THE MILESTONE
Off the back of the most successful season in his career, trainer Graham Dwyer is on track to break that figure as the half-way point of season 2021 approaches.
After finishing the extended 2019/20 season with 70 winners, Dwyer currently sits in fourth position in the Queensland rankings with 40 wins.
That number received a strong boost at Redcliffe last Wednesday, when Dwyer prepared a quartet of winners for the first time in his career.
The first winner of the night came in the opening race when Shes Miss Devine, driven by Nathan Dawson, powered home to claim the fifth win of her career, making it four wins from her eight starts this season.
Dwyer’s second win came in race three when Gottahaveahobbie with Brendan Barnes at the controls used the passing lane to claim her second win in four starts since joining the Dwyer stable.
Themidnightrambler, another recent addition to Dwyer’s Kingslodge stables, was the third leg of the evening, Nathan Dawson again the winning driver in an all-the-way victory.
Sent north from the stables of Bathurst’s Greg Rue, Themidnightrambler has now claimed four victories in six starts since arriving in the Sunshine State.
The final win of the quartet came in the final race of the night when Ima Chick Magnet broke through for the first win of his career when scoring in a two-year-old maiden event.
A son of Changeover, Ima Chick Magnet also picked up the $12,000 QBRED first win bonus and now heads to the heats of the Redcliffe Sales Series later this month.
The continued strength of results from the Kingslodge team has seen Dwyer currently sit in the top 20 trainers Australia-wide.
Photo: Ima Chick Magnet salutes at Redcliffe Paceway on June 2, 2021.
THE WILDCARD
Mark McNee, trainer of Lifes Black, was told in April 2020 that his talented pacer was finished, and that retirement was the best course of action.
Succumbing to a serious injury where the tendon had come away from the bone in a foreleg, it was suggested that the gelding be rehabilitated and be rehomed for a life after racing.
At that stage of his career, Lifes Black had won 12 races and was a Redcliffe track record holder, breaking one of the longest standing track records at Redcliffe.
In July 2019, Lifes Black carved out a 1.55.9 mile-rate for three-year-olds over the 1780-metre win, eclipsing the previous best of 1.56.2 which had been set by Corelli back in 2005.
Although time has since been bettered by Crunch Time, Lifes Black is still the holder of the 2280-metre stand start record for three-year-olds and a testament to his versatility.
That record was set just two weeks prior to his 1780-metre record when overcoming a 20-metre handicap in scoring a smart win, Hayden Barnes taking the drive on both occasions.
Fast forward to 2020 after receiving the bad news and taking time to digest the fate, McNee convinced owners Paul Galvin and Steve Mauger to attempt a return to the track.
In an intensive regime, Lifes Black had three months in a box with daily icing and a poultice applied to his leg.
After the first six weeks and two scans that showed good improvement, McNee was then able to start swimming as an addition to the daily icing and poulticing.
As time passed, Lifes Black was getting stronger and the prognosis was growing ever more positive, with monthly scans improving every month until vet Mark McGarry gave the clearance for the gelding to make a full return.
After countless hours in the rehabilitation of Lifes Black, the four-year-old returned to the track in late 2020 and after four unplaced runs, was sent for a spell.
Returning in March, the son of Bettors Delight defied the advice almost 12 months to the day of his original injury sustained in a Redcliffe race victory when scoring a comeback win.
On Sunday June 6, Lifes Black scored his second win of the season, when leading throughout over the 1780 metres at Redcliffe, the win also attracting a QBRED cash bonus.