
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
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