By Michael Guerin
Steve Telfer knows one of the hottest runs in New Zealand racing history has to end soon. But that may not be tonight.
Telfer and his sister Amanda trained a staggering 18 winners harness racing winners in a 10-day space up to last Sunday, more winners than a lot of successful stables train in an entire season.
It is possible an equine stable has put up similar numbers before, maybe on a circuit dominated by one trainer, but good luck trying to find it.
The blitz saw them go from 21 behind premiership leader Michael House to now only being two behind him, following the stable’s win with Secrets Abound at Cambridge last night.
That also saw them shorted from $3.50 to $1.15 to win the premiership, which officially ends on December 31 but might be over well before then the way the Telfer Tornado is going.
Telfer almost laughs when thinking about the winning run, which looks set to continue to Alexandra Park and Addington tonight.
“Things have really fallen into place,” he says.
“We had quite a few horses down in the grades who are very talented and they are coming back now and showing their worth.
“We deliberately put some horses aside earlier in the year to bring back at this stage of the season and many of them are on quite low ratings and should be able to race through the winter.
“We have good numbers, the Christchurch barn is operating well and the horses are being driven well.
“That and with good staff and the incredible investment Stocky [Stonewall Stud owner Steve Stockman] puts in we are in a great position.”
Telfer knows the roll can’t continue forever but likes his chances in the first two races at Alexandra Park tonight.
“I think Debrief (R1, No 6) might have too much speed for most of the horses he is racing tonight,” he offers.
“We actually really like him and think he has quite a few wins left in him.
“We have a really good hand in Race 2 where Sweet Maggie Mae is the better of our two but she might be driven conservatively this time because she was sent forward to lead last start and we don’t want to do that with her every start.
“She might still win but with that in mind Beachbreak could get an easier run and be hard to beat.”
Melody Banner faces a wide draw in Race 3, one of the more competitive races on the shortened Alexandra Park card while Always B Magic can win Race 6 albeit again her draw not aiding her chances.
The Telfers also have a strong team in at Addington where Steve nominates Captain Christian (R10, No 10) at their best chance just over Akatea (Race 7).
As for the premiership and Team Telfer’s chances of winning a second trainer’s premiership.
“It has been discussed,” he enthuses.
“It is always one of the aims at the start of the season and last year I think we lost it in winter when the Dunns had a tremendous run, something close to what we have had lately.
“But we have a bit more firepower this winter and if it gets close later in the season we will make it a priority.”