A remarkable ride to 300 wins
For Echuca harness racing trainer Sue Hunter, reaching 300 training wins is something she never imagined she’d achieve.
The milestone came at Shepparton on Tuesday night when promising three-year-old filly Pearl Of Philtra (Ride High), driven by James Herbertson, gave Hunter her 300th training success with a stylish 2.4-metre victory in the 0-1 Win Pace over 2190 metres.
It was another satisfying chapter in an unlikely journey that began in New Zealand thoroughbred racing, brought Hunter across the Tasman with one of the country’s champion juveniles, and ultimately led her to discover a passion for harness racing that has never faded.
Despite the milestone, Hunter remains typically down-to-earth.
“Living the dream one nightmare at a time,” she laughed.
“There’s always something. I just found a leaking trough, the track needs dragging and who knows what else!
“I never thought I would get to 300 wins, and I can’t really believe that I’m doing what I’m doing every day.”
It’s a remarkable achievement for someone who never set out to become a harness racing trainer.
Growing up in New Zealand, horses were always part of Hunter’s life.
“I always had ponies as a kid and my first job was working at a small local stud. Then I got a job at a racing stable. It was great for someone who’d always wanted to work with horses,” she said.
Her early career centred around thoroughbreds, including one very special horse.
“I came over (from New Zealand) with a champion called Our Maizcay. He’d won six juvenile races in New Zealand and was the best two-year-old of his year. I came out with him and he won the Magic Millions, raced in Sydney in the lead-up to the Golden Slipper and then ran fourth in the Slipper from the widest barrier,” Hunter said.
“I stayed in Australia then, but when he came back as a three-year-old I looked after him again.
“He won six straight as a three-year-old, racing against horses like Octagonal and Strategic, and he won the Caulfield Guineas.”
Hunter rode trackwork at Warwick Farm before a series of falls saw her reconsider life in the saddle.
“I just lost my nerve, I guess, so I went back into office work.”
That decision unexpectedly led her to the world of harness racing. She accepted a role as practice manager at the Warwick Farm Equine Clinic, where thoroughbreds, standardbreds and ponies all passed through the doors.
“(Sydney trainer) Don Moon used to bring in McDowell’s standardbreds to the clinic and I mentioned I wanted a pony. He said they had a retired one that I could have,” Hunter said.
“He was an awesome little fellow and I took him to the shows. That’s when I started thinking these standardbreds are pretty good.”
She mentioned to a Bankstown trainer visiting the clinic that she’d like to drive one – leading to an offer for her to “come out and have a go”.
“They had a double seater sulky and I’d never sat in a cart before. It was just so different. They gave me the reins and I remember asking, ‘How do you make it go?’!
“I started helping out by jogging one or two for them before I headed to work in the mornings, but the real turning point came when I fast-worked one.
“They put the wind up me at the stables, telling me to make sure I didn’t hit a wheel or I’d go down! Of course, I believed them and I was terrified. But when we got going, I thought we were flying! I loved it, and I was just addicted after that.”
Hunter later joined the successful Sloys stable, where she says she received an invaluable education working with a strong team and top horses. Taking out her trainer’s licence in 2007, Hunter enjoyed considerable success for the Sloys ownership team, including 15 Group 1 victories.
A move to Echuca with her partner, former Tabcorp Park CEO Shane Gloury, was originally supposed to signal a quieter life away from the training ranks.
Instead, it had the opposite effect.
“I was really planning to get out of it, but as everyone knows, Shane is very passionate about the industry,” she said.
“He bought a broodmare, then a racehorse, Monash, and another broodmare… and here we are today.”
Hunter’s 300th winner is the latest recent milestone for prominent harness racing women in northern Victoria.
In recent weeks, Murchison reinswoman Abby Sanderson has celebrated 100 career driving victories, while her close mate and “Wager Wednesday” podcast pal Abbey Turnbull reached 200 winning drives.
This week popular Ardmona horsewoman Donna Castles prepared her 200th win as a trainer.
From Terry Gange for Harnesslink
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