Haley Robyn wins her first race

A handy draw made all the difference to diminutive harness racing filly Haley Robyn. She lead all the way and went down to the line to win her first race at Ascot Park today.

The Sportswriter filly debuted for Ross Wilson and son Chris at the end of last month and after sitting parked finished fourth in that one. But a better draw today gave driver Craig Ferguson the licence to head to the front, and there she stayed, beating Booties Delight by a length and a half.

Haley Robyn warming up for Craig Ferguson

“The other day she tried to get the lead and had to sit parked, and they went quite quick. She’s a nice filly and when she got her own way in front today, I knew she’d take a bit of knocking over,” Ross said.

Haley Robyn going down to the finish line

Returning to the birdcage

Haley Robyn is out of the Somebeachsomewhere mare Von Haley.

“She was terrible. The worst horse I’ve ever had. I spent two years trying to stop her kicking the hopples off and I had to give up in the finish. It was only the fact that I’d spent $12,000 on the service fee that I thought I’d breed a foal out of her, and Haley Robyn is her first foal. You’d swear this filly’s out of something else because she’s a lovely genuine filly.”

Ross shares in the ownership of Haley Robyn with his son Rob, Rob’s wife Haley, Ross’s daughter Monica and her husband Ben.

It’s NZ Cup time, and the Wilsons will travel north with Robyns Playboy on Tuesday for the $600,000 Group One New Zealand Trotting Club. The training partnership is more than happy with the gelding’s condition.

“We worked him this morning and he’s on top of his game. He’s kicking and bucking and we’re looking forward to having a go on Tuesday. We’ll need a bit of luck to be in the first few but it’s going to be fun being there.”

Robyns Playboy ran tenth in last years Cup and Wilson says the horse is in better shape this year.

“Last year he’d had a few more starts and this year he’s only had three starts and I feel he’s still on the way up.”

In what some would see as an unusual move Wilson will travel to Christchurch on the morning of the Addington feature.

“He’s a bit of a bugger as he doesn’t eat or drink when he’s away from home, so we’ll go up on the day. I did that when we went to Christchurch the last time and we left him in some cattle yards at Lincoln for a couple of hours, then carried on to the races.”

Wilson says this will by Robyns Playboys last start in New Zealand as he’ll head to Australia after Tuesday’s race where he’ll be trained by KerryAnne Morris.

“I’ll still own him, and they’ve got him entered for the Interdominions. At my age, the travelling from down here is a bit hard. KerryAnne and Robbie have had horses of ours before and Robbie’s (KerryAnne’s husband) been trying to get him for a couple of years. He’s finally sealed the deal. It’ll be a sad day when he goes because he’s been the best horse I’ve ever had.”

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by Bruce Stewart