Sunny’s win a bright spot in a bumpy ride

Victorian horsewoman Emily Wombwell is the first to admit she had a bit of ground to make up with her dad Alan on the selection of harness racing bloodstock – but she appears to be righting the ledger with their latest prospect.

Four-year-old gelding Sorriso De Praia (Sunshine Beach) has, by Emily’s admission, been “a big project” for herself and her partner, Charlton trainer Mick Gadsden, but his recent maiden win at Swan Hill justified the couple’s confidence.

“It’s a bit scary that he won that race doing what he did, and running 1.55.7,” Emily said.

“He’s over 17 hands high and still working out what he has to do, but when he learns to pace properly and can put it all together, he’s pretty exciting,” she said.

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Emily said Sorriso De Praia, known around the stable as “Sunny”, had been an impulse buy at the yearling sales – which she initially wondered if she’d regret.

“He was a big, ugly, gangly yearling but there was just something about him. When Mick saw him, he asked me what I’d bought him for?  All I could say was that he looked better in the ring!” she laughed.

“I thought I’d bought another big plough horse – I seem to be attracted to big, slow horses!”

Emily jogged up “Sunny” a couple of times, then took him up to Mick at Charlton as a two-year-old.

“The very first time Mick worked him he came back and told me ‘this is a bloody good horse – it’ll be the best horse you have ever had’!” Emily said.

“I decided to put my dad in as a part-owner, because every time I put him in a horse, they are no good. I’ve just always wanted to race a nice one with him,” she said.

Sorriso De Praia trialed and qualified as a two-year-old, but went to the paddock after some puffiness in his knees and shin soreness, then returned to work again at three.

“From there it was just one thing after another,” Emily said.

Sorriso De Praia injured a flexor tendon just a week before he was due to trial, with the couple electing for plasma treatment on the injury.

“If he hadn’t showed us what he had, we might not have gone that way, but we knew he had the potential there and we had to try to get him right,” Emily said.

“That was in September last year.  He was boxed for six weeks, then it was a long, slow rehab program, beginning with hand-walking.  There were a lot of tears and stress. He’d run around the paddock and every time you’d go out, he’d have done something else.”

Sorriso De Praia ran two impressive trials before his debut at Charlton, which Emily describes as a “tough watch” in an eventful race.

“For a horse with his history, there were some hair-raising moments, but we just put a line through that one.  And there were a few hair-raising moments at Swan Hill, too, but he definitely showed us what he could do.

“Dad’s really unwell in Warrnambool hospital, but he watched the race and I talked to him on the phone straight after.  It was a great pickup for him and hopefully we’ve finally got that nice one together that we always wanted.”

Mick and Emily currently have 18 horses in work at the Charlton Training Centre, including seven race horses, and Mick is enjoying his best start to a season, with nine wins.

“We have gone in pretty big – but Mick’s decisions are paying dividends.  We set our target at three wins a month for the season, and so far, we’re on track,” Emily said.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s great to see the results and exciting to have a nice horse in the stable and that we can enjoy together.”

Hoofnote: “Sunny” has since had another setback – a scan finding another hole in his tendon, separate from the original injury.  He’s had plasma treatment again, and is back in his box, re-commencing the rehab program.

“We are gutted, but positive.  He’s only four, and hopefully time will be his best friend,” Emily said.

From Terry Gange for Harnesslink