By Jordan Gerrans
Reflecting on her maiden win as a harness trainer late last month, Bree Evans is glad that the special milestone came with the pacer she refers to as her “pet”.
The 21-year-old is a participant to watch in the harness code, preparing her first victory as a trainer in August as she edges towards taking her first drives in the near future, as well.
The partner of in-form Queensland driver Hayden Barnes has had a long association with gelding Archilles and it was the five-year-old who delivered Evans her first winner as a trainer.
While the smiling Evans has been around Archilles for much of his life, she only took over the official training duties of him in the middle of July.
He is just the second horse that Evans has trained and the milestone arrived at just her ninth attempt.
Archilles goes by Archie to Evans and it is obvious that he is a coveted pacer to the young industry participant.
“Archie, he is like my little pet,” Evans – who also owns the pacer - said.
“My dad, Graham Dwyer and Lola Weidemann have had him since he was actually yearling, so I named him and he has been very close to me ever since.
“He is kind of my little baby; he is very important to me.
“Even if he is slow, that is ok to me because I love him.”
Driven by partner Barnes on the Friday night from Albion Park, Archie put in one of the best efforts of his 52 start career to hand Evans her first triumph.
He set a new career-best winning time of 1.55.5, after running through quarters of 27.6, 30.4, 28.7 and home in 28.9, to claim the fifth win of his career.
The gelding has been through a handful of trainers’ in his tenure as a race horse but Evans has always stuck by him.
“I reckon it was the most excited I have ever been, I was very proud of him because a lot of people have said he is slow and he is not very good,” Evans said.
“He proved them all wrong. I was super proud of him.”