126/1 rank outsider scores emotional win

Passionate harness racing owner-breeder Danny McIver could barely contain his excitement when two-year-old filly Emily Vincent (Vincent) blew her rivals out of the water at long odds at Maryborough yesterday (Dec 15).

It’s been quite a journey from the breeding barn to the winner’s stall, and there was certainly a lot more than just the $126 winning odds that were fuelling McIver’s emotion.

The horse is owned in partnership with his daughter Charlotte Wandin, and when the foal of Mciver’s former race mare Wandin Star (Julius Caesar) arrived in 2019, Emily Vincent was the first ever Vincent foal.

🌟 Vincent is a dad! 🌟

Thanks to Danny McIver for sending in this video of what we believe is the first ever Vincent foal!

The filly is out of Danny’s mare Wandin Star and was born on Saturday night.

It’s fantastic to see just how special this is.#TheTrots@NeveleRStud pic.twitter.com/MPCUCQ6NaZ

— Alabar Farms (@Alabarfarms) August 26, 2019

“I did have a little bit of something on her at those big odds and with the VicBred bonus it’s been an amazing day. But it’s not just that. I’m just so happy and excited – it’s been a long road and it meant a lot,” an elated McIver said.

Adding to the emotion of the win was the fact that Emily Vincent was carrying a bridle that honors the wife of a close friend of McIver’s, who passed away recently.

Teenage reinsman Luke Dunne pinged Emily Vincent straight to the front from despatch, and from there the result never looked in serious doubt.

“Despite her long odds, we actually really liked her today over the longer (2190 metre) trip,” Dunne said.

“Her first two starts were over the short and we just felt that she was looking for more distance.  The Vincents seem to be fairly well-developed horses early, which can be a good thing but a bad thing too – it seems to take them that bit of extra time to find their straps,” he said.

“She’s not speedy, but she’s a very, very tough, strong filly, and that’s why we decided to drive her with a bit more confidence today.  She half waited for them up the straight when I went clear, then kicked on again when the others came at her.  We were very happy with the way she went.”

Emily Vincent is trained by Dunne’s father Paul Watson, who prepares a team ranging between six and 12 horses at Carisbrook near Maryborough.

While Emily Vincent might have been Vincent’s first foal on the ground, she certainly took her share of work to get to the races.

“We’d broken her in, but had quite a few in work at that time, so for her next preparation we sent her to a pre-trainer,” Dunne explained.

“But with COVID-19, she ended up not finishing there, and then we couldn’t pick her up, so her work was delayed for a while.  Then once we did get her back, she was a fair way behind the eight ball and she developed a bit of a bad attitude,” he said.

“She was a very moody filly with a fair bit of spice to her.  She’d only accept as much gear as she wanted to, and she’d lay down when she’d had enough.  Then there was a time when she would just pull up at the same place every workout.

“We persisted though and once she did turn the corner, she was very quick to learn in the end.  We just had to work through a lot of things first!

“We do like her, and I think as a three- and four-year-old she will be a better horse.  She’s going for a spell now, and probably not her next prep, but her late three-year-old we’re hoping she will be a nice horse.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink