Thelma in brilliant return

PROMISING four-year-old mare Thelma has had to endure a mixture of ailments to make it back to the racetrack but in Launceston last Sunday her trainer and owners celebrated a brilliant return.

Thelma had not raced for 72 weeks owing to bone chips in a knee and more recently stomach ulcers and a blood disorder, but she put it all behind her by leading throughout and staving off determined challenges at the business end of the race to emerge triumphant.

“I could not be prouder because to overcome all the things she has endured this past year or so and come out and show so much courage to win is amazing,” her trainer Brendan McShane said after the win.

“She has been away from racing for 500 days, so the pressure is off now.

“She got over the surgery easily enough, but she encountered the stomach ulcers and the blood disorder this past month, so we have had to change a lot of things quite drastically to get her to this race.”

Thelma’s owner-breeder Terry Clarke was elated with his mare’s winning return.

“She needed an arthroscopy but when Covid struck we couldn’t get a veterinary surgeon over and because she is such a bad traveller we couldn’t send her away, so we had to wait,” Clarke said.

“We’ve got a yearling halfsister to her by Overshare coming through and I’ve got a rising two-year-old by Overshare from Courtly Diva coming over (to Tasmania) soon, so hopefully we have some more handy stock coming through.”

McShane said Thelma had been back in full work for about 19 weeks and that may have helped in terms of her fitness. “I think this was a race that she could easily have lost had she not had a great will to win because they had her under siege all the way up the straight, but she refused to wilt.”

Thelma (Helmet-Tranquill Lass) was ridden by Taylor Johnstone who had been riding the mare in most of her trackwork at Brighton.

“I want to thank Taylor (Johnstone) because she rode her in all of her trials (three) and in trackwork leading up to this race, and she was nervous like all of us who have waited so long for the mare to return to racing and it’s good that she was rewarded.”

TRAINER Yassy Nishitani snared a double on Sunday.

This was courtesy of his stayer Always a Winner taking out the 0-62 handicap over 2150m and stable newcomer Off Peak leading throughout to win a class three handicap (1220m) to make it bookend wins on the day.

Nishitani has a handy stable these days and with some well-bred youngsters coming through the ranks he could expect even more success in the new season that kicks off on August 1.

He has notched five winners and 23 minor placings from 74 starters this season but most of his wins have come in the past two months.

Peter Staples is also employed by Tasracing.