Veteran Rhonda still has got it

By Jordan Gerrans

Set to turn 82 years of age next month, stalwart Cairns trainer Rhonda Inglis can still get the best out of a racehorse.

The well-liked local conditioner produced her first winner since April of 2020 on Tuesday afternoon at Cannon Park when Savee showed plenty of grit in the concluding stages to score. 

Inglis has had a ‘stop-start’ last few years of her training tenure as she has spent long periods of time in Brisbane aiding her husband who needed serious heart surgery. 

She is back in Far North Queensland now and is pleased to be poking along with a small team of horses as she edges closer to her 82^nd birthday. 

“At my age now, you need to keep active,” she said.

“I don’t need a stable full of horses to train for someone else, I have got to a stage where I am happy to muck around with two or three of my own.

“I just keep myself happy as a hobby trainer.”

Much like Gold Coast trainers Harold Norman and Shirley Batten, Inglis is still loving taking her horses to the races well past her 80^th birthday.

Savee has been a labour of love for the veteran conditioner in recent months. 

Formerly trained by Melbourne Cup champion Danny O’Brien in Melbourne, the daughter of Grunt won a couple of races in Victoria before Inglis snapped her up at an online auction. 

Inglis gave the five-year-old mare a dozen starts without any success before multiple Group 1-winning hoop Sean Cormack rode her at Townsville in the middle of September.

Inglis knew that Savee had been battling with some kind of issue since she arrived at her barn and the respected jockey suggested she take a closer look at her feet.

Since that run in September, Inglis has changed her approach with the mare, not often taking her on the track, and focusing on swimming her at Cannon Park.

“I have had a lot of issues with her, unfortunately,” Inglis said.

“We bought a horse with a few problems and it took us a while to figure out what was wrong.

“Hopefully we have her on the right track now, but she has been a lot of work.

“We just need to keep on top of her feet. Between the vet and myself, we have put a lot of hours and work into her to get her to where she is now.

“Hopefully we can hold her where she is now with the treatment we are giving her.

“It was a relief to see her win.”

In her first run since that Cluden Park effort more than eight weeks ago, Savee hit the line strongly to nab her maiden win for Inglis in the Sunshine State. 

The trainer believes that was her problem previously, that she was not finishing her races well. 

She certainly was tough to the line on Tuesday to win the Benchmark 55 Handicap over 950 metres with Cormack retaining the ride and receiving the rewards. 

“She finished off the race well, being the first time she has gone over 950 metres,” she said.

“She will go a lot further. She is a beautiful mare and has a lot of ability, but it is about getting it out of her, which remains to be seen.

“These feet problems are a week-to-week proposition. She has a ton of ability and a real motor in that body; it is just about holding her up now.

“I think there will be quite a few more wins in store if I can keep her happy.”

Inglis has been aided by the father-and-son training team of Trevor and Peter Rowe to get her horses worked and swum since Savee arrived in FNQ last year. 

The Rowes also had a winner on Tuesday on their local track when Kickagoal Kenny triumphed for the third time in his career. 

Inglis, whose father was also a top trainer, has been training in Cairns since the 1970s and also had a spell preparing her team in South East Queensland, as well.

Inglis has enjoyed success in recent times with gallopers such as Lilly Kareena and Fine 'N' Devine who combined to win 12 races.