New approach has “George” going great guns!

Passionate Victorian horsewoman Kelly Stuart-Mitchell is now a firm believer in the benefits of straight harness racing training tracks as well as working horses out of their paddocks.

And the Western District trainer is reaping the rewards with her three-year-old pacer Always Be Blakey (Always B Miki) who is in sparkling form with four wins and a second placing from his past five outings.

“I guess the paddock idea is nothing new because my dad Robert (Mitchell) was big on that back home in New Zealand,” Stuart-Mitchell, who is based at Lake Bolac, between Ballarat and Hamilton, said.

“The horses just love wandering about and we’re lucky that we have lots of acreage to do that. There’s a massive row of pine trees and they can get in under them if it’s raining or windy,” she said.

“But the straight track is just great. It’s 1.9 kms long with a bit of a hill and the horses just love it. I zip them up a bit with some galloping over 1200 metres and put the clock on them.”

Always Be Blakey put up an impressive frontrunning performance at Horsham on Wednesday (Aug 7).

“We’ve always had a bit of time for “George” – that’s what we call him. He’s always felt nice and early on I thought he could be a high-speed horse,” she said.

“His confidence is sky high at the moment and I really think there’s more improvement because he’s got a bit to learn. He’s certainly come a long way in a short time.”

Driver James Herbertson burnt from the gate and rated the pacer to perfection, scoring by 14 metres in the gelding’s career best time of 1:54.6 for the 1700 metre journey.

“James did a great job and is a good friend. He’s driving in terrific form too and we’re loving having him on.”

Apart from that recent victory, Always Be Blakey’s recent of form has incorporated wins at Horsham, Hamilton and Echuca, and he was runner-up at his previous start at Melton.

“The run in town was a big step up for him and he went great,” she said.

“We may look at the coming Vicbred heats with him, and after that we will definitely shut him down and he will go out for a break before coming back in next season as a four-year-old.”

Stuart-Mitchell, who is helped by her partner Trev (Peacock), has a team of five horses in work.

“I tell Trev that he’s a perfect little co-trainer. But he’s a great help and we work in well together and enjoy what we’re doing.”

The couple have been enjoying a visit from Stuart-Mitchell’s parents, Robert and Sandy, who live in New Zealand’s Waikato region.

Robert is now enjoying retirement but had huge success during a long career in the sport, headlined by his training prowess of superstar pacer Just An Excuse (Live Or Die). Son Todd, who trains a small team at Cambridge, had the driving duties.

The gelding retired with 16 wins and eight placings from 27 starts with earnings of more than $1M New Zealand.  His achievements include two NZ Cups and the $75K 2004 Ballarat Pacing Cup.

“They’ve been out here plenty of times but were rapt to be at Horsham and cheer home ‘George’ on Wednesday,” she said.

“We enjoyed a few celebration drinks at home that night, but we are all going out for dinner before they head home in the next few days.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink