Grey days and winning ways: Hurley on a silver streak

Victorian harness racing trainer Alexandra Hurley has celebrated a week to remember, preparing half-siblings Altius (Alta Christiano) and Spun Silver (Follow The Stars) to three wins in just over seven days.

“I’m definitely not going to complain – you just enjoy it while it lasts!” Hurley laughed.

“We had a really good week, actually. Altius won, Spun Silver won and our daughter Amelia won the first pony trot race of the year at Melton,” she said.

“She’s 16 and is in her last year of pony trots. She loves the horses, loves coming to the races and being involved, but I think pony trots will probably be it for her.”

Altius began the roll, winning at Bendigo on September 10. Two days later, his eye-catching half sister Spun Silver followed up at Geelong (Sept 12), and then a week later, scored again at Melton.

Both horses are out of the grey mare Tourbillon Dargent (Lombo Pocket Watch), which Hurley and her sisters Fran and Eleanor were compelled to buy about 10 years ago.

“My grandfather Tony Hurley was the first Hurley to get into the sport in South Australia, and he got the whole family involved. His brothers Jim, Eric and Frank all followed,” Hurley explained.

“We grew up listening to my dad, uncles and Poppa talking about breeding. I used to write all the pedigrees out, and when I started going out with Paul (Hodgson), who later became my husband, I decided to get my trainer’s licence.

“My grandfather had a grey horse called Silver Design. He always loved the coloured horses. He’d not long passed away when the APG Autumn Sales were on and we girls had a little bit of money to spend, so we bought a grey mare, Tourbillon Dargent, with the plan to race her. She turned out not to have a very good temperament for racing, and she had a couple of injuries, so we decided fairly quickly to breed with her.”

That decision has paid off with Spun Silver (six wins) and Altius (three wins).

“We are loving racing a grey horse because people notice them and love them,” Hurley said.

“We get a stream of people coming down to the stables at the races to see her and we always ask if they want to give her a pat. It’s great – and if she gets one more person coming through the gate or finding a reason to notice the sport then I love that.

“They are both different interesting characters. Katie (Spun Silver) is lovely and has been from day one – but she is a girl that knows her own mind! We’ve always had an opinion of her – she kicked Paul out of the cart one day and when he got back to the stables all he wanted to know was how she was so he obviously thought she was all right!

“As a three-year-old she suffered a stress fracture of her pelvis, so she had 18 months off. When we brought her back, we put her in 1200-metre races and she won her first two in a row.

“She gets away on you easily and earlier this preparation I felt that she looked a bit big. I weighed her and she came in at 570 kilograms! We’ve trimmed her back 30kg and she’s racing really well now.

“Altius (a bay) is a big fellow, and I think his brain’s a bit too far from his feet! He’s four and still maturing. He’s the quietest horse at home until something annoys him or surprises him and because he’s so big, he’s impossible to stop.”

The siblings are raced by Hurley, her sister Fran, daughter Amelia and husband Paul, alongside long-time friends Peter Lewis and Vicki Carli. Altius is also raced with school friend Greg Dowling, Paul Saffin and Pauline Brodie.

“We’re having great fun,” Hurley said.

“We’ve set up a Facebook Messenger group for photos and updates and a bit of banter.”

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink