Lynda German has been a familiar figure in harness racing industry for much of the past two decades, but she went back to her thoroughbred roots at Ellerslie on Saturday, securing her first winner as a trainer with Steely Man (NZ) (Embellish).
In his first racing preparation, Steely Man has been a model of consistency running into the placings in each of his first three starts, including a close-up third to Risque Ruler at Ellerslie on Melbourne Cup Day.
Matt Cartwright retained the ride on the $3 favourite and settled him quietly into midfield and one off the fence, while plenty of horses were racing fiercely behind a slow tempo. Turning for home, Cartwright manoeuvred through the field and found clear air near the inside, and in a competitive four-way charge to the line, Steely Man came out on top by a neck to Pennine Way.
German was thrilled with the result, particularly to have done so at the iconic Auckland venue.
“We were absolutely rapt,” she said.
“It was really good, Matt didn’t want to burn him early so he took a really nice position and he got caught in the middle a bit, so he did really well to hold on long enough and sprint home.
“Ellerslie have done a fabulous job, we were very fortunate that while they were conditioning the track and holding a lot of jump-outs, we were able to take him there and have a great preparation.”
Based in Clevedon with her long-term partner and multiple Group One-winning harness trainer John Dickie, German has had plenty of involvement with the standardbreds, but her first venture into the racing industry came through the gallopers.
“I’ve worked with thoroughbreds right from when I was at school, I was an apprentice jockey many years ago and I’ve continued to work with horses the whole way through,” German said.
“I’ve worked for people like Tony Pike, Graham Thomas and Murray Baker over the years. I got involved with harness when I met John, which was 18 years ago, but I continued to ride work for Murray right up to when we moved to Clevedon, which was about 11 years ago.”
After training thoroughbreds in her own right intermittently since the 2009/10 term, German and Dickie headed to the Karaka National Weanling Sales in 2021, with their sights set on purchasing the son of Embellish, who was offered for sale by Cambridge Stud.
“John purchased him from the weanling sales and that was the first year that progeny of Embellish were offered, so he thought he was going to get him for a nice price,” German said.
“Somebody else wanted him too, so instead of $6000, he went to $20,000, but we’re just happy to have him.
“We have had to wait quite a long time for him because he was pretty immature, so it was extremely satisfying to get this win. I’ve had quite a few thoroughbreds and basically it’s my hobby, I just do them before work in the morning.
“I’ve had a couple of nice ones that I’ve sold on, but he’s the first one that has been quite consistent in his performance.
“We’ll continue to race him through the summer, there’s so many races at Ellerslie to choose from so it’ll either be on Boxing Day or New Year’s Day. Our intentions have always been to step him up over ground, but he’s showing that he’s got plenty of speed at a mile, so whether we step up now or keep going over a mile for little bit, we’ll see.
“As soon as we purchased him, he went in a paddock with two weanling standardbreds. It’s so interesting, those three horses are still mates today, they’ve gone on slightly different journeys but it’s cool that all three have been winners, and look like they will continue on.”
The pair returned to the Weanling Sales in June this year and were pleased to secure a filly by Sword Of State, out of a Turn Me Loose mare Lady Of Jewels. Herself unraced, Lady Of Jewels is a daughter of Alcaldesa, who won the Listed Wanganui Guineas (1200m) for co-breeder Tony Bambry.
