Tolga trainer breaks seven-year drought

IT TOOK five different stables to get there, but Mac Me Mate has finally broken through for a deserving win for Tolga trainer Nicole Homann.

The seven-year-old bay gelding and trainer both ended serious droughts on Atherton Cup Day.

For the horse, it was his first win from 12 starts, after going through the hands of five different trainers. And for the trainer, a former jockey herself, it was her first triumph since September 2013.

Owner of Mac Me Mate, Eddie Sharman, detailed how far the gelding had come over the last few years under the guidance of the small Homann stable.

“We pulled him out of the paddock, my wife is an endurance rider for horses and started riding him,” Sharman said.

“We got him up to speed and thought we would give him another go at racing … He had a year and a half off from racing.”

A jockey for 12 years, Homann (pictured left), has been poking along with a few horses over the last couple of years after having a long break from the training game.

Experienced Townsville hoop Graham Watson, who has been on the horse in his last four starts, thinks Mac Me Mate will now go on with it after winning the Maiden Plate (1000m) on Saturday.

“It has been a long time coming for Nicole, she puts in a lot of time with her horses,” Watson said.

“She has done a lot of work with this horse, she is not working with champions, but she is turning them around.

“This little horse will go on with it.”

Sharman also praised the training effort of Homann, who only has a few horses in work.

“This is great for Nicole, she is a great trainer,” Sharman said. “She loves the horses like they are her little babies and I would not give my horses to anyone else.

“It has been to many other trainers, they did not want him, they thought he was just lazy.”

Watson thinks Mac Me Mate has a few more wins in him.

He led for much of the way, ridden hands and heels by Watson, to win the opener by almost a length from firststarter Millaa Miss.

Homann and Fred Wieland trained the first two winners on Cup Day from Tolga.