Money In The Till rings up second win

Grant Milne owner and co-trainer of Money In The Till, did get to see his horse win at Winton today, but not from a conventional vantage point.  Due to his race day duties, he got a rear end view from the crash crew vehicle at forty kms an hour.

The four year old mare driven by Max Hill got up to win the Baxter and Neilson Plumbers Mobile Pace by a neck from Drummershavtime.

“I had no idea. I knew she was in the hunt. I could see that Daniel (driver Dan Anderson driving Drummershavtime) was jogging on the bend. We saw the replay and it was very close. It would have been nice to be sitting in the stand, but Mum was there,” said Grant who trains the mare in partnership with his father Alex.

MONEY IN THE TILL REPLAY

The win was the four year old’s second in just eight starts.

“She’s been a bit of a long journey. I bought the broodmare (Tilly Patron) out of a claiming race from Brendon McLellan. It won one race and then I bred from her.”

Tilly Patron’s first foal was Til Heaven Rockn. She was sold to Australia after winning a workout and has gone on to win eleven races, while her second foal by Auckland Reactor didn’t come to much. Money In the Till who’s by Always B Miki is her third foal.

“I wanted to go to him (Always B Miki) in his first year but I couldn’t convince the co-owner (his mother Karen). But I got my way the second year. He was big and had speed and the mare was slightly smaller.”

Money In The Till qualified at Wyndham in December last year as a late three year old.

“She was a bit hot as a two year old so we’ve taken our time to make sure she calmed down. She only started racing as a four year old. She’s super relaxed now, easy.”

Grant lives on the family farm just out of Edendale where he grew up and learned the trade, while his parents now live just down the road in the Edendale township.

He spent a good deal of his life working for Sport Otago before opting to take up training with his father last season.

“I’ve bred so many horses that I need to be there. It’s nice walking out the front gate and having my own horses. Every day you do something with real purpose. It would be nice if they were all as progressive as she is. There aren’t any coming through that I like as much as her (laughter).”

For complete race results, click here.

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink