Despite coming off second best more times than he’d like to remember, Shepparton harness racing trainer-driver Danny Ferris has the utmost respect for pacer Dayseedee.
“She has kicked me out of the cart, smashed me up, knocked me down and probably done all she can, but when I look at my stopwatch after a track workout, all is forgiven,” Ferris says.
Dayseedee (Artistic Fella-Pebbles Stride (Somebeachsomewhere) gave a glimpse of her potential with a sparkling win first-up from a spell at Cobram on Monday in the De Maria Mitsubishi C0 Pace.
The four-year-old mare was completely ignored in betting starting at over 50/1, but was sent forward by Ferris at the start. From that point, she was never going to lose.
Dayseedee rated a tick over 1.57 for the short 1670m trip, with splits of 27.8, 31.3, 29.3 and down to the wire in 29.
Ferris, who has been dabbling with horses on-and-off for the past 45 years, predicts a bright future for Dayseedee.
“She has got so much high speed, but on the other side of the coin she’s a horse with a hot temper!” Ferris said.
“We started racing her as a 3yo in December 2017. She didn’t have a lot of luck with barrier draws or in her races, but we did score an all-the-way win at Echuca in March last year,” he said.
“After two more unplaced runs we decided to tip her out. She had become sour and she was far from happy, so we gave her a good six- or seven-month spell.”
Ferris said the break “did her the world of good” and her work had been awesome leading up to her racetrack return.
“Her first run back was supposed to be at Kilmore on January 10, but after breaking free from me at the course, she bolted and ended up stuck over a rail,” he said.
“There were moments where I thought we were going to have a horse with a broken back leg as it was somehow wrapped around an upright pipe.
“Thankfully (leading Victorian driver) Greg Sugars came to our aid, wriggled in under her and got the leg free using a lead rope.
“I have no doubts that had she lashed out, we were in big trouble. But the horsemanship shown by Greg is something we’ll never forget.”
Ferris, of Congupna, near Shepparton, races Dayseedee with his wife Dianne.
“I work as a farmhand on a huge 10,000-acre property, doing sheep and cropping but fortunately I find enough time to train a few pacers,” he said.
“Over the years there have been times when I haven’t raced that many, but I’ve always had a horse or two around the place.”
The likeable hobby trainer obtained his trainer-driver license as a teenager and did a stint with the legendary Gordon Rothacker at his Doreen property.
Ferris said he learnt much from the master horseman during his nine years with Rothacker.
“Over the years I’ve also worked out never to rely on horses to make a living, so I’ve had that many other jobs I’ve lost count! There was dairy farming, looking after cattle, working at a horse stud, casual milking, I was employed at a car yard, and probably quite a few other jobs,” he said.
However, Ferris did say harness racing had been good to him as he enjoyed success with Victory Joe who won seven races as a youngster in the 1980s, and in later years, Barefoot Sally, who raced through her classes.
“Barefoot Sally was extraordinary going from a maiden to a M4 in 34 starts, winning 12 races for us a couple of seasons back,” he said.
“I suppose I’ve drifted out of the sport a bit when I found my heart wasn’t in it, but my enthusiasm is sky high at the moment!”
Ferris said a lot of hard work goes into training horses and he’s learnt to “really appreciate it when a win comes along”.
“Hopefully Dayseedee can give us heaps more appreciation over the next few months!”
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura