Greg tees off with nice first-up win

South Australian harness racing horseman Greg Norman, who is on a sojourn in Victoria for the next few months, has taken no time to hit his straps. 

Norman, based at the Charlton harness training centre, got the spoils at Horsham last weekend with four-year-old bay gelding Edwin Bromac.

“It was the first meeting I’d raced at since moving a few weeks ago, so I guess it was the perfect way to kick off,” a jubilant Norman said.

Nothing much went right for the $1.40 favorite Edwin Bromac (Mister Big USA-Elly Bromac (Badlands Hanover USA) in taking out the $7000 Victorian Trainers and Drivers Association Pace but he couldn’t have been more impressive.

After starting from the wide seven alley, reinswoman Kerryn Manning decided to push forward, getting an early three wide trail behind ToTheMoonAndBack (Jayson Finnis).

However, when Finnis decided to restrain and head back to the tail of the field, Edwin Bromac was forced to drag back as well, having favorite punters with their hearts in their mouths.

With a lap to go, Manning was second last and decided the back straight was the time to hit the “go” button. On the home corner, Edwin Bromac loomed up three wide and packed too many guns for his rivals in the run home.

Edwin Bromac, raced by Cormack Racing Pty Ltd, comprising father Terry and sons Adam and Paul, scored by seven metres from Girls In Charge (Michael Bellman).

“I certainly was happy with the effort because things didn’t really pan out all that ideally,” Norman said.

“But Kerryn summed it up nicely and got the job done.”

Norman said he had settled in well at Charlton and was looking forward to the rest of his stay.

“The plan is for a three-month trial period, but if things work out the right way and we’re all happy, you never know how long I might stay,” he said.

“The Charlton people have been tremendous and the club, headed by President Joey Thompson, have been tremendous in assisting us in every possible way.

“We really love the town and the training centre facilities are brilliant – and it’s great to see the centre’s on fire at the moment, because Joey landed a Maryborough winner (on Wednesday) with Gollahgold, driven by Peter Sanderson.”

Norman has his team competing at Kilmore and Ballarat over the next two nights.

He said Edwina Express and Cee Cee In America would compete in 3yo Vicbred heats at Kilmore, while The Deal, Edwin Bromac and Gozo would go around the next night in the 4yo Vicbred heats at Ballarat.

“I’m probably making up numbers a bit because the Emma Stewart-Clayton Tonkin team has runners at both fixtures, and they’re just setting the bar at present,” he said.

“Full marks to them. They do a great job and present their horses in magnificent condition – but we’ll be there doing our best.”

 

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura