Old-school trick works wonders for Zenario

An old-school harness racing horseman’s trick paid big dividends at Adelaide’s Globe Derby Park for connections of visiting two-year-old Zenario (Sportswriter).

The gelding gave Victorian brothers Shaun and Jason McNaulty their biggest training win when he scored an assertive win in the listed classic the Cobbitty Equine Farm 2yo colts and geldings Southern Cross Final on Saturday night (Nov 29).

But the youngster’s prospects in the feature didn’t look bright when he failed to settle in his temporary surrounds at Lance Holberton’s Globe Derby Park complex.

“We are in the middle of harvest here and needed to send him over to Lance’s for the heat and final,” said St Arnaud-based co-trainer Shaun McNaulty.

“But he didn’t eat and just didn’t settle in early on. We dropped him off on the Thursday before his heat run, and he didn’t eat until the Tuesday – Lance thought he’d maybe lost 10 kilograms,” he said.

“But he ended up trying a little trick that his old man (legendary SA horseman Alby Holberton) had taught him.  He put a mirror in front of Zenario’s feed bin and from that moment he never missed a grain!

“Sometimes the old school tricks are the best.  If I was over there, I probably wouldn’t have done it, but Lance gave it a try and it did the job!”

Mirrors have been shown to help reduce stable anxiety for some horses, with success also reported with some horses that suffer from separation anxiety, although results are mixed.

Zenario is owned by passionate South Australian breeders Danielle Helbers and Paul Arnup and the pacer is both Southern Cross and VicBred eligible. Zenario is the only foal from five-time winner, Kayteeoh Denario (Rocknroll Hanover) who won, remarkably, as a pacer and trotter.

Zenario has now had two wins from five starts to collect both a VicBred bonus and his Southern Cross title.

“Danielle and Paul have been with us since day one and they’ve been terrific, although I haven’t had much luck with their horses until now,” McNaulty said.

“The horses are like their kids – Danielle just loves them.  She’s always telling me to do whatever is right for the horse and not to push them.  They both deserve every success.  We haven’t had much luck with their horses until now. Hopefully we’ll have some more fun with Zenario.

“It was a great drive by Michael (Smith). He drives quite a bit for Danielle and Paul but it was the first time he’d driven for me and it was a great job.

“He’ll go to the paddock now for a good spell. I think he’s a pretty nice horse, so we’ll just look after him and see how he goes next time in.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink