Good omens aplenty for Kilmore stable

Two thrilling early season wins have well and truly turned the page on a heartbreaking and difficult year in 2022 for Victorian harness racing horsewoman Monique Burnett.

Burnett steered home Alastair Lavros (Bettors Delight) for her mum Rita at Maryborough (Jan 5) then a little over a week later won on a horse she bred, owns, trains and drives herself in Have No Choice (Four Starzzz Shark) at her home track (Jan 13).

“Winning a race is always good, but sometimes there are those really exciting ones that are just so satisfying, and the win with Have No Choice was one of those,” Burnett said.

“He’d had a good amount of time off the scene and had only the one start back, at Maryborough, before the win.  His first run back was almost 12 months to the day 12 from his last start,” she said.

A tragic barn fire in July was one of the reasons for Have No Choice’s extended layoff, combined with the challenges the family faced in working their big team without their stable facilities during an extraordinarily wet winter.

“In his last prep he was a bit funny in front and no one could pinpoint the problem, so I had planned to give him a long break – it just turned out longer than we wanted,” Burnett said.

Have No Choice is out of a mare purchased for Monique by her mum, trainer Rita Burnett, in Monique’s first couple of seasons of driving.

“Mum bought Rock Melody for me for $2000 so I would have something to drive,” Monique said.

“Everyone probably hated her because every time she was odds on favorite she would gallop out and then next time run out of her skin – and then be odds-on favorite again next time!

“She literally retired a maiden, because she only won two restricted races, but she ran 25 seconds!  She was pretty frustrating, but she covered my car payments week-in and week-out!” she laughed.

Have No Choice is the first foal to race out of Rock Melody and the ironic name was chosen after Burnett unsuccessfully submitted around 10 potential names for the youngster.

Monique said the “gentle giant” is Rita’s stable favorite, alongside Alastair Lavros, who, driven by Monique, was Rita’s first winner for the new season.  Alistair Lavros came from the clouds to score at the juicy odds of 80/1 while Have No Choice was a 30/1 chance.

“It’s not the price nor margin that matters, it’s the win!” Monique said.

“I was pretty happy with the way Have No Choice had to fight back.  The favorite sat outside him and actually headed him in the straight, but he lifted right on the line and won by a half head,” she said.

“He’s a very honest type, and with that bit of gate speed that can get him out of trouble.  He’s won five now and run quite a few placings so he’s a good bread and butter horse, and very driveable, so we can possibly use a junior claim with him if we need to.

“Sometimes when you feel like nothing is going right a couple of wins feels so good – 2022, it can just be gone.  Hopefully they’re a good sign of better things ahead in 2023.”

Another positive sign came last week in the form of a start to the construction of a new barn on the family property, to replace the one destroyed in the fire.

Completion, expected within a couple of months, will no doubt come as a welcome relief to all within the Mifsud/Burnett operation, including Monique, who is well-regarded for her impeccable preparation of youngsters for the yearling sales each year.

“I’ve just brought in the seven we’re doing for the Sydney Nutrien sale and it’s a bit harder this year without the big shed, and especially with the inconsistent weather we’ve been having. One day this week was 40 degrees, and the next was misty rain,” she said.

“We will do around 20 or 25 this year and this first seven came in on January 1 and they will be ready to go to the sales on March 1, so the real work starts now.”

Burnett is preparing around 20 yearlings this year but say no matter how many are in the stable, the process is the same.

“They’re really treated like racehorses – they’re fed to the hilt, they are worked, rugs are changed with the weather, they’re brushed, handled, you make sure their coats are coming through and it doesn’t matter if you are doing 20 or 40, you just keep going until they are all done,” she said.

“I love the process – being able to start with something raw and then at the end having something beautiful to show off and seeing how they arrive on the big day. It’s a real thrill.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink