Brooke breaks through for a sentimental win

Victorian harness racing trainer Brooke Hansen is no stranger to the winner’s circle, but by her own admission, it’s been “a while”!

Hansen, who has prepared big teams in the past, now trains just one horse, but couldn’t be happier with her “hobbyist” status or at a breakthrough win with her trotter Just Abit Dusty (Bacardi Lindy) at Tabcorp Park Melton on Friday night (Nov 25), driven by Glen Craven.

“I have absolutely loved taking a step back and not working so many horses.  I’ve been working full time, and it’s nice to be able to just do my horse for the enjoyment of it – and I am enjoying it,” Hansen said.

The victory in the $10,000 VicBred Platinum pace was the first for Just Abit Dusty, and the first win in two seasons for his trainer, based at Armstrong, near Ballarat.  The four-year-old also picked up his VicBred first win bonus and the Hansen family’s very first breeders’ bonus.

“Getting the win was just a dream – he is a very sentimental horse.  My mum and dad (Jim and Irene) and my sister Melissa bred him with me, and he is the first one we have bred together that’s won,” Hansen said.

“We were starting to think that would never happen!  I got into harness racing when mum and dad wouldn’t let me have a pony, when I was a kid.  I found a job at Noel Alexander and Jayne Davies’ stables and I’d be there every weekend!” she said.

“As I got more and more involved in the sport, mum and dad have come in as owners on more horses.”

Hansen said Just Abit Dusty was from Papparazzi Snapshot (Grinfromeartoear) a horse the family raced together.

“She was actually pacing bred and had her first five starts as a pacer,” Hansen said.

“Then I converted her to square gaiting, and she went on to win 10 races.  She won a Boort Trotters Cup (2014) which I would say is my most memorable moment in harness racing.  It was a big thrill because she hadn’t been easy.”

That is something of an understatement.  Even after being converted to trotting, Papparazzi Snapshot took time to reach her potential. At her first five attempts, she broke on each occasion beaten an average of 146 metres.

But Hansen’s patience, belief and persistence was eventually rewarded when Papparazzi Snapshot won at her 11th start as a trotter, a tough, death-seat performance at Horsham, then went on to win three of her next six starts.  She ended her career with more than $55,000 in stakes.

Hansen is hoping the Papparazzi Snapshot’s “late-bloomer” traits will be passed on to the next generation.

“Physically Just Abit Dusty is a five-year-old, but mentally, he’s probably a two year old – it’s my fault, I didn’t do the hard yards with him early, so I am hoping that he will get a little bit better yet,” she said.

“The win was pretty special though because Melissa has been helping me out a lot at the stables and she has put a lot into this bloke as well.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink