A Wagga winner again – 21 years later!

Colorful Melbourne horseman David Miles has kept his unblemished harness racing record intact at Wagga Wagga in the NSW Riverina region – more than two decades apart!

Miles, based at Bolinda, 50 kms from the Victorian capital, made the four-and-a-half-hour trip another memorable one when eight-year-old gelding Arggghhh (Rock N Roll Heaven) took out the $9792 Ferella and Sons Plumbing Pace, last Friday (Sep 27).

“My first and only other trip was 21 years ago. I raced a horse named Wine Me Up (Chandon) and we won the Wagga Cup. It was owned by Kevin Walsh from Albury and a syndicate,” he said.

“It’s not a bad drive up there because it’s mostly on the Hume Highway, and Wagga is a very good set-up with good facilities and a 1070-metre track. It’s also got a nice country-feel about it.”

Miles, who as a youngster had ambitions to be a bookmaker before attending the Bendigo Harness Racing Training Centre, has trained 350 winners and landed 777 as a driver.

He’s had Arggghhh in his care for the past two and a half years after owners Ray and Jason Woods decided on a stable switch.

“Ray is a good hobby trainer in his own right, but he was having trouble getting the best out of the horse who has crook feet,” he said.

“We just jog him in the sand and then he goes in the pool. He’s sound as a bell and probably spends 90 percent of the time having a swim. It’s really a credit to Ray and Jason who let me have a go at getting the horse to reach his peak.

“He’s a good old horse and I love having him. I reckon he’s probably won four or five in town, and he’s not finished yet.”

Arggghhh sprouted wings over the concluding stages at Wagga to win by a short half-head over Emmas Boy (Jackson Painting), with Skittle Bomb (Blake Micallef) two metres away third.

ARGGGHHH REPLAY

The win lifted Arggghhh above $200,000 in stakes from 15 wins and 26 placings from 95 starts.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d made it on time, but the last 80 metres he jumped out of the ground. Jackson did think I’d got there though after we went around past the finish line.”

Miles has a team of 22 horses in work with his busy period just getting underway.

“There’s about 16 babies here we’re getting stuck into, with a few of these heading off to the green trials in two or three weeks,” he said.

“I’ll have to make a bit of room to get the babies in, and that means selling some of the 50 to 60 raters or just moving them on.  It’s a bit like a football coach – if you don’t keep recruiting, you get behind the eight ball pretty quickly!”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink