‘Captain’ provides a pleasant surprise

Dominant Tasmanian harness racing trainer Ben Yole doesn’t keep his finger on the pulse when it comes to personal records, but he admits he did get a heads-up in regard to a recent milestone.

“I don’t think many of us have the time to keep a check on statistics— I know I don’t anyway! But a friend in Duncan Dornauf, who works for TasRacing, told me I was getting close to landing my 1000th winner as a trainer,” Yole said.

“Duncan didn’t give me too much detail so when Captain Cosmonaut got the money at Devonport on Sunday to get me there, yes, I was surprised,” he said.

Just three weeks earlier, Yole, based at Sidmouth, 35kms north-west of Launceston, became the first trainer in Australia to register a century of wins for the current 2021 season. It’s the sixth consecutive season he has posted 100 plus wins.

“It’s a team effort and everyone does their bit. We’ve got between 70 and 80 horses in work, which is around our normal number,” Yole said.

“We’re always looking for more horses to join the team and racing here is ramping back up again now, so every fortnight from now, we’ll be doing ‘doubles’, while over the past month, there’s only been single meetings each week.”

Yole said an important part of his training regime was taking some of the horses for a saltwater swim – even during the testing Tassie winter.

“There’s an inlet off the (Sid) River near the mouth of the river onto the ocean. It’s just great for horses that have some niggling injuries, but it’s also something a bit different for all of them, and it does seem to spark up the ones that maybe down on form,” he said.

Yole, who celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday, ended up with a fab five winners at the Devonport fixture with in-form stable concession driver Jordan Chibnall landing three of these.

Chibnall, whose family is based at Kilmore and are heavily involved with thoroughbreds, has grown in stature since crossing the Tasman. The treble was her second for the Yole team.

The five Yole winners were Somedan (Somebeachsomewhere-Beninjurd (Art Major); Earl Jujon (Rock N Roll Heaven-Hot Stuff (Dream Away); Captain Cosmonaut (Sportswriter-Miss Cosmonaut (Village Jasper); Montana Lad (Bettors Delight-We Love To Party (Fake Left); and My Ultimate Romeo (Art Major-Hot Chilli Stride (Christian Cullen).

Yole said he had landed a quintet “probably six or seven times previously” thus proving his relaxed attitude to the record books – the correct answer, according to HRA records, is 11.  With six wins at a meeting on one occasion!

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink