By Michael Guerin
A horse who started the season a maiden almost cost trainer Tim Trathen his voice in the richest race at Addington on Friday night.
Nellie Doyle has gone from maidens to winner of the $52,500 Future Wealth Sires’ Stakes Classic in the space of three months and 1 day, giving Trathen the richest win of his training career.
“I haven’t yelled that loud in a while,” says the West Melton trainer.
“We won the Invercargill Cup with Dadndave a few years ago but it wasn’t worth as much as this so this is a huge thrill.
“Blair drove her beautiful and she won with the plugs still in.”
While Trathen trains Nellie Doyle he says plenty of credit needs to go to former trainer Kim Nyhan.
“Kim had her for a long time and broke her in and did a wonderful job with her.
“She had her on a lease but broke her wrist so asked me to take her and then she started to show us a bit and I had a few mates who wanted in on a nice horse.
“So we managed to buy her and Kim got looked after and so we owe her for doing such a good job with her manners.”
Trathen took Nellie Doyle back to his old stomping ground of Nelson at the start of the year and she won both days and he hasn’t been scared to travel her to gain experience, popping over to the West Coast a few starts ago.
With each trip, each race, she has learned and got better and judging by the quality of horse she beat last night at just her 13th start she will edge her way closer to the highest grades as 2025 progresses.
The win will have been popular in the Addington stabling block, Trathen well-liked and known by everybody.
When Nellie Doyle is eventually retired she has some breeding to back up her broodmare credentials, being out of five-race winner Perfect For Now, herself out of the high-class mare Look, from the famous Smith/Doyle/Pope family breed.
While it was the richest win of Trathen’s career it was just another night of big-race domination from Orange.
His Nellie Doyle drive was perfect but his win earlier on General Jen required even more tatctical nous as he went from possibly being trapped three back at the bell to racing to the lead and in the process trapping key rivals Captain Mistress three back in a brilliantly aware piece of driving.
General Jen ended up being way too good in the $42,500 Magness Benrow Semi Final and she may have earned herself a crack at the Northern Oaks while Captains Mistress should remain on that path as she lost no fans in second.
In between those two drives Orange produced a no-panic response when trapped parked on a hot speed to still eventually get Vessem home a narrow winner of the main pace.
The 1980m mobile was turned into a 1:55 mile rate way by Beach Ball and Nathan Williamson, with the last 800m in 58.4 but final 400m in 30.2 telling the story of a great spectacle
