Dual code trainer brings up win number 50

Melton trainer Paul Gabriel notched up his 50^th win at the Maryborough harness racing meeting just before Christmas (Dec 22) – but he barely had time to notice or acknowledge the milestone.

Coconut Mickey was an impressive winner in the Harness Breeders Victoria Vicbred Maiden Trot, making a barnstorming run down the outside for driver Chris Svanosio, after being buried away on the pegs through the early stages.

The four-year-old, bred and raced by Gabriel, was having just his fifth start.

“We haven’t had much time to break him in, and it took until his four-year-old year to get back to him and get him going,” Gabriel said.

“We had the mother, Pipiriki Lombo (Sundon) and we bred Zamba Deville (Conch Deville) from her. He gave us some great fun, so we were hoping this one would be okay too,” he said.

“Zamba Deville won 9 for us including five in a row at one stage – he won three races in 49 hours when we took him to Adelaide for a campaign, including a track record at his last win.”

The Gabriel camp also has a 3yo out of the same mare, who is yet to be broken in, and a five-year-old full brother to Zamba Deville, Ricki Deville, which is about to begin trialling, after an injury setback.

The family, Paul, his wife Freda and their sons George and Peter, prepare both standardbreds and greyhounds at their property near Melton.

“It can be a bit hard to juggle with the dogs and the horses, but we’re managing. I’ve had some open heart surgery over the years, so Freda, George and Peter generally work the horses and I stick with the greyhounds because they’re a bit easier to manage.  But all in all, it gets pretty busy,” Gabriel laughed.

“We have quite a few litters of pups, all at different ages, so they take a lot of work, and of course the horses. We’re working four at the moment,” he said.

“But it does keep us on our toes.  We decided to take a break from breeding with the horses this year so we can catch up a bit!”

The Gabriel kennel had about a dozen wins last year, in addition to seven harness racing wins from just 27 starters.

“We had a couple of metropolitan wins with the dogs and we have about 10 pups ready to race now.  Aldebaran Stevie (Yield Boko) was our best trotter for the season, she’s won nine for us, and six this season.  We gave her a six-week break and she’s almost ready to get back to the races again now,” he said.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink