By Mike Love
Wavewatcher’s fourth win brought up milestone win number 50 or Oamaru trainer Eion Latimer at Phar Lap Raceway in Timaru yesterday.
“It took me twelve months to get it! The voice was a bit sore,” said Latimer.
The five-year-old Downbytheseaside gelding Wavewatcher and driver Olivia Thornley were able to secure the trail for the entire trip behind race favourite McKendrick before executing the passing lane to full effect, wearing down McKendrick to win by half a head at the line with a four-length margin back to Betterthanbabe in third.
“We’ve struck some bad tracks lately. He just can’t go when it’s wet. We put a hood on him to wake him up a bit.”
Wavewatcher has been a long-term project, being somewhat of a rogue in his earlier years.
“Robbie Holmes broke him in and I got him back as a three-year-old.
“He was a bit of a handful but he’s really matured a lot recently. He raced as a two-year-old then got hurt.”
Raced by Eion and his daughter Jacqui, Wavewatcher has always shown a lot of ability and the win provided a very satisfactory moment for the Latimer family.
“We hardly work him. We race on a weekend, take two days off and just jog the rest.
“In one of his earlier starts for me we ran fourth behind We Walk By Faith at Oamaru and set a track record.”
“We will go to Oamaru next on the 19th.”
Latimer has held a trainer’s licence since 1985 with a few years away between 1995 and 2000, with usually a small team.
His most memorable moment to date was with war horse Motu Speedy Star’s victories in the 2011 Waimate Cup and the 2012 Kurow Cup.
“The Waimate Cup was especially good because he paid $100! He only paid $50 when we won the Kurow Cup,” laughed Latimer.
Motu Speedy Star won 10 races under the guidance of Latimer.
Latimer trains from his Oamaru base just next to the Oamaru Racecourse with daughter Jacqui keeping a close eye on things.
“Jacqui does all the feeding up and ground work. On race day she gears them all up and I just sit back and watch.
“Her and I go to Australia every year for the Miracle Mile.”
Thornley’s victory with Wavewatcher brought her driving win total to 99.
Meanwhile, Hadron Collider provided an emphatic victory in the Tyre General Timaru Summer Cup for Amanda and Hayden Cullen, capping off a successful weekend for the training pair.
Earlier in the day, Samantha Ottley had a story to tell when she was tipped out of Zoom X after 100 metres in race 7, the Empire Hotel Social Club Handicap Pace. Soon after the start, Clonakilty galloped, veering sideways into Ottley, who was subsequently tipped out. The race was called off, then rerun with Ottley and Zoom X going on to win from Clonakilty and Carter Dalgety, who dead-heated for second with Riptide.
Jonny Cox, who caught the loose Zoom X after the first attempt, also had a very successful day, driving and training two winners – the promising trotter Prestigious winning the first, and Ideal Conqueror going back to back for Cox at just his third start for the barn.