ANONIMITY is a thing of the past for Ange McDowall.
The dairy farming hobby horse trainer and her brilliant, unbeaten juvenile pacer Lumineer are the talk of the sport.
Lumineer’s effortlessly easy win in last night’s $322,000 Group 1 Australian Gold final has opened all sorts of doors for McDowall …. Including an invite to the Harness Jewels at Ashburton.
HRNZ’s Darrin Williams spoke with a slightly-overwhelmed McDowall this morning and confirmed the Jewels invite.
“We would love a special horse like Lumineer to come for the Jewels,” he said. “He could be the first Aussie-trained Jewels winner.
“Ange seemed thrilled to get a call with an invite to the Jewels. She’s taking the horse back from Sydney to Victoria tomorrow (Monday), will see how he is when he gets home and discuss (the Jewels) with the owners.
“He’s not in the Vicbred series, only the NSW Breeders Challenge. The Jewels would fit perfectly if they skipped the Breeders Challenge and set him for the Breeders Crown.
“I’d expect to hear back with Ange’s decision in the next week or so.”
The proactive Aussie TAB quickly added Lumineer to the Jewels market as a $4.50 shot.
Lumineer made it five wins from as many starts when he speared straight to the front from gate six and settled beautifully in front for young gun driver Jason Lee – McDowall’s second cousin – to steady through a soft 31.9sec second split.
The race was effectively over then, especially with the main danger, Mark Purdon’s Sicario back at the rear and spotting the leader at least 30m start at the half mile.
Lumineer quickened slightly for a 28.7sec third split, but knowing the easy run he’d had, Lee went for home at the top of the long Menangle straight.
The son of Sportswriter zipped home in 26.6sec and looked to win with plenty in reserve by eight metres over Stefsbest with another 3.2m away to Jilliby Lorenzo in third spot. It was a Victorian trifecta.
They ran the mile in 1min54.4sec.
Sicario, unbeaten in his previous three runs, never looked a winning chance when he got so far back in a leader-dominated race. He closed strongly late to finish fourth, almost 16m from the winner.
McDowall said she was always content in the run.
“You never get too confident, but Jason told me thought the horse would fly out and lead. He was right. Then, once he got that easy second quarter I thought he’d be very hard to rundown,” she said.
“We stayed up here (at the Menangle track) for the week between the semi and final and he’s thrived. I think the trip away has been really good for him.
“He’s come through it really. I’ve got a big bruise on the side of my knee to show that … he lashed out and kicked me this morning.”
McDowall praised Lee’s drive.
“He’s so relaxed and has so much confidence in the horse. He knew he’d had an easy in run in front, which is why we he went for home as early as he did,” she said.
And what about that big victory salute?
“We had a big group of family and friends up for the race and Jason said he heard them cheering and thought he should give them something back,” McDowall said.
Adam Hamilton