Young Victorian horseman Zac Steenhuis probably couldn’t have scripted it any better when he landed a winner in quick time after relocating his team to the Charlton Harness Racing Training Centre.
Steenhuis, 26, who was born, raised and spent all his life in Ballarat, said he was thoroughly enjoying his new base and was thrilled to hit the ground running.
Consistent pacer Victory George, owned by his partner Brittany O’Brien, put up a tough performance to get the money at Mildura last Friday (May 10) when handled by concession driver Liam Older.
“We’ve only moved up here a little while ago and it’s been awesome. The facilities are great; the weather is great, and the people are fantastic,” Steenhuis said.
“All the other trainers as well club president Joey Thompson and his committee, just can’t do enough for you,” he said.
“Charlton is very central to many tracks so we should be able to place our horses pretty well. Our team consists of 12 racehorses, four two-year-olds and a few yearlings – a number that we’ve been doing for probably the last 12 months.
“Hopefully we might pick up some new owners along the way if we can consistently put the scores on the board.”
Steenhuis, a third-generation trainer who followed his father Sebastian and grandfather John into the sport, tasted Group one success back in December of 2017 at Melton when square gaiter Jerichos Trumpet won the Vicbred Platinum 3yo Classic for colts and geldings. He is just four wins away from posting the magical century as a trainer and has been ticking along nicely this season with 16 wins and 26 placings for stakemoney of $86,000.
“We’ve got some handy horses with Victory George leading the way. All up he’s had 14 wins and 23 placings for us with five of those wins this season,” Steenhuis said.
“Liam (Older) has been in great form over the past six months, and he would have driven at least 15 or 16 winners for us – five of these on ‘George’.
“Apart from Liam, I also use Jack Laugher and Ellen Tormey as our drivers. I’ll jump on if I have to, but only when I can’t get one of them.”
Steenhuis has driven 45 winners since becoming licensed and he’s shown he’s no slouch in the cart – landing two wins from six drives this season!
“The training centre is great. Apart from an 800metre all-weather track, there’s a 2000m straight track and a swimming hole. Everything is here and we’ve found the local community to be just so welcoming,” he said.
“The weather has been brilliant. It’s going to get colder in winter of course, but in Ballarat that part of the year can be very nasty!
“I’ve taken over the stables that were previously used by Shane Sanderson (who has moved to a property near Shepparton) so I’ve got some big boots to fill but we’ll have a crack!”