Owners delighted with their winning bonus

By Duane Ranger

A former New Zealand Cup winning owner, and a Jimboomba owner/trainer that conditioned three of the first four home, highlighted last Friday’s card at Albion Park.

Both the Jack Butler-trained Miss Maia and the Karen Bennett-trained Soh Twisted collected a $2,000trotters bonuses for their first win in Queensland, a bonus on offer to help bolster the trotting population in the Sunshine State.

Last year’s winning owner of the prestigious Group One New Zealand Cup (Cruz Bromac), Danny Zavitsanos, also owns Miss Maia, while Bennett owns Soh Twisted with Scott Clark and Celine Dubois.

Both owners were delighted with their respective trotters in the first two races of the meeting.

“It’s a thrill winning any race,” Zavitsanos said.

“I’ve got a 75% share in Cruz Bromac, and that was obviously a career highlight, but it was so heartening to see Miss Maia win first-up in Queensland.

“I own her with my wife, Joanne, and Warren Viney.

“I’ve got too many horses down here in Geelong so I sent the filly up to Jack Butler, whom I had earlier met through Steve Turnbull.

“She’s doing real well up there, she won her trial on May 19 and then 10 days later won her first race there as the $1.75 favourite.

“The bonus added a bit of icing to the cake; Racing Queensland needs to be applauded for that initiative, it makes me want to keep on racing horses up there.”

Miss Maia’s first win in 11 starts was phenomenal, the Majestic Son – Sixty Plus filly led early before breaking on the home turn.

She looked to have lost all hope swinging in but Brendan Barnes got her down again, balanced up, and then like a train thundered past them with 50 metres remaining.

Miss Maia trotted the 1,628m stand off the front in 2:06.1 (mile rate 2:04.6), with sectionals of 31.6, 31.3, 29, and 31.5.

“I’ve had some nice horses race up there over the years like Cruz Bromac, Hes A Bromac, and War Dan Apollo just to name a few, but this win was satisfying because I wasn’t too sure how she would settle in up there,” Zavitsanos said.

“She had her last race at Terang when finishing fourth on March 18, she just got into Queensland before the borders were shut.

“It will be interesting to see where Jack places her next, possibly the Springboard Series which commences on 9 June but that’s up to her trainer.”

Miss Maia was bred by Yorkshire Park Standardbreds, owned and managed by Dennis and Brenda Bice.

As for his star, Cruz Bromac, will he be returning to Albion Park?

“I’d love to bring him up to Queensland and race him in the Blacks A Fake this year, but that all depends if the race is still going ahead and if the border restrictions are lifted,” Zavitsanos said.

Meanwhile, Bennett trained three of the first four home in race two last Friday.

Paul Diebert got Soh Twisted up at $9.10 odds, and the quinella was rounded out when Clint Sneddon got within a head of the winner behind Bourbonontherocks.

Bennett also trained fourth-placed El Swavo, who was driven by her husband, Frank.

“That’s not bad in a seven-horse race, I was delighted with the result because Soh Twisted was the outsider of the four,” Bennett said.

“I didn’t even know about the $2,000 bonus, we got $3,600 for the win and then almost $1,500 for the other two placings - that’s a nice result.

“We are only working four, and a lot of the credit goes to my husband, Frank - it’s a team effort.”

Diebert led all the way with Soh Twisted, trotting the 2,138m stand in 2:44.3 (mile rate 2:03.7).

The six-year-old Yankee Spider – Comet Soho mare’s sectionals were 30.7, 31, 29.3, and 30.9.

It was her first Queensland victory since landing at the Bennett stable from her Tasmanian breeder, John Chapman in November 2018.

“I’m so glad she won because she’s a real dragon and can be a bit nuts,” Bennett said.

“She can be very moody at times; we’ve even had to harness her on the float because she does her best to rock and kick it.

“She’s taken a long time to cotton on to the game, I always thought she was a Redcliffe horse so this win is a pleasant surprise - hopefully she can go on with it now.”