Mick Stanley, Wayne Ronan and Bettor Downunder at Ararat after the Renown Silverware Ararat Pacing Cup win.
She has a commanding record but it is fair to say six-year-old mare Bettor Downunder is really only now starting to show her full potential.
The mare notched her 11th win last night in the Group 3 Renown Silverware Ararat Pacing Cup with Michael Stanley in the sulky, and her trainer, Wayne Ronan, is eyeing bigger fish in coming weeks.
A series of mares’ features at Tabcorp Park Melton, unofficially referred to as ‘the mares’ Triple Crown’, culminates in the $100,000 Group 1 Benstud Queen of the Pacific on May 20.
That is Bettor Downunder’s short-term Grand Final.
“She showed against A Piccadilly Princess in January (that she was up with the best mares in the country),” Ronan said after last night’s win around the 811-metre Ararat circuit in a rate of 1:58.8 for the 2195m trip.
“(But) I’ll be honest,” Ronan added. “The way she’s gone this time in, even Michael made the quote last week, if the mare last week turned up to that race he’s certain she would have beaten A Piccadilly Princess.”
“Now, you can sit her up, you pull the plugs and she’ll let go. The last two weeks have shown that with Mick sitting in the death and when he pulls the plugs you see there’s something there.”
Stanley was full of praise for Ronan.
“All credit to Wayne, he’s done a great job with her,” he said.
“The Queen of the Pacific will be her target and she will acquit herself well.
“Tonight we were able to control the race (from the breeze) and I was able to pinch a good break on Milly Perez when we needed to.”
Stanley sent Bettor Downunder to the front approaching the final bend while Milly Perez ran wide to launch her customary final dash from back in the field.
Despite Milly Perez savaging the line, Bettor Downunder had pinched the race-winning break and scored by 1.8m.
“He drove her sensational,” Ronan said of Stanley’s steer. “He burnt them on the bend.”
For Ronan, who trains at Glen Park and whose profession as a chiropractor sees him travelling away from home regularly, the training of Bettor Downunder is a family affair.
“My son Connor, he’s 17, I go to Queensland fortnightly for work so he works the horses while I’m away. It’s great to have confidence where you can say, 'can you work a horse in 3.20 or 4.30' and he’ll be within 0.2 of a second,” he said.
“My daughter Teanna helps out too, so it’s satisfying that it’s a family thing. Dad’s virtually given me the run of the roost with the breeding and what stallions to go to. He’s always saying ‘when are we going to get money out of it?’ Now it’s good to see we’re reaping the rewards. It’s great.”
Bettor Downunder has come a long way since being the mare who would either win by a huge space or break connections’ hearts with misbehaviour bringing her undone.
Ronan says he is thankful Gordon Rothacker Medal recipient Carl O’Dwyer has been able to assist in shoeing Bettor Downunder, which has turned things around.
“She’s a little bit offset in the front knees. When she was hitting the ground she was putting all the pressure on the inside heels, so I took her over to Carl’s and we got her reshod and left the heel off the ground and put a pad under. She seems a lot more comfortable now,” he said.
“I’m glad he took my phone call.”
Ronan is hopeful that Bettor Downunder’s bad luck is well and truly a thing of the past.
“It’s a great thrill. I’m breeding to try and sell horses … and to get her back and get her up and running and showing her true potential is just fantastic.”
Milly Perez finished second, picking up two points in the Trots Country Championship, which left her shy of ladder leader Im Corzin Terror.
It means Im Corzin Terror, from the Dean Braun stable, will pocket the $25,000 Trots Country Cups championship regardless of his finishing position in today’s Warragul Pacing Cup.
Beach Boy Adios finished third from fourth-placed Perspective at Ararat, with local Jivin Cullen in fifth place.
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Cody Winnell (HRV Media/Communications Manager)
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