Trainer back in winner’s circle after 20-year break

Country Victorian hobby trainer Wayne Stebbing has notched up a welcome first win after a 20-year hiatus from harness racing.

Stebbing was rewarded for his patience with consistent square gaiter Aldebaran Selena (Majestic Sun) at Maryborough (Jan 3), the only horse he has trained since returning to racing almost exactly 12 months ago.

“You’ve got to have a bit of luck sometimes and that really looked like the race for her – but we’ve thought that once or twice before,” Stebbing laughed.

“She hadn’t won in four years before that. She went 2:02 as a two-year-old from a standing start when she won the Springboard, which was a listed race in Queensland, but she’s never gone any faster than that since!” he said.

Aldebaran Selena is now a winner of four races, but in 28 starts for Stebbing she has weighed in on numerous occasions without winning. The seven-year-old recorded placings at her previous two starts and was deservedly sent out favorite at Maryborough.

And she never really looked in doubt in the AB Paint Concession Drivers Trot, after burning out of the gate and working to the front in the hands of her regular driver, Leilani Justice.

“I was really the most pleased for Leilani – she’s a lovely person and been a terrific help with the horse.  She really isn’t the easiest thing to drive and the first time we went to the trials she bolted.  All Leilani came back and said was: Do you reckon we could try another bit on her?  She’s as brave as anyone you could find,” Stebbing said.

The Ballan-based trainer has been in and out of the sport over the years, but is now enjoying training Aldebaran Selena as a retirement project with his partner Sue Macko, who also held a driver’s licence many years ago.

“I grew up in Ascot Vale and my parents used to take me to the Showgrounds trots – I started helping out Jack Carter and have been involved on and off ever since.  I’ve had a few long gaps over the journey, just family commitments, the expense and so on. I didn’t get sick of it or anything – life just gets in the way sometimes. But this last gap was 20 years!” he said.

“I got back into it this time when my son Guy asked me one day did I realise that (former trainer) Lance Justice had the property next door to ours.  Lance had always been a bit of a hero of mine, one of many! So we went over and introduced ourselves and we started watching trots a bit more again, especially their horses.

“Then one day Guy said to me why don’t we get one ourselves again?  I’d had cancer and I wasn’t even sure how I’d go sitting in a cart, but he thought we should just buy a cheapie, give it six months and see how I went.

“Fortunately, I’d never let my licence go, but we did have a fair bit of work to do around the property, fixing up the stables and yards and redoing the track, so it took a while and then we started looking for a horse.”

Aldebaran Selena is nicely bred, out of the five-times winner Yankee Sister (Yankee Boy), who is a half sister to Dancing Filly ($425,000) and Cold Sister ($262,000).

“Aldebaran Selena had been 12 months in the paddock when we got her – the owner was clearing out quite a few and she was advertised in the broodmare section but said she hadn’t had even a phone call about her, which I was surprised about,” Stebbing said.

“Her mum’s half-sister Black Mamba Cheval (Fling It) is the mother of Agent Black (Sebastian K) who won the 2yo Gold Bullion (Menangle 2023) and Monterey Lass (Up and Quick) who won the QBred 2yo Final last season.

“The breed seems to be early goers, so we will probably breed from her when she is finished, but for the moment, we’re having fun with her, going to the races, meeting people and just having something that gets you out of bed in the mornings.”

For complete race results, click here.

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink