Ruby rolls them at Gore

Waikana harness racing trainer Kirsty Adams admits Quercus Rubra (Superfast Stuart) has been a bit of a handful, but all was forgiven today when the four year old trotting mare won her first race at Gore.

“We just roll with Ruby as she’s known at home and let her make her own rules. You can’t work her in the cart because she’s a bit feisty. She works on the lead, and we just keep her happy basically,” Adams said.

She says Quercus Rubra wasn’t always a handful.

“Something switched inside her head and she decided she knew what racing was. She took off on me a couple of times before she raced at Winton when she was fifteen lengths in front of everybody so from then on we decided we’d stay away from the cart and just put it on on race day.”

Quercus Rubra was at the Winton trials on Friday after having made a bit of a mess of things at the Wairio meeting where she broke and was stood down.

“I gave her a nice quiet jog yesterday and she was primed for today.”

Adams says Gore horseman Brian Norman has played a major part in getting the trotter educated.

“He growls at her and has taught her to keep her mind on the job. She knows where every gate on the racetrack is.”

Adams is the junior vice president of the Gore Club and fits in training her horses around a full-time job driving milk tankers for Fonterra.

“The win was a great thrill. It still hasn’t sunk in. To win on your home track with a horse you’ve bred, owned and trained, it’s amazing. A big thanks to mum Gaynor (McClymont) and daughter Emma (Adams). Emma takes her to the races when I’m working.”

Quercus Rubra who was handled by Sam Ottley today, is named after the Northern Red Oak, a tree that’s a native of North America.

“Her mother is Oak and I’m following the family tradition that my grandfather Lionel Given and Mum set, that the horses carry the botanical tree names.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink