He savoured wins at last week’s Bendigo meeting and also at Ballarat.
The Girgarre horseman produced consistent veteran trotting mare Montana Muscle for her eighth career win in Bendigo, which took her career stake earnings over $50 000.
Stanhope reinsman Mark Pitt drove the Down Under Muscles mare for the first time and gave it every chance with a top drive.
Montana Muscle is a veteran of 102 starts which have produced eight wins, 13 seconds and 13 thirds, so been a consistent money earner for her owners Brian and Leanne Crilly and the trainer.
These owners celebrated another win at the Ballarat meeting the following night when their trotter Kamaran gave a bold front-running display for legendary trainer Peter Manning and his record-breaking reinswoman daughter Kerryn.
A seven-year-old gelding by Red Samurai, Kamaran posted a PB 2.00.9 mile rate for the 2200m trip in recording his fourth win from 28 starts and is just starting to find top form.
Montana Muscle and the retired Bicardi Wood, who won 12 races are half sister and half brother respectively of Kamaran, all being out of the six time winning Wagon Apollo mare Madiska.
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Old-timers who love the trotter would have raised their eyebrows when watching or reading the results from last week’s Bendigo trots meeting.
A winner on the program was a 40/1 shot called Saint Eyes, a six-year-old Im Stately trotter trained and driven by Merrigum horseman Neil Caldwell.
Saint Eyes was having only his tenth start for Caldwell, who owns the trotter, and his 26th career start, which had produced one win and three thirds before the Bendigo race.
The Caldwell name in harness racing in the Kyabram and Goulburn Valley areas dates back decades.
Neil’s grandfather Vic and father Arthur trained trotters and pacers who had metropolitan success through the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
His brothers Rob and Greg carried on the family tradition of being involved in the industry as trainers.
Arthur, a ruckman, was a champion footballer who won five best-and-fairest awards with Kyabram in the late 1940s and early 1950s and is a member of club’s Hall Of Fame.
Greg died suddenly late last year, and always had a competitive pacer or trotter in his Kyabram stable.
Neil works a small team of trotters these days to carry on the family tradition and is hoping there are more moments like what he experienced at Bendigo last week when Saint Eyes beat the favourite Waikare Adrienna in a tight finish.
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