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Craig Demmler is hoping talented pacer My Kiwi Mate will shake off his bridesmaid tag and go to the next level – starting at Tabcorp Melton Park on Saturday night.
The Parwan horseman, who will take the reins behind My Kiwi Mate in The Gammalite, a $20,000 2240M pace for those classified M2 to M4, said he was pleased with the seven-year-old’s close-up fourth to Love Ina Chevy at Melton on August 24 – the gelding’s first run back after an injury-enforced layoff.
“We found he had a chip in (the back fetlock) so had to have an operation,” Demmler said. “He had a little bit of bone damage, so we have to give that a bit of time to settle down and we took our time bringing him up and getting lot of long, strong work into him.
“I was rapt (with his first-up run), especially at Melton where you have to come around wide and make up that ground; on the clock he went super and his work has been really good since. I think he should only get better.”
And he will need to, with Demmler revealing My Kiwi Mate is on the Inter Dominion trail.
“It’s going to get harder – he has got to step up a little bit now. I am pretty lucky to have a horse like him and we have just got to hope that he can take the next step,” he said.
“He has always been a bit of a bridesmaid; probably one of the chinks in his armour is he can switch off when he hits the front so you have got to time your run a bit. But some of his runs when he has been out chasing have been absolutely sensational.”
Demmler – son of legendary horseman Ted Demmler – knows what it takes to compete on the Grand Circuit and says My Kiwi Mate races similar to Breeny’s Fella, who he piloted to the 2000 Victoria Cup and second in the Inter Dominion that same year with his dad as trainer.
“He is sort of like (Breeny’s Fella), just one of those horses that needs to get a good draw, lob in a good position and not have to come wide around,” he said.
“If he can get a nice little run up and not have to do too much work they will know he is there for sure as he has got a powerful sprint.”
GAMMALITE – THE IRON HORSE
My Kiwi Mate lines up in a strong field in The Gammalite, named after the champion Terang pacer who raced 179 times for 94 wins – including the Inter Dominion in 1983 and 1984 – and 52 places.
Gammalite, arguably the toughest standardbred Australasia has seen, often attracted comparisons to Pure Steel; the aptly-named pacer Ted Demmler drove to many hard-as-nail Grand Circuit wins in the 1970s.
Craig Demmler described Gammalite – the first Australasian pacer in history to win more than $1 million in stakemoney – as an “iron horse”.
“I did see (Gammalite) towards the end of his career when he and Poppy (Popular Alm) raced each other and they were great tussles,” Craig said.
“Seeing horses like Gammalite, Pure Steel and Poppy race around those old half-mile tracks, where you used to get people packed up from the fence to the top of the grandstand, was amazing.
“They were great horses to watch and they brought people to the races and that is what we need, we need horses like Lazarus – you can see what he is doing in America – we need horses like that in Australia to bring people to the races.”
