Young Ararat harness racing couple Michael Gadsden and Denbeigh Wade are enjoying the ride of their life at the moment.
The training and driving partnership recently made it back-to-back city wins with stable newcomer trotting mare Maorishadow (Pegasus Spur- Maoris Lass (Speed Supreme).
"Steve Blacker is a friend of ours and a passionate owner in the sport, and we couldn't believe it when he told us he'd bought her and was giving it to us to race," Gadsden said.
"Stephen has horses with Aaron Dunn at Horsham, but he said we were the square-gaiter experts, which was nice, and that was that!
"I suppose we have gone a bit trotting mad-we have four horses in work at present and they are all square gaiters. We actually do have one pacer, but he's having a spell in the paddock."
Gadsden said Maorishadow was purchased from well-known Bendigo trainer David Van Ryn, who had won three with her from just 12 starts.
"I still don't know how Stephen was lucky enough to buy her. He got talking to David at the recent St Arnaud Cup meeting and that was when the deal was sealed. It was fantastic for us because the horse was in great order and also in terrific form," he said.
Maorishadow has trotted faultlessly for Wade, who gets the driving duties. Gadsden, a farrier by trade, trains as well as shoes their small team.
After winning first-up for them at Melton on November 22, they repeated the dose again last Friday.
The couple have enjoyed metropolitan success previously with Ainthatrightmacca-you've guessed it, yes, he was a square-gaiter, and a very good one at that!
"We won a Melton race with him and he was also fourth in the 2017 G1 $50,000 Bill Collins Trotters Sprint at 33/1 which was exciting. He ended up winning about five for us and a heap of placings," Gadsden said.
The pair, who have been based at Ararat since 2013, grew up in the same area of north-west Victoria.
While Gadsden was educated at Robinvale (Victoria), Wade attended Euston Primary School which is only a short distance away on the other side of the Murray River in NSW and later attended Coomealla High School, near Mildura.
"We've got a lovely little property right near the Ararat track. When it come up for sale, we jumped at it because we knew it would just work out perfect for us," Gadsden said.
"It's ideal and we can cater for more horses, and our long-range plan is to train a bigger team-it's something we both have always aimed to do," he said.
Gadsden has developed into a fine farrier and says spending 13 months with Anton Golino at Yabby Dam Farms was invaluable.
"I was there for three or four days a week and I learned a lot because Anton is widely known for his expertise with trotters," he said.
While the Gadsden/Wade combination is thoroughly enjoying their recent success, they have mapped out one particular carnival they want to be part of.
"We will certainly be attending our hometown Mildura Pacing Cup next March and April-and this time with a trotter for the special races they put on during the carnival. We had planned to do it this year, but things went amiss," Gadsden said.
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura