By Jonny Turner
Sally Lindenny staked her claim as being the bargain buy of the spring and summer with her victory in the feature trot on Riverton Cup Day.
Yesterday, the trotter made it win number four for trainer-driver Kirstin Green when bagging yet another win on a grass track.
The mare has either been in the first three placings, or she has galloped out of contention in her 15 starts since joining the Green stable in September.
Sally Lindenny could have added another mistake to her ledger in the Aparima Handicap Trot, but instead her manners allowed her to bank another cheque for owner Murray Swain.
“She just loves the grass, and when she misses away it’s always when there are horses in front of her,” Green said.
“She just gets a bit claustrophobic, and today she did the same; she bounded out but then just came down trotting and away she went.”
“She was really good.”
Swain purchased Sally Lindenny on the standardbred.gavelhouse.com platform after she had campaigned in Canterbury for several seasons.
Swain wanted a prospective broodmare and he raced the trotter from Green’s stable in the hope she could win enough to pay her breeding costs.
But Sally Lindenny has exceeded those expectations by returning more than ten times her purchase price of $3000.
“It is amazing actually, I wasn’t expecting it,” Swain said.
“I thought we could maybe win a race to pay her service fee and because that’s what I bought her for – to breed her.”
Swain has trained plenty of winners in his own right, but these days he is more than happy to take a backseat by helping out behind the scenes at the Green stable.
“Kirstin went away on holiday and needed somebody to look after the team, so instead of dispersing them out, a mate told me to come down.”
“I came down and gave her a hand and quite enjoyed it.”
“I had a bit of a spell for a while, but I sort of haven’t left, really.”
Got You Covered took top honours as the Riverton Cup returned to the Riverton Racecourse on Sunday.
The pacer made a good beginning for fill-in driver Brent Barclay, who soon found the lead in the 2800m staying test.
Barclay didn’t have to ask Got You Covered for a serious effort as he ran to a deserved win for trainers Brent and Tim White.
