Great Western gelding Wheatsheaf Avaball will greet the starter for the 200th time in the APG Sale Pace on Monday night at Tabcorp Park Melton.
It will be the popular 11-year-old’s last time at the races.
Trainer-driver Michelle Wight said “Charlie”, as he’s known in the stables, would spend his retirement years on the family property.
“He’s here for life,” she said.
“He has been preparing for his retirement. He has been broken to saddle and he even made an appearance at the Ararat show this year, finishing third in his lead class before backing up at Horsham races the next day sporting curls from being plaited up!”
Wight and husband Craig first leased Wheatsheaf Avaball in 2010 from Darren Cole, Terang horse trainer and Wheatsheaf Hotel proprietor. The couple purchased him three years later when their lease expired.
Now, in the words of Wight, “Charlie is so much part of the family that we bought his mum from the Alabar sale a few years ago. We now also have Charlie’s three-year-old sister by Grinfromeartoear and a yearling three-quarter brother by Mafioso”.
RE-LIVE WHEATSHEAF AVABALL’S TERANG WIN FROM MARCH LAST YEAR
Although he’s never won a metropolitan race, Wheatsheaf Avaball has been a rock-solid competitor every time he’s stepped on to a racetrack, earning over $111,000 with 17 wins and a further 60 minor placings.
“He is such a tough and honest horse that I have often gotten Facebook messages from random people asking after him or congratulating us after a win,” Wight said.
“We were going to retire him last year when he got to $100,000 (in stakes) but he was still going so well that we decided to aim for the 200 starts.
“He loves local tracks and has an amazing record at Horsham. He hasn’t won many races there but produced some huge runs.
“It’s funny when you go back through his race replays, so many times the caller says as they go over the line, ‘big run by Wheatsheaf’ or something along those lines.”
Wheatsheaf Avaball has drawn barrier five in the third race on Monday night at Melton.
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