IT can often take a lifetime of knowledge to achieve results in any code of racing, but on Saturday night at the Dubbo Paceway it was a horse with a reputation as something of a non-winner which gave Dubbo's Nathan Carroll one of his biggest thrills in his young career.
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Bluechipboy's victory in the TAB Number 1 Club Pace (2120m) was only the gelding's third from 46 starts but it was a big boost for his young trainer-driver, who has been forced to grow up in a short space of time.
The 18-year-old was thrust into the training duties at his family's Improvement Lodge stables when his father Michael was disqualified by stewards earlier in the year following a positive swab from one of his runners.
It has given the young gun a chance to not only guide the horses on race day but also be responsible for their day-to-day preparations.
"It hasn't been easy so it's nice to get a reward with this horse tonight, especially because mum (Samantha Carroll) owns it," Carroll said.
"It's my first winner as a trainer and I think it's the 10th winner I've driven.
"He doesn't win too often so it's good to get a result with him. It shows I've been doing OK with the way I've been working him."
Starting from the inside of the second line Bluechipboy ($6.30) was given a peach of a drive by Carroll, who had the Browning Blue Chip (USA) x Watch That Girl (NZ) gelding behind the leader Avoca Capri ($9.20, Brett Hutching) for most of the 2120m journey.
The race wasn't run at a frenetic pace, with the first two quarters of the last mile covered in just 31.4s and 32.2s so when Avoca Capri started to fade as the field went up the back straight for the last time Carroll had to extricate a passage from the pegs and get moving.
As the field rounded the turn Bluechipboy had taken the lead but the punters' elect Koloura Bob ($2.50 fav, Bruce McKinnon) quickly emerged on the scene.
For a few strides it appeared as though Bluechipboy would once again be denied a win but the gelding pulled out plenty in the run to the line to win by 2.1 metres.
Bluechip Brave ($40.60) was a further 14.1 metres away in third place.
The overall time for the journey was 2:43.8 with a mile rate of 2:04.4.
"I was a bit worried that the leader would fall back in my lap so when I was able to get off the inside I did and the horse did well from there," Carroll said.
"Koloura Bob came at me as we were going around the turn but when I asked him for an effort he gave me a kick.
"I'm not too sure what's coming up for him now. I get my instructions from the owner so she'll find a race for him I'm sure."