Dedicated New South Wales harness racing trainer-driver Dean Cernovskis says he still smiles about his good fortune when he recalls the day he purchased a Kiwi-bred pacer in 2010.
"You have to get a bit of luck now and again-and the $20,000 I spent on that occasion was the best twenty grand I've ever handed over!" Cernovskis said.
The hard-working horseman, his wife Rikki and their young family hail from the NSW Southern Highlands region and had always wanted a Christian Cullen-bred horse.
"I was telling a friend to look out for one. He just straight up told me he'd heard that there could be one, and from a good family, that may be available," Cernovskis said.
And a short time later, Cernovskis and a big group of owners, took up ownership of Daniela Hantuchova (Christian Cullen NZ-Blistering Belle (Butler B G USA), named after the Slovak tennis star of the early 2000s.
"I was part of a syndicate of about 20 who owned and raced her-and we all had a very good time along the way. The same group had about six horses going around at one stage," he said.
Daniela Hantuchova posted 13 wins and 11 placings from 74 starts for stakemoney of $87,000. She retired with a best winning mile rate of 1.53-6.
But the icing on the cake is that the mare is now starring in the breeding barn, much to the delight of Dean and Rikki, and Rikki's parents John and Lesley O'Sullivan.
"We bought out the other owners when she retired from racing," Cernovskis said.
"Her first foal was a colt by Bettors Delight. He sold as a yearling for $105,000 at the Sydney APG sales and now races as Drop The Hammer," he said.
"He's won 20 races and over $210,000 in stakes as a trotter. The funny thing is that he could go along okay as a pacer, but he did have a bit of action, so they tried him trotting first."
The next foal out of Daniela Hantuchova was Game Set Major, sired by Art Major, and raced by the Cernovskis and O'Sullivan families.
Game Set Major, a four-year-old gelding, has now raced and won in three different States following a victory last weekend at TABcorp Park Melton.
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The lightly-raced pacer won at his very first race start at Brisbane's Albion Park in July last year-and followed up in August/September this year with a hat-trick of wins at that same venue.
Game Set Major has also been successful at NSW venues in Menangle and Wagga.
Cernovskis said he watched the Melton victory from the driver's room at Menangle.
"I had a runner in the opening race at Menangle half an hour after the Melton event-so I did go out with my heart pumping that's for sure," he laughed.
Cernovskis drove Scoob Operator, which finished 8th to Motu Gatecrasher (Jack Callaghan) in the $16k Schweppes Pace.
"We didn't get beaten by much. I was happy because he ran very well."
He then competed in the following race with Stormy Raider who was runner-up in the $30k G3 Christmas Gift.
Cernovskis said he decided to leave Game Set Major with a friend, Craig Turnbull, who is based near Shepparton.
"Craig is a great horseman and would have looked after our bloke like he was an InterDominion runner. It was great to get the Melton win because he was eligible for his VicBred bonus," he said.
Game Set Major is on his way home to the Cernovskis property at Gunning, between Goulburn and Yass, and will have a short let-up.
"I really believe the horse has a bright future. He's quite green at the moment and doesn't really know what to do. He's so much like a big kid, but when the penny drops we're going to have some fun," he said.
The husband-and-wife team is training a team of eight horses, while they also have seven broodmares.
"Rikki is busy being on foal watch at the moment, so I've been the one going to the races – it's an exciting time of the year, with the little ones arriving," he said.
Terry Gange
NewsAlert PR Mildura