Trish Dunell
Nicky Chilcott's newly found association with Central Otago trainers Geoff and Jude Knight got off to a perfect start on Friday night.
The Cambridge trainer was sent Ferritts Sister to train earlier this year and the daughter of Bettor’s Delight didn’t disappoint when first-up for her new stable, winning the Balle Bros Mobile Pace (2700m) at Alexandra Park.
Chilcott was delighted with the win and is looking forward to continuing a successful association with the Knight’s.
“I was a bit lucky to get her,” Chilcott said. “I went down to be a guest at a meeting at Forbury, which Geoff Knight had organised.
“They were having a ladies evening down there and they asked me to come down and do some guest speaking for them, which I did.
“I didn’t really know him that well and we sort of hit it off and he said he would send me up a horse one day when he had the right one.
“The phone rang a few months ago and he said he had a horse to send me, which was Ferritts Sister.”
It has been a successful start for the partnership and Chilcott is hoping to acquire a few more northern raiders in the future.
“They have actually scaled back their training a wee bit and Geoff has bought a rural delivery run,” she said.
“I spoke with him on Saturday morning and he said there will probably be a few more coming my way, so I look forward to that.”
It was Ferritts Sister’s first run since December, but Chilcott was relatively confident heading into Friday’s contest with her mare.
“I have been really happy with her. Her work has been terrific and she trialled really well at Auckland the week before, but it was only a quiet trial,” she said.
“I thought she was a good chance, but I thought she might be a run short, especially if it turned into a war like a lot of junior driver races do.
“Dylan (Ferguson, driver) drove her well and they didn’t go as hard as what I’d thought they would go.”
Meanwhile, Chilcott picked up a further placing on Friday when Madeakillin ran home well for third in the Primor Produce Trot (2200m).
The three-year-old son of Monkey Bones made a flying start and was positioned nicely three-back on the markers before a tiring Pegasus Hanover pushed him back towards the rear of the field when entering the backstraight for the final time.
He showed his class when picking up the field and running home late to finish third.
Chilcott has a lot of time for the gelding and believes he has a strong future ahead of him once he matures.
“He’s actually a really nice horse. It was good for him to get a wee bit of money and he certainly showed he has got a bit of a future that’s for sure,” she said.
“I was really pleased to see him do everything right and to run on as strong as he did.
“He is still a bit weak, so he probably won’t have many more races (this preparation), then I’ll just freshen him up.
“I am thinking his best years are ahead of him. So what he is showing at the moment is quite exciting.”
Meanwhile, stable runner Phoebe Imperial is on the cusp of making the Gr.1 Harness Jewels 4YO Ruby at Addington next month and Chilcott said his Jewels aspirations are reliant on a good showing at Alexandra Park next week.
“A few results didn’t really go our way last night,” she said. “He went from 10th to 14th, so his task has been made a little bit harder.
“He will go to Auckland next week and if he wins he will definitely get in and then we will go south. If he doesn’t, he is probably going to go for a wee break.
“To be honest, he has probably trained off a little bit. The Jewels has come possibly a couple of weeks too late for us, but we’ll see what happens.
“It’s a very good four-year-old crop this year. We won’t be going in with any illusions that we are going to win it, but it’s great for the owners to be a part of it.
“If he makes it, there are some owners in Australia who are quite keen to come over.” – Cambridge Raceway
