Ryan runs amok in two-state blitz!

Young harness racing reinsman Ryan Sanderson barely had time to catch his breath during a whirlwind 24-hour two-State winning blitz at the weekend.

The 21-year-old drove Dangerous (Sweet Lou), trained by his father Shane, to perfection to win in the third-round heats of the Inter Dominion at Menangle on Saturday night – before enduring a late-night road trip back home to take out the Travla Gunbower Cup on Sunday (Dec 8).

“It’s been a pretty good weekend!” Sanderson said after turning in another polished drive, this time on eight-year-old gelding Western Sonador (Western Terror) for Shepparton trainer Steve O’Donoghue.

“I got a fair way back early, but he really accelerated and hit the line strong. I wasn’t expecting to get that far back and credit to the horse – he did it easy and made me look good!” Sanderson said.

The youngster was understandably still on cloud nine after an Inter Dominion heat win on Dangerous, following on from his third and second placings in the earlier rounds.

The four-year-old entire’s roguish behavior has presented some challenges for the Sanderson team in the past, but he has shown impeccable manners through the ID24 series.

“He went huge last night – he is much better to warm up now and in his races. He’s developing into a lovely horse with a bit of maturity, I think,” Sanderson said.

Sanderson and fellow Goulburn Valley reinsman Nathan Jack wasted no time after their Menangle drives to jump in the car for the seven-hour trip home to honor engagements at Gunbower, a twice-a-year club an hour west of Shepparton.

Sanderson was driving Western Sonador for the first time, and the pacer was having his first start since April – but the pair came from near last to score the easiest of victories from race favorite Arggghhh and a further two metres to Diamond Eclipse.

Western Sonador, who showed enormous promise as a young horse, has not won since September 2021, and Corey O’Donoghue, who trains the pacer with his dad Steve, was thrilled with the comfortable 12-metre win.

“He’s got a few niggles, but his biggest problem is between his ears,” O’Donoghue laughed.

“He can be a very, very quirky fellow.  We’ve changed a bit of gear, mainly adding a shadow roll this time in, but just because that worked today, it doesn’t mean it’ll work with him next time!” he said.

“He’s had three trials and each time he has got better, but the way he won was really a bit of a surprise. But he looks good, he is happy, and he has got his confidence up at the moment.

“We haven’t mapped anything out, but we will definitely aim for a few country cups now.”

In the Cohuna Carsales – Bill Poxon Memorial Gunbower Trotters Cup, Victorian trainer-driver combination Brent Lilley and Tristan Larsen continued their run of success on the trotters’ country cup circuit.

Maestro (Love You) began quickly from barrier three and went straight to the lead and held off a determined late dive by Argyle Rocks (Ashley Ainsworth) up the sprint lane to score by a head.

The 21-year-old Larsen said he was confident once he got to the front and “got things very easy”.

“He has a tendency to pull up right on the line, so I was just hoping I had got there as we crossed the line,” he said.

“There’s not many tracks like the Gunbower one (at 1239 metres it is Victoria’s longest track), it’s quite different from everywhere else, but it’s great after today!”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink