Owners flying high as Soar looks special

A calculated gamble by passionate Mildura harness racing horseman Luke Watson and a group of friends is paying off as their talented two-year-old Soar is showing promise to go to great heights.

"The horse was basically purchased sight unseen-he was advertised as a broken-in yearling, but his full brother had just won a nice feature event," Watson said.

"One of the owners, I think there's a dozen of them in total, is Rob Styles and he was the first one to spot the horse. It just went from there."

Soar (Fly Like An Eagle-Life Of Elinka (Life Sign), made it two-from-two at his home track last Friday with an emphatic win in the $7000 Two and Three Year Old Pace. The mile rate for the 1790m trip was a brisk 1.58-6.

"At home he just goes through the motions. But when he gets to the racetrack he's highly strung-almost like a thoroughbred. He's so green and immature; just a baby in every sense," Watson said.

"I've been a bit surprised by what he's been doing. Last Friday when another horse got near me in the latter stages, he just dug in. He's led in his only two race starts, but at home he's shown that he's just as versatile coming from behind."

Soar is a full brother to the Amanda Turnbull-trained classy three-year-old Chasing The Wind, a winner of four races and one placing from only 11 outings.

"It would have been around July last year when we purchased our bloke, because Amanda had just won the Breeders Challenge True Blue Final at Menangle with Chasing The Wind. That was one of the tipping points, as well as there being a really good family line," Watson said.

"He actually comes from the same family as one of the great pacers of the Sunraysia area in Murranji Track, prepared by Col Rogers."

Luke Watson with his latest stable star, two-year-old Fly Like An Eagle-sired gelding, Soar

Watson said he didn't plan to continue racing Soar for many more starts, despite the extended age groups now going until just after Christmas.

"He's not getting knocked around by the runs and he's probably getting a great deal of benefit out of racing. I don't ask him to do a lot at home in between. He goes over 2400m, but it's pretty casual. We just don't want to overdo it.

"Some of his owners are tied up with a local footy club and a couple of others just love the sport and a lot of few of them have raced horses with us before. They are enjoying the ride and it will be even better when they are allowed to attend meetings."

The Mildura meeting was one Watson will remember for years to come as he landed his 500th career victory as a reinsman.

"I have to be honest and say that I was aware of the milestone. I've been ticking along okay, but the past four or five weeks have been outstanding," he said.

Watson reached the 500 mark when successful with Waratah Beach (Somebeachsomewhere-Lady Waratah (Walton Hanover) for close friend Kylie Bevington, partner of longtime successful district trainer Frank Cavallaro.

He later won with Caulonia Terror (Western Terror-Caulonia Babe (Live Or Die), giving him another treble and shared driving honors for the meeting with Rhys Nicholson, who is in the area on a working holiday from Melbourne.

Watson prepares a small team with his wife Kath on the outskirts of Mildura.

"We've been getting outside horses from South Australia, the Riverina and Melbourne because the owners have been keen to get the bonuses on offer before the end of the season," Watson said.

"Once they've done that, most of them are going home. We normally train about half a dozen, but our numbers are up to 11 and 12 now, but it's been working out well," he said.

 

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura