“Ted” comes up trumps in surprise win

An educational trip to the races surprised everyone when late blooming trotter Teds Secret scored at his racing debut at Kilmore last week.

The four-year-old son of US sire Crazed has been on the market in recent months and scored at the generous odds of 20-1 at his first attempt.

Trainer-driver Donna Castles said circumstances did seem to be stacked against Teds Secret at Kilmore, but “he just kept trotting”!

“We actually were only taking him to the races for learning. He’s been with us since he was a yearling, when we broke him in and he’s really only been off the place to go to the trials at Shepparton,” Castles said.

“So this was his first big trip away and we just wanted to go and open him up to the big wide world. But it was a terribly wet night, he hadn’t been behind a mobile barrier at all in this preparation and we’d drawn the extreme outside.

“We just wanted him to do everything right and have a good learning experience, so to get the win, we were absolutely chuffed.”

Castles said aside from a heavily rain-affected track, the pre-race plans really didn’t pan out.

“The idea was to get across and get a bit of cover because that’s how he works best at home. So I went forward, but I didn’t plan to get caught wide and then have to work into the death. My excuse is that I didn’t want to get muddy!” she laughed.

“So once we got outside the leader, I wasn’t really wanting to put any pressure on, and I tried to just let him sit and relax. They just went along quietly and he settled and travelled nicely, then up the straight I was just hoping we could just hold on.”

Teds Secret (Crazed – Secret Message (Safely Kept) showed good maturity to prevail by just a half head in a ding-dong slog to the line with Ragna Thor, driven by John Caldow.

“I wasn’t really sure if he could finish it off because Ted’s not known for his strength! If he’s tucked in behind, he has got a terrific turn of foot, but he hasn’t shown us he is overly strong,” Castles said.

“But he did a great job under the circumstances the other night, so there might be a bit more in him yet than he’s shown us,” she said.

“He’s a nice horse to have around, but he’s been a long work in progress. He’s always been tall and overgrown, and he’s been inclined to get a bit worked up about things.

“It was actually good I think to get him away to somewhere he didn’t know. He was worried about everything else that was going on around him, but once he got on the track I think he was relieved that he knew what to do.”

Castles said the Hutton family, who own Teds Secret, had been advertising him for sale.

“They have a broodmare, a foal, a two-year-old and this horse and limited space to keep them, so the decision was made to try to sell him,” Castles said.

“But when there wasn’t any genuine interest, we decided to take him to the races and he surprised us all. His half-brother Dark Secret (15 wins) was a nice horse for us and is doing a great job in Western Australia, so I’m not sure whether their plans will change now.”

By Terry Gange for Harnesslink