At odds of 70-1, Young Diva was a clear outsider for last Friday’s DPA Chartered Accountants (1400m) at Taupo, but as trainer Allan Wright said, she didn’t know that.
The five-year-old mare had been unplaced in her previous nine outings and was out of favour with punters after producing a last placed performance at Matamata a week prior.
However, Wright said her last start performance was better than it looked, which was reinforced by her winning display at Taupo.
The daughter of Turn Me Loose was the best away from the gates and was taken straight to the front by jockey Jasmine Fawcett, where they dictated terms throughout and ran out a half-length victor.
While many were surprised by the result, Wright was not.
“It wasn’t a real surprise,” he said. “Lynsey Satherley rode her at Matamata the week before and couldn’t get a run. She reckons she would have run in the first five there.
“She has had bad draws and bad luck. If you look at her first five runs, they were reasonable runs.
“It was great to get that win with her. Any win is a good win.”
Young Diva has had a quiet weekend following her win and Wright said he is yet to decide what her next assignment will be.
“She is a light-framed horse, so we will space her races after backing her up like that. We don’t have any set plans with her as yet,” he said.
A dry stock farmer, horses and racing have always been a passion for Wright, who inherited the racing bug off his father.
“My father trained Silver Bay and Token Bay, they made open-class, but I prefer training maidens, it is cheap racing and good fun,” Wright said.
While scrolling through gavelhouse.com two years ago, Wright saw Young Diva, who was being sold as a broodmare prospect but he thought she fitted the bill as a project horse for him and he went to $200 to secure her.
“She is a well-bred filly and we like to try the horses that are slower maturing. She is a five-year-old now and it has just taken time,” he said.
“I just like getting a horse and bringing them through. When you get a win, it makes you feel good.”
Wright said he only ever has a couple of horses in work, with the majority of their work undertaken around the farm, with Wright using them as his primary choice of transport when doing stock work.
“They are our motorbikes, and we use them as farm hacks,” he said. “If they show anything we carry on racing them.”
