Richmond hobby horseman Tim Fensom reckons he’s never had much luck on his home track. And that didn’t look like changing soon early in the first race of the Nelson Harness Racing Summer Festival at Richmond Park on Friday.
His five-year-old mare Carrera Kahu was one of three locally-trained runners and soon found herself back at the rear of the field. But she received a great drag into the race and stormed home to win at double figure odds.
Carrera Kahu’s two previous wins had been on grass tracks, and she had been unplaced in all 12 starts on all-weather surfaces.
“She was probably helped a bit when they went hard early up front. She follows speed really well. It was a great result,” declares Tim, who moved from the West Coast about 20 years ago and has been training for the past 10. He and his brother Steven are the “young brigade” on the Richmond harness scene.
“I have had a lot of help from more experienced local trainers like Murray Pash and Kev Musso,” says Tim, who is a service manager with the ECL group in Nelson.
Eighty-year-old Murray had a winner himself at Westport last month with his young pacer Sargent Henry.
It was Tim’s fourth win in 110 starts and he admits not backing his own runner.
“They cost me enough already.”
Post-race celebrations had to go on hold for a few hours as the owner- trainer then assumed his other race day role as part of the crash crew that follows the fields around.
Carrera Kahu was driven by young female junior driver Riley Harrison, and she bookended the card by taking out the 11th race with a runner trained by her bosses John and Jenna Dunn, who had five winners on the day.
There was also success for another Tim – with former Richmond trainer Tim Trathen returning to win with his trotter Nellie Dunloe. She had recorded a winning double at the meeting last year.
In the battle of local government, Tasman Mayor Tim King managed to get the better of Nelson Mayor Nick Smith in Sunday afternoon’s One Mile Mayor’s Race. Nick says the loss cost him a bottle of wine.
For full results see infohorse.hrnz.co.nz/datahrs/results/results.htm
