Back-to-back wins for Myzarmi and Miles at Melton

Victorian harness racing trainer-driver Lisa Miles clearly isn’t one to hold a grudge!

It might have been eight-year-old gelding Myzarmi (Betterthancheddar) who was responsible for Miles’ hospitalisation just eight weeks ago – but she had only praise for the “big fella” when he notched up his second win in succession at Melton on Friday night (Jul. 28).

“It was bloody brilliant!” she said.

“Some people have suggested maybe I should have let him kick me earlier!”

Miles, who trains at Darraweit Guim, north of Melbourne, is back on full duties after the mishap, but admits the “double barrel” kick by Myzarmi was quite a serious injury.

“He’s a mountain of a horse and it was probably a bit more serious than I originally gave it airtime for,” she said.

“I still don’t know what he took offence at, but I was in the firing line and he got me in the left leg below the knee, and on the right side of my groin.  I should have gone to hospital earlier, and once I got there that night, they were pretty concerned about it.

“They did surgery because they were worried about ‘entrapment’, which is losing circulation in the leg.  They removed a big haematoma and there’s a big scar, but I’ve recovered well to be back doing everything again. The leg is still numb, but hopefully that will improve with time.

“It’s just one of those occupational hazards and it was a really random thing.  And the horse is going great guns, so you can’t hold a grudge!”

Miles said that she was able to keep her full team of 10 in work as she recovered due to the support of friends, particularly concession driver Jordie Chibnall.

“I was so lucky – Jordie had really only just come back to work for me, and she’s been fantastic.  She came back at the right time.  I had a lot of friends who jumped in and helped and that was really nice – people like Bec Bartley who came down and helped out.  It was brilliant,” she said.

And Myzarmi is doing his best to make amends for the misdemeanour, with a win at Ballarat on July 5, and again at Melton on Friday night in the Breeders Crown Noms Close August 1 Pace, getting up the sprint lane to score by two metres at generous $60 odds.

“Jordie gets on with him really well and they’ve become a good little team.  Myzarmi’s owner John Shelley used to shoe horses for my grandfather, so we’ve known each other for a lot of years.  He’s been a mainstay and a great mate, so I’m really pleased the horse is going so well for him,” Miles said.

“I had driven him before he came to my stable, and I’ve been training him a couple of years.  He was sick and just wasn’t the horse of old for a long time when he arrived.  He’s won five for us now, but he’s has done an amazing job to actually get back into the winner’s circle.”

Miles said she was thrilled to have Chibnall back at the stable.

“Jordie helping me has been brilliant – she was with me during her traineeship when she left school, then she went to Tassie to work for the Yole stable, which really helped her develop as a driver,” Miles said.

“We get along like a house on fire and it’s been really great for both of us.  It takes the pressure right off me and whenever she needs to drive at places like Mildura or Wagga, she can just head off to those meetings,” she said.

“Last winter I was working a team of 16, pretty much on my own. This year I’ve just got the 10 in work and with Jordie helping out, I’ve got a much better life balance.

“It’s fantastic at the moment, but for young people who work as hard and have the ability of Jordie, there are always bigger and better opportunities that present – and whatever the future holds for her, I’ll be behind her 100 percent.”

From Tabcorp Park Melton