By Joshua Smith, Harness News Desk
With a 14-strong team in at Alexandra Park on Thursday night Amanda Telfer was optimistic of recording her first New Zealand training win and that proved to be the case, bagging a double.
“We had a few nice chances tonight and it proved that way, which was good,” said Telfer, who trains in partnership with her brother Steve.
Three-year-old filly Cloudy Bay pleased when finishing runner-up on debut at Alexandra Park last week and returned to the Auckland track to go one better in the Breckon Farms Supports The Breeders Mobile Pace (2200m), posting Telfer’s first win.
“It’s good to get the first cab off the rank,” Telfer said.
“She went good last week. She just got pipped by the stablemate. We thought that she could lead again and prove to be hard to beat, so it worked out really good.
“She went well. She is going to get better with racing. She is just lacking that high speed.”
Telfer said she was pleased to bring up her maiden win in New Zealand with the daughter of Bettor’s Delight.
“She is one of my favourites, I work her all the time,” she said.
Telfer’s time in the winner’s circle was not over for the night, returning just two races later when Mimi E Coco took out the Betavet Proud Sponsors Of The Standardbred Breeders Mobile Pace (1700m) by two lengths.
“She went really well,” Telfer said. “She had been trialling great and we were really happy with her and we thought she was going to be very hard to beat.”
Telfer was also pleased with Triple Eight’s third-placing behind Copy That in the Dunstan Speedfeed Mobile Pace (1700m).
“Triple Eight is a very nice horse, he went well tonight,” Telfer said.
“He had only had one quiet trial before tonight and they went a quick time and he ran on well.
“He will head towards the New Zealand Cup (Gr.1, 3200m).”
While Thursday was a special moment in Telfer’s career, it’s not her first foray into training.
“I trained in South Australia in my own right a few years ago,” she said. “But I have been over here in New Zealand for six and a half years now.”
While Telfer enjoyed her time in the winner’s circle at Alexandra Park, she is hoping to be a frequent visitor to Addington Raceway’s one in the coming months.
“I will be heading south soon with a team of five or six for a while until the Cup,” she said. “I am going to be spending a lot of time down there.”
