‘Rowdy’ races into breeding record books

Easygoing Victorian harness racing horseman Chris Svanosio is confident he’s unravelled the key to success with pacer Letsgetrowdy (Mel Mara) who last week wrote himself into the record books.

The three-year-old was not only the toast of a big group of owners, but also the Northern Rivers Equine Veterinary Clinic and Llowalong Farms at Kyabram for being the first winner on Australian soil for sire Mel Mara, who stands at Llowalong.

“He did a really good job. His manners were perfect so hopefully we’re now on the right track,” Svanosio said.

The pacer took out the Maryborough Highland Society 3yo Maiden Pace at Maryborough (Jan 15).  Letsgetrowdy was allowed to settle from his barrier two draw, finding the one-one sweet seat and powering to the line from the 400-metre mark to score by 2.5 metres.

For complete race results of the meeting, click here.

Svanosio, based at Romsey, north of Melbourne, said “Rowdy” had taken a bit of time to sort out and two recent gear changes had made a huge difference.

“He’s only a little fella, but I always thought he’d be okay in the end. The major problem was he was always on one rein and you couldn’t give him his head.”

But persistence won out eventually when Svanosio fitted a jaw breaker as well as a lugging pole on the inside.

“I had Emmett (Brosnan) drive him for me at the Geelong trials and he said he couldn’t let go of the left rein. I then drove him at Bendigo and after starting from the pole position, he just wanted to bore off the track really bad,” Svanosio said.

“It was a relief that he went so well to win at Maryborough. One of our main owners in Clare Payne races the horse along with a lot of her friends. I was so rapt they turned up to see the victory after such an inglorious effort the previous start!

“Young Ben Xiriha, who is with us for a few days a week, has been working with the horse so he certainly deserves a lot of credit.”

Svanosio has now driven 691 winners since debuting in the early 2000s, and after moving into training in 2008, has prepared 392 wins.

“We are training about 19 at the moment – with a few standing in the paddock waiting to come back in!” he said.

Mel Mara is a tall and strong stallion who became a millionaire racehorse in a career defined by soundness. His extreme speed was evident right from his juvenile days clocking a 25-second final quarter to record his maiden victory at just his third start as a two-year-old.

Mel Mara had 104 starts in a seven-season career for 26 wins. He defeated some of the North American superstars of the time, including Always B Miki ($2.7M), McWicked ($5.1M), Sweet Lou ($3.4M) and Foiled Again ($7.3M).

Any breeders wanting more information should call Grant Campbell at Llowalong Farms on 03 5852 2845.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink