Stars align again for Jennifer

Success was written in the stars for Victorian horsewomen Jennifer Lewis and Michelle Phillips at the Cranbourne harness racing meeting on Sunday.

Their quinella with half-brothers Celestial Trekker and Celestial Gossip was a mirror-image of a race result almost 12-months ago to the day – another top two finish with the same two horses, at the same track, involving the same two drivers!

Lewis, of Warragul, combines training a small team with being manager of the Gippsland Harness Training Centre, and said the outcome was exciting and satisfying.

"I've had the two horses all along. There's very little between them when we do fastwork and I suppose it's a great joy them being so even," Lewis said

"Steven and Michael Byrne, from Adelaide bred both them and I've had horses with them for about 10 years – I race Trekker on lease while they have Gossip in their names.

"And we're also so proud of our driver Michelle, who is one of our training centre graduates."

Celestial Trekker (Safari-Celestial Diamond (Getting It Right) led all the way in the TAB Long May We Play Pace for talented junior Michelle Phillips. The pair, starting at bolter odds of 35/1, packed just enough to hold off stablemate Celestial Gossip (Greg Sugars), who was sent out the $1.80 favorite.

Rewind to one year ago and Phillips again had the wood over champion reinsman Sugars-but on that occasion the lightweight Romsey-based horsewoman drove Celestial Gossip (Tell All-Celestial Diamond (Getting It Right) to victory over his stablemate after a mid-race move to the breeze.

"It's nice to get a couple up on Greg. I don't beat him very often, but just lately I'm doing okay at it," Phillips laughed.

"I had to rev Trekker up at the start last Sunday to make sure I got to the front. Then it can be a worry that he'll come back to you. But I did managed to do it – the secret is not to rush him back," she said.

"Over the final stages I was urging and yelling at him to keep going. I ended up copping a caution for the whip and noise."

Celestial Trekker finishes just ahead of stablemate Celestial Gossip

Phillips said she had been great friends with Jen (Lewis) through attending the training school, graduating in 2016.

"Prior to that I'd been working at the stables of Deb and Gary Quinlan. They actually pushed me to do the school. Jen has been a great influence in my driving career and puts me on her horses at every chance."

Phillips obtained an internship to attend the harness training centre-the first person to receive the honor.

The centre, which opened in 1997, has seen over 350 graduates through the doors. The inaugural manager was Des Hughes, a passionate and well-known identity in harness racing and Lewis took over the role six years ago.

Lewis first became interested in the sport when living in South Australia, prior to her move to Victoria, and is herself, one of the early graduates of the centre.

"I would help Trevor Lucas back in Gawler as much as I could. My mum Merilyn has passed away now but jogged horses for Bob and Daphne Sweet who lived down the road, opposite the old Gawler track," she said.

"After I moved to Victoria, I graduated from the training centre in 2001-02. So, it's not just trainers, drivers and stablehands who come through. There have been clerks of the course, track managers and attendants and administrators.

"The HRV's Acting Chairman of Stewards Nick Murray was also a student and showed enormous ability because he could see things in a race after one viewing that some of us hadn't realized had happened. He could drive well too, but none of us were surprised that he took on a role as a cadet steward after he graduated."

The Stablehand Certificate Two course involves a full-time six-month course, and results in a nationally-accredited qualification.

"We have 14 full-time attendees and another 10 school students who do study one day a week. There's also three at the moment going for their C Grade licence," Lewis explained.

"Most of them fall in love with the horses and when they're finished, take on a standardbred. They retrain them and of course the standardbreds are renowned for the way they transition to do anything.

"Not all of them go on and get involved in the industry, but they all have fond memories and that means the word of mouth works well for us."

Lewis said the COVID-19 pandemic had presented some significant challenges.

"How do you run a hands-on course when you can't be hands on? The course does have practical and theoretical components though, so we decided the best way was to concentrate on the theory and as things have opened up with more relaxed restrictions we've been able to have very small groups at a time."

Hoofnote: And another Celestial horse – Celestial Topaz – is expected to make his debut soon.

"He's a younger half-brother to the others and is a pacing-bred trotter! We have high hopes because he's trialled nicely a few times," Lewis said.

Terry Gange

NewsAlert PR Mildura