No Fear for Lyndal’s boy from the bush

Trained by Glenn Conroy at Musk Vale and raced by his daughter Lyndal, the seven-year-old mare is one of the more recognisable competitors on the Victorian harness racing circuit.

Since making her debut in March of 2015, the daughter of Skyvalley has run another 178 times for seven wins and 57 minor placings.

Essentially, she's raced week in, week out across that five-year period with great consistency.

Lyndal, who operates a hairdressing salon in Daylesford and works closely with the horses, explained the secret to getting Fear Not to the track so often.

"The only time she sets foot on the track is when she races," she said.

"Every other day she jogs out the bush. We are very fortunate to live over the road from the bush so there's all sorts of fire trails for her to go and jog on.

"During the start of the week, she does a power of work. She does a lot of hill work to make sure her fitness is at its peak and coming up to race day, it will taper back slowly and just some nice jog work to keep her ticking over.

"That's what allows her to race weekly and so regularly, because she isn't having a lot of strain from fast work on the tracks.

"We just use her fast work hit-out as her race and look after her during the week."

Lyndal is well known for pampering her horses and Fear Not certainly gets the full treatment.

"She has her own woolen dress rug with her name embroidered on the side of it," she said.

"She has got a really nice bling brow band and I always braid her forelock and her main.

"To me, I think presentation is part of it as well. I like knowing not only do my horses look good, they feel good and hopefully they reward us."

Fear Not, who has contested 13 Group 1 races over her career with a fourth placing in February's Breed For Speed Gold final her best result, will step out in the Niota Bloodstock Trot (2240m) at Tabcorp Park Melton this Saturday night.

She will be out to break a losing sequence that spans back to December last year, but is well suited to the small field according to Lyndal.

"She's not very fast out, so drawing six, she definitely won't be leading. Dad always drives her for luck," she said.

"He sits her in and we always hope for a bit of speed on, a bit of pace because she likes a good solid race. And then we just hope for the best."

Anton Golino's Imsettogo looks the one to beat from the barrier one draw, but there's a host of chances in a small but quality seven-horse field.

Another highlight on Saturday night's card will be the return of Emma Stewart-trained star Poster Boy, who made his return from injury and illness with a sizzling first-up win last weekend.

The Alderbaran Park Trot (2240m) is another exciting event, which will see a mouthwatering clash between top squaregaiters I Am Pegasus, Sammy Showdown and Savannah Jay Jay.

HRV – Tim O'Connor