by Jordyn Bublitz
The father-daughter duo of Derek and Neita Balle have two runners set to take the stage tonight at Cambridge Raceway.
A relatively new partnership, Neita admits she didn’t quite believe her dad when he first offered to train together.
“We were having a laugh a few months ago when I jokingly asked him when we were going into partnership,” she said. “He told me, ‘Whenever you want to,’ and I laughed it off.”
“Three months down the track, he walked into the barn and asked if I wanted to go into a training partnership. I just stood there stunned, I had to go inside and ask Mum if he was being serious!”
With Derek away in Europe for the next eight weeks, Neita has been given sole charge of their Pukekohe barn.
“What feels the best is the trust he has in me, for him to leave me with his horses and the owners. Knowing he can go away and that I’m capable of keeping things going here feels really special.”
The first of their runners to step out this evening will be the dual-gaited Conrad H in the Dunstan Horsefeeds Mobile Pace (7:54 p.m.)
“It was a really bad drive by me last start,” Neita laughed. “I was really happy with him though. He’s drawn awkwardly tonight, but he’s consistent and always runs a good race. He’ll never let you down.”
Best of the night for the Balle team comes in the form of Rewiri Hill, who finds a nice step back in grade after winning three starts ago.
The gelded son of Muscle Hill hits the track for the Mid-Winter Christmas Tickets On Sale Now Trot (8:19 p.m)
“He’s been back out at the beach and that’s where he was when he was going his best for us. We’ve gone back to working him out there, and we’re really happy with him,” she said. “He won three starts ago and has since had some average runs and dropped a couple of points, so he’s found a really suitable race that I can see him winning.”