150 reasons to celebrate big

An enthusiastic harness racing group from the far corner of western New South Wales had plenty of reasons to celebrate long and hard into the early hours at the weekend.

“I think it was about 3am when we all decided to call it quits,” elated Broken Hill trainer Aaron Coad said.

“There would have been some sore heads later in the day that’s for sure.”

Coad prepared five-year-old brown gelding Its Nicholas (Sportswriter-Miss Adriana (River Khan) to take out the Euston Club Pace at Mildura on Friday afternoon—officially starting at the massive odds of 150/1.

“I knew he was one of the outsiders in the race, but I didn’t notice anything like those figures. The horse does go okay, and I wasn’t totally surprised, particularly the way everything panned out,” Coad said.

“It has been a frustrating last few months with him because he’s just been so unlucky. We’ve had very little go our way with bad draws and no luck in racing—it’s been absurd.”

Bendigo reinsman Alex Ashwood pinged to the front in Friday’s event with the $1.04 favorite Im Loki and after a blistering 28.7 opening quarter, he had problems trying to settle his fired-up charge.

The win provided Coad with his first-ever Mildura triumph, although he has had plenty of success at his hometown track at Broken Hill.

“A big pat on the back goes to Michelle because I’ve noticed she really gets the best out of the horses she drives. I suppose I’ve taken awhile to work Its Nicholas out, but he’s now right at his prime,” he said.

“The pacer is the first one raced by Keven and Sonja Stubing, who own a local feed store, so it was great to get a win for them. They have had many gallopers in the past and enjoyed heaps of success.

“Its Nicholas raced consistently in the Riverina region before joining us. A friend up there, Shane Hillier, recommended the horse to us and after watching a few of his race replays, I was impressed with his strength and also that he didn’t mind doing it tough.”

Coad, who has been licensed only 19 months, is assisted by his partner Reilly Blight around the stables.

“Reilly was stoked, but that’s what it’s all about. I’m a builder by trade and Reilly is a big help. We were doing four, but when the Broken Hill season ended recently, we cut back to two,” he said.

“We actually had both Its Nicholas and Seeking Amnesty for sale a while ago. I don’t know if ‘Nick’ would still be on the market now, unless a nice price come along. We’ll keep them going for a bit and see what happens.”

By Terry Gange from NewsAlert PR Mildura