Trent Dawson is working a team of 10 at Clarendon – four of which he will train and drive in races one, two, five, and eight at Albion Park tomorrow (Saturday) night.
Having just recorded one of his better seasons since leaving Ipswich State High School when he was 16, the 33-year-old horseman, has a good chance of notching up at least a couple of winners.
Three of the four are fancied by the TAB, with Gina Mach (race 8), Divas Delight (race 2) and Captain Cosmonaut (race 5) opening up the first, second and fourth favourites respectively.
“Hopefully it will be a good night. These days when you train your own team you don’t get too many outside drives, because you put all your energies into training – and that’s the way I like it.
“Ideally I would like to have a much bigger team, and have given myself five to 10 years to achieve that. I was really happy with last season. I think we bagged about 25 winners, which is okay for a stable with less than a dozen horses.
“I really enjoy the training side of it. I get a lot of satisfaction out of driving my own team. I don’t really have any stars or standouts at the moment, but I have horses who are all capable of winning,” Dawson said.
“I just want to keep building and improving,” he added.
Even though Dawson has a Business degree, all he has ever wanted to do was condition standardbreds.
“It makes you a bit smarter and wiser to operating a stable, but I probably won’t use it in the workforce, because I am totally focused on training and driving winners. It’s in my blood and goes back three or four generations.
“My grandfather, John (Dawson), was one of the best horsemen you could ever meet. I reckon you could get a field of drivers with just his grandchildren. That’s how much of an impact he has made on me and our family,” Dawson said.
“It’s all about keeping horses happy and sound. That is something I have learnt over the years,” he stressed.
Dawson’s quartet of pacers for tomorrow’s meeting at ‘The Creek’ (with draw, odds and his comments) are:
Race 1: The Trent Dawson trained and driven HARD TO HEAR (5) $31 – “He doesn’t win much but can if cops the trip to suit. He’s a consistent horse, who is always a chance, especially in a 10-horse field. This is not an impossible assignment. It’s all up to the driver.”
Race 2: The Trent Dawson trained and driven DIVAS DELIGHT (8) $5 second favourite – “He has drawn in behind the one and his chances are in lap of the Gods. He’s not generally a sit and sprint type, and will still have his work cut out if he does get the passing lane run. He has a lot of stamina and can keep going all day long. He does possess gate speed, and at least this time he won’t be covering any extra ground. He usually cops a tough run, so at least this time we will be along the markers for the entire race. Each-way.”
Race 5: The Trent Dawson trained and driven CAPTAIN COSMONAUT (3) $8 fourth favourite – “Sportswriter gelding who is owned by my partner Crystal (Towns). I thought last week’s run was a good one, considering it was fresh-up. He was a bit short in the last 50m, but I still think he’s a real chance here. He’s no dead-set winner but he will be improved by his last run. The one horse is the one to beat but my fella can go close in a very even field. Whoever puts their hand up and gets a bit of luck will take biggest cheque.”
Race 8: The Trent Dawson trained and driven GINA MACH (2) $.3.20 favourite – “Five-year-old Mach Three mare, who on paper my best chance of the night. She is racing really consistently lately and the 1,660m suits her much better than her last two 2,138m races. She’s a versatile horse who is not brilliant but more a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ type. She hasn’t placed much but seems to be able to fall over the line to win. To be honest there’s a lot horses that are higher graded than her here, but she is better drawn. It would be crazy not to have a look at the front from barrier two, but in saying that I won’t be going out with too many fixed plans. She definitely can win this.”
Approved By Dean Baring www.harnessbred.com
Driving The Future Of Harness Racing
