No hard feelings as the Princess salutes

Victorian harness racing trainer Janet Exell is pretty forgiving when it comes to her “naughty girl”, eight-year-old mare, Princess Alexandra (Caribbean Blaster).

The 16-plus hands mare is somewhat notorious in her difficult attitude, but last week gave the Wimmera-based horsewoman her first win in what’s been a challenging season thus far.

“She’s big, ugly and sour! She’s definitely no princess,” Exell laughed.

“All the clerks of course and the stewards know her, and a lot of people at the track do too, because of her attitude – and she’s not much better at home, I’ve got to say! But my horses are like family to me, so you forgive a lot!” she said.

Princess Alexandra tipped Exell out of the sulky seven weeks ago, leaving her with a fractured vertebrae – then another encounter with the mare left her in hospital with broken ribs four weeks ago.

“I became the padding between her and a gate she’d been through hundreds of times before.  She crushed me up against it and I ended up with broken ribs front and back,” Exell said.

“I still can’t get back in the cart because it’s just too painful.  So, I’ve been doing lunging work with the horses, and I’m so lucky to have some help from my niece Laura Exell and a friend Kevin Lane, who have been doing fastwork for me.”

The teamwork landed the win with Princess Alexandra at Stawell last Wednesday (July 24), with James Herbertson in the sulky.

Exell, who trains a team of between six and eight horses from her property at McKenzie Creek, just outside Horsham, said Princess Alexandra had been gifted to her as a three-year-old by her breeders, father and son Peter and Brett Saunders.

“They had her with a trainer, but she wasn’t showing them much potential, so they were looking to move her on, as well as her mother, who was in foal to Tell All at the time,” Exell said.

“They told me if I was happy to go and pick them up, I could have them all, including the foal when it was born. And fast forward five years, Princess Alexandra has won 10 races – she’s just a plodder, but she’s done a great job for me.”

The win was also a much-welcomed boost for part-owner Rhonda Murrell, who co-owns a number of Exell’s horses.

“Rhonda had breast cancer some years ago and the treatment left her in a walking frame and needing a carer,” Exell said.

“She had travelled Australia and reared two boys alone before she was diagnosed, and the treatment affected her nerve endings and left her with a lot of pain – she told me that ‘Princess’ and I gave her a reason to live at the time.”

Princess Alexandra’s win wasn’t the only success at Stawell on the day for Exell.

“I also qualified her little sister to race on that same day. The Queen Of Talk is the foal that Princess Alexandra’s mother (Thrill Me) was carrying when I got them,” Exell said.

“Thankfully she is quite a different temperament to Princess Alexandra, so here’s hoping!  It’s been a tough year, but I think it’s a good sign! I’m looking forward.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink