HULL OF A WIN: COAST TRAINER LANDS HIS OWN SLICE OF SUCCESS ON CUP DAY
THOUSANDS of kilometres away from the scene of the biggest day on the Australian racing calendar, Gold Coast trainer Ben Hull was having an important win of his own.
Hull’s sprinter Commandeering took the honours in the Maiden Plate (900m) at the Gold Coast to end a ninemonth victory drought for the 33-year-old trainer.
In that period, he had seen his stable of horses place second seven times – including Commandeering’s run at Toowoomba last month, which marked his first start back from a 15-month lay-off.
“They have just been all around the mark but I haven’t had a winner for a while so it’s good to breakthrough again,” said Hull, who was previously a jockey.
“You still get paid by the owners but it’s a lot harder when you’re not getting winners, you don’t get a percentage of the prizemoney and that, but you have got to keep going and don’t change things because it has worked before.
“You just keep going and hope things will change.
“I was pretty confident he could win.”
Hull said it had been a long road back from injury for his four-year-old gelding.
“He had a fracture to his knee and that’s why he got sold,” he said of Commandeering.
“It was a funny story, the guy that actually had bought him left him out at our property and … we just took over the horse. We just took our time with him and let him show us that he wanted to do it … he has never looked like going lame again.”
Hull’s previous win before yesterday was on February 4 at the Sunshine Coast via Flying Machine.
Hull said to celebrate the win yesterday, dinner was on the cards upon his partner Tegan Harrison returning from her jockey duties at Doomben.
Commandeering is likely to race across the border at his next start.