Father and son duo crack the ton at Cambridge

Pukekohe harness racing trainers Peter and Vaughan Blanchard joined an exclusive club at tonight’s Cambridge Raceway meeting as one of only a handful of father and son duos to crack the 100 training win milestone.

The pair got to 99 wins at The Race by Grins night a fortnight earlier and weren’t stranded there for long, notching the ton in just the second race on the card with the impressive debutant, Always B Stunning (Always B Miki).

The three-year-old filly hadn’t been sighted in public since July last year until two impressive trials earlier in the month, which obviously caught the interest of followers with the daughter of Always B Miki being sent out the punters elect.

It was far from an easy watch for favourite backers as Always B Stunning showed a bit of greenness when scoring up a little tardy behind the mobile for Peter Ferguson from her barrier number two. She settled nicely into the running line before being hooked out to go and look for the chair but was then forced to sit the last lap three wide without cover.

“It was a bit of an awkward position to be in, but she relaxed out there and showed a bit of guts,” said Vaughan Blanchard.

That she did. Ferguson sat patiently and only pulled the hood 150m from home but his charge found a kick and reeled in the leader to see out a somewhat remarkable debut victory.

ALWAYS B STUNNING REPLAY

“It was very impressive tonight. She is just a moderate trackworker who seems to really thrive when she goes to the trials and races. You never like to put labels on them but if she keeps improving, I think she will win a few races and the connections will have a bit of fun,” said Blanchard.

“She is a homebred, the breeders usually put them through the sales, but they retained this filly after she passed in and gave her to us as a yearling to try. She has always shown a little bit and every preparation she has gotten a little bit better. She has probably been a bit weak physically and mentally, but I feel like she is starting to develop in both of those areas,” he said.

Always B Stunning was bred by Janet Champion, Alan Nicolson and Barabara Irmonger from the six win Art Major mare, Simply Stunning. The first two foals from the mare were both by American Ideal and have proven to be well above average.

First foal, Simply Shaz, is a five-year-old mare who was a G2 winner at Gloucester Park last month and has won 14 races in her career to date. Her younger brother, Simply Sam, has won six races for Ray Green and the four-year-old gelding is on the verge of mixing it in the Open Class.

The apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree in the latest instance and the connections will be feeling rather good about having a daughter showing similar traits so early in her career.

For Vaughan Blanchard, it’s a similar scenario of the apple not falling far from the tree. His father, Peter Blanchard, is one of just 51 trainers to have achieved the 500-win milestone over a career spanning the last 40+ years.

Racing has been in his blood as long as the 35-year-old has been alive.

“It was very special to get the 100 wins tonight. It’s a real team effort from everyone involved like my wife Amy, my mum, Karen, and my little brother Kyle. We were hopeful we would get the milestone tonight and it was a big thrill to do it in partnership with Dad,” he said.

The training partnership didn’t have to wait long to start their pursuit of the second hundred and came with a couple of lengths of achieving win 101 in race four when Miki Noel was a nice second from a second-row barrier draw in the hands of young Monika Ranger.

Two races later however, the bonny trotting mare, Majestic Ruby (Majestic Son), showed off a touch of class coming from well back on the marker pegs to win her second race in succession and third in just six race day starts.

MAJESTIC RUBY REPLAY

“We purchased her from Bruce Wallace in the South Island, so I have to give him credit for getting her going and developing her early. We have just taken our time with her; she had a few quirks that we have ironed out and we really like her.

“I don’t know where she is going to end up, but we are having a lot of fun racing her and I think she has a bit of a future,” he said.

For complete Cambridge race fields, click here.

by Brad Reid, for Harnesslink