It was great way to register a milestone.
Clarendon trainer Tess Neaves prepared her 50th winner last night (Saturday) when Call Me Yours ran down The Muse and Weedons Express in the Pryde’s Easifeed Pace at Albion Park.
It was the final metropolitan meeting of the 2017 calendar year.
Call Me Yours landed a perfect trail behind race favourite The Muse and proved superior in a driving finish, the winning margin was a head.
Neaves engaged Steven Doherty for the drive while regular reinsman Gary Whitaker took the drive on stablemate Riverleigh Jeff who finished fourth.
“I’ll take it, its great training winners and extra special on a Saturday night. It was great to have the family with me and we all celebrated together which was great.” Neaves said.
The mother of two works her team of ten pacers with the assistance of Nikki Chalk while her husband Scott gets involved on the weekends, after completing his work as a barrister.
And their children Charlee and Callan cheered louder than anyone else last night.
Neaves has grown up surrounded by horses and enjoys working her team which are all pacers and mostly cast-offs from others stables or secured via the claiming races.
Her maiden winner came via the claimers when eleven-year-old gelding Prince Benji proved successful at Redcliffe on November 5, 2014.
“I really enjoy working the horses from the claimers, they’re older and the bulk of them are really kind natured. They’ve been around the block and understand routines pretty well and they’re adaptable, Prince Benji was a horse I loved so much.
“The other reason I enjoy the older types is because my two young kids enjoy getting outside and they like the horses and their company. Plus, having all the noise of quad bikes, games and whatever else they can get their hands onto doesn’t seem to bother the horses.
“The young horses are on the way because we have bred a mare and we have a resultant foal so that will be an interesting chapter in my training but something I’m looking forward to.”
The best performer for Neaves during her training career to date has been Riverleigh Jeff, a Cammibest gelding who has won 11 races including three at Albion Park.
Neaves purchased Riverleigh Jeff as a four start maiden.
Chris Barsby | RQ Web News | December 31 | Photo by Dan Costello