Seven Rippin Aces continued on from his Albion Park winning form at the Tamworth Harness Racing Club Paceway last Wednesday night.
The $1.60 favourite lived up to the tag for Breakfast Creek resident Jamie Donovan who did it all as the owner, trainer and driver of Seven Rippin Aces.
With the Tamworth HRC January racing carnival just around the corner, Donovan has arrived in time to settle his team in.
“I have brought everything down with me and I am here to stay for five weeks so we will see how we go,” Donovan said.
As if the win wasn’t enough, Donovan got a nice little bonus for his efforts on his gelding.
“The main reason I came a couple of weeks earlier is he (Seven Rippin Aces) is NSW bred so I was looking for a win to get the breeders bonus. He got that tonight,” Donovan said.
Donovan has already set the next benchmark for Seven Rippin Aces.
“We will aim for the Starmaker now and there should be improvement off that win tonight,” he said.
Seven Rippin Aces is eligible to contest the heats of the Starmaker Series for three-year-old pacers at Tamworth on January 21.
From the heats, pacers will move through to the $15,000 final which will be contested on January 25.
In the Wednesday night race, Seven Rippin Aces led the field early from the two barrier.
However, he had to contend with race pressure from last start winner Condafew (Lola Weidemann) for two laps.
“I was confident when we had the lead and he led easy,” Donovan said of Seven Rippin Aces.
“He had a good grab on the bit when Lola came up outside me but he (Seven Rippin Aces) kicked in the back straight.
“But he does have a tendency to switch off in his races which made it hard down the home straight.”
Seven Rippin Aces went on to claim a 3.7-metre win over Condafew in second with Nice One Jon (Dean Chapple) another 2.9 metres away third.
Seven Rippin Aces ran a 28.5 sectional in the second quarter of the race. It was a time Donovan was more than happy with.
“To run a 28.5 sectional here at Tamworth is pretty fast,” he said.
Donovan then had more cause for celebration after the win.
“That was my first winning drive since Tamworth in 2014,” Donovan grinned.
“Its Wellsaid was my last winner and I have probably only had about 20 drives since then.”
As an accountant, Donovan is more compelled to handle the training and place a driver behind his team.
“Because I work full time I just train and get others to handle the driving,” he said.
The main reason I came a couple of weeks earlier is he (Seven Rippin Aces) is NSW bred so I was looking for a win to get the breeders bonus. He got that tonight
Jamie Donovan
By Julie Maughan
Reprinted with permission of The Northern Daily Leader