Mare returns a winner after nearly 1200 days on sidelines

Harness racing’s David Murphy was the man behind star pacer It Is I during a short but glorious career during the mid-2000s that netted 19 wins from 24 starts and more than $200,000 in prizemoney.

And on Monday at Warragul, he landed a special victory with a horse sired by his old champ.

The Dunnstown trainer-driver won with Myrniong Is Away at massive odds on debut in August 2016, and more than five years and a change of stables later, she was back carrying the clover to victory.

The mare left Murphy’s team following an injury in early 2017, and was trained by Maree Caldow and even owner Dale Maddison before her last run in May 2018.

But she was given a chance to return to the track with Maddison sending her back to Murphy as an eight-year-old. And just shy of 1200 days since last stepping out at the races, Myrniong Is Away returned a winner with an all-the-way success in the Quirks Real Estate Pace (1790m).

The win was the third in the horse’s 14-start career, with Murphy optimistic she will measure up to metropolitan grade in the near future.