Highly-regarded Victorian horseman Dean Braun has decided to take a step back with operations at his Lara harness racing stables.
"I didn't renew my trainer's licence this season and have handed the reins over to Amanda Grieve, who's a very competent trainer," Braun said.
"I'm still giving her a bit of a hand because I have a stablehand licence, but now I'll be taking the orders from Amanda," he said.
"I spent a bit of time thinking about my decision because I do I love the horses. But in the end, I came to the conclusion that I was worried where harness racing was actually headed."
Braun said he'd taken a lifestyle decision to spend more of his time helping out his partner Pauline at her Melton Saddlery business.
"I'm unsure about the direction the industry is going in, so I decided I'd rather push my energies into the shop and also selling horses over to the US for the moment," he said.
"I'll take a break and see what happens. Amanda is a very good trainer in her own right, and she will do okay."
Braun has spent a highly-successful 20 years as a trainer with a strike-rate continually up there with the best of them.
Last season he had 31 wins and 40 placings (over $424,000 in stakes) for a top three strike rate of 56 percent.
Christchurch-born Grieve certainly has a wealth of experience behind her, working and learning from some of the best in the business.
She had an early good grounding with her father Paul, a former hobby trainer, and then spent time with noted NSW horsemen Paul Fitzpatrick and (uncle) Dennis Wilson.
"I took a week's holidays and travelled back to New Zealand for the 2005 Inter Dominion at Alexandra Park when Elsu won. I heard Tony Herlihy was looking for staff, and thought it was too good an opportunity to miss, with such an outstanding trainer-driver," Grieve said.
"I got a job and stayed with Tony for nine-and-a-half years. It was awesome because I worked with great horses like Ohoka Punter, Western Dream and One Over Kenny," she said.
Western Dream (Badlands Hanover-Dreamy Atom) won 14 from 22 races including the rich NZ Oaks and Nevele R Final for stakes of over $332,000. Super trotting mare One Over Kenny (Sundon-Frances Jay Bee) won 28 from 53.
Grieve has no hesitation in naming One Over Kenny as one of her favorites.
"She was a lovely horse. I got to do a lot of work with her and I think she was the first trotting mare to win $1 million."
After moving on from the Herlihy stable, Grieve later had a three-year stint with champion Canterbury horse trainer Cran Dalgety.
"I had the role of stable foreman with Cran and like the other bosses, I was taught heaps. I was lucky because when I was there, we had a very smart one in Bettor Joy, and a few other handy ones going around," she said.
And Grieve is sure to be keeping an eye on NZ happenings over the next few months.
Her underrated gelding Cruz Bromac (Falcon Seelster-Crown Defender), a winner of 21 from 43 starts, flew out on Wednesday and will race at Ashburton today (Monday).
"He will go around in the (Addington) cup a fortnight later and then it's up to Auckland for a FFA which he won last year, and onto the Inter Dominion series from November 29 to December 14. He'll be away for eight or nine weeks," she said.
"His last start third here in the Victoria Cup to Bling It On was huge. So, fingers crossed!"
Grieve also hinted a trip to the west may be on the cards for rising 4yo star Holy Basil (Changeover-Artistic Lass (Artiscape), with the $200,000 Golden Nugget in December looking an ideal race.
"We'll see what happens in the next three or four weeks," she said.
Holy Basil (Greg Sugars) was the first leg of a winning double for Grieve at Cranbourne last Monday. Her other winner was War Dan Delight (Bettors Delight-Miss Elsie (Elsu) driven by Kima Frenning. She stepped up the pace with a win at headquarters at Melton on Saturday night with nine year old gelding Max Richter (Badlands Hanover-Vance Marie (Our Sir Vancelot).
Pauline claimed Max Richter at Melton on August 23, and Saturday night's victory was the pacer's second win from six starts for his new owner.
Max Richter got the job done at Melton on Saturday night for Greg Sugars (driver) and Amanda Grieve (trainer) (Stu McCormick photograph)
Grieve has started off in flying fashion as those winners took her tally to five wins and one placing from just 11 starters for the season for earnings of over $60,000.
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura