Te Aroha horsewoman Emma Faber crossed over the Kaimai range to record her first training win at Tauranga on Wednesday, courtesy of Reckoning in the Tauranga Crossing Fashions In The Field November 1st (1400m).
It was the second start for the Echoes Of Heaven four-year-old, having run seventh on debut over 1200m at Ellerslie last month, and Faber was confident of an improved performance.
The gelding had shown plenty of promise at home and at the trials, winning his 1100m heat at Avondale prior to his debut, and Faber was thrilled he was able to realise that potential on raceday, running out a 2-1/4 length victor under jockey Samantha Collett.
“It was very exciting,” Faber said. “He showed plenty and even before his first trial this campaign we knew we had a horse with plenty of ability.
“He has just been quite slow coming to it mentally, he is a bit of a difficult horse to handle and he is still very green.
“Even the race that he won, he still came around the corner on the wrong leg and was looking around. He is going to improve from that quite a lot, that’s the best part of it.”
Hailing from the United Kingdom, Faber had a solid grounding in jumps racing in her homeland before moving to New Zealand.
“I am from the UK and I rode in jumping stables over there before I came here. I came over on a work visa and worked in Takanini for Mark Sullivan,” she said.
“I worked closely with my ex-husband, Mathew Faber, and we did alright back then.”
Faber also had a seven-year stint in Japan, where she specialised in educating young horses.
“I was in Japan for several years breaking-in horses,” she said. “I was up in Hokkaido, in the north of Japan,” she said.
“There were lots of Kiwis and people from England and Ireland up there at the time. They had beautiful facilities, it was a good experience, and the money was very good at the time.”
Back in New Zealand, Faber continued to focus on breaking-in and pre-training, and it wasn’t until last season that she took out her trainer’s licence at the behest of her clients.
“I used to do a lot of breaking-in and pre-training. I have got such a lovely bunch of owners and they all persuaded me to take out my license and take those horses a bit further, so that is how it has all developed,” she said.
“I have got 11 in work at the moment, so I am pretty busy.”
There are a lot of youngsters in Faber’s care and she said there is plenty of potential among them.
“Everything that I started off were mainly two-year-olds that we had just broken in,” she said. “I think a few of them have got ability, but it is just a time thing with young horses.
“Bellavinsky that I raced yesterday, I do think a lot of her, she is just still a little bit weak, but I think she will be a nice filly in the autumn.”
Faber is particularly upbeat about the prospects of Reckoning but she has yet to decide what his next step will be.
“There are no definite plans as yet, we will see how he pulls up and then have a good look,” she said. “Whether we think he has to step up to 1600 or if he is better staying at 1400m for the minute. We will then have a look around and see what there is for him.”