A 10-year-old that's been off the harness racing scene for nearly six years has notched up a victory that must surely rank as one of the greatest comebacks since Lazarus!
All-but-forgotten bay gelding Von Ponder (Ponder-Heide Von Beltz (Bistro Lobell) apparently showed only modest capacity as a youngster, and was last despatched to the paddock as a four-year-old – where he remained until a little over four months ago.
But he's certainly flourished under the careful attention of Bendigo trainer Shaun McNaulty, and his assistant Ben Pell. And after three handy performances, the big fellow scored a tidy win at his home track recently.
"I think he was one of those horses that gets put out in a big paddock and sort of forgotten about," McNaulty said.
"There may have been a few minor niggling problems, but the horse was pretty much retired," he said.
"He was at a Marong property just down the road from me. Ben, who's one of the part-owners, helps me out and he was working another horse that got injured back in November. He wanted something else to work and he remembered Von Ponder was out running around in a paddock."
After seven starts in Queensland as a three-year-old at his first race campaign (way back in 2012) Von Ponder was off the scene for nearly 18 months. He reappeared at a Victorian meeting at Maryborough in 2014 where he was unplaced-and was then banished for nearly six years before reappearing.
To be precise, Von Ponder had a break of 2169 days or three weeks short of six years!
"Ben owns the horse with a mate in Drew Gray," McNaulty explained.
"They purchased him from Queensland back in late 2012," he said.
After four months of jogging up, it was off to the trials and Von Ponder showed he hadn't forgotten what the racing caper was all about.
"He went well at his first trial, and then we thought he went extra good at his next hit out," McNaulty said.
"At his return race start on April 3, he finished down the track, as we expected, because of being away from racing for so long," he said.
"He pulled up a little lame and we were all a bit disappointed, but it only proved to be a hoof abscess."
A fortnight later Von Ponder ran a nice second placing at Bendigo and repeated the dose seven days later in a sub two-minute mile rate.
Then a victory last Thursday repaid connections for their enduring patience and perseverance.
After being eased off the gate by reinsman Rod Lakey, Von Ponder was caught three wide and then worked to the death seat. Shaken up on the home corner, the big lump of a horse responded nicely to post his unlikely comeback win in 1.57-2.
To watch the video replay click here.
And McNaulty has no doubts the old-timer can make his presence felt for some time to come.
"He works nicely at home and he's been steadily getting better at each of his race outings. He hasn't got any issues, so I reckon the boys are going to have a bit of fun, that's for sure," he said.
Prior to his latest success, Von Ponder was previously in the winner's circle at Brisbane's Albion Park on October 22, 2012. His lifetime summary now stands at 12 starts for two wins and three runner-up cheques for $8400 in stakes.
Central Region (Bendigo) Trainer Statistics
Trainer Starts First Placings Average win S/P
Glenn Douglas 82 16 20 $5.35
Kate Hargreaves 45 7 13 $7.38
Shaun McNaulty 19 5 5 $13.26
Justin Brewin 17 5 1 $5.72
Keith Cotchin 20 4 5 $2.50
Gary Donaldson 15 4 3 $7.53
Trevor Patching 7 3 3 $5.07
Anthony Crossland 5 3 1 $1.73
Ross Graham 26 2 13 $5.85
Ray Cross 18 2 4 $16.50
Terry Gange