Toowoomba hobby trainer Ross Coveney’s love for a cheap horse was rewarded when Glow Heart scored an upset win in the Provincial Cup at Ipswich on Saturday.
Coveney, a former central Queensland grazier, only started training four years ago and bought Glow Heart for a paltry $1,800 at a Gold Coast tried sale four months ago.
“I was confident he could win. He’s been a bit unlucky a few times for me,” the 57-year-old said.
“I’ve only got five horses in work at Toowoomba but I have a few boxes which I rent out.
“I bought him because I just liked his breeding and he was cheap. I like cheap horses.”
Coveney moved to Toowoomba to live in semi-retirement after running a cattle and sheep property at Blackall in central Queensland.
Coveney describes the three-year-old son of Show A Heart as the stable star but will send him to the spelling paddock after a few more starts.
“I’ve decided to take a break from training in August and this bloke will have a spell with me as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, trainer Darryl Hansen made a rare trip to Ipswich to win the Ipswich Dash Plate (1100m) with Mondean.
Mondean led most of the way to score by a head over Agent Blue with Falvelina a further short half-head away third.
“I’ve only been to Ipswich once before and I enjoyed the experience when I first started off training,” Hansen said.
“It’s good to come back and win.”
Hansen was last season’s leading trainer in Townsville and Mackay before moving to Brisbane to further his career at Eagle Farm.
However, his stay in Brisbane was short-lived before he decided to relocate to Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Mondean took his record to five wins from 19 starts and will now be set for the Mackay Newmarket and Cleveland Bay Handicap in Townsville next month.
“He had a bad gate today but he’s got good gate speed so the plan was to ride him hard early and hopefully get across,” Hansen said.
AAP TURF
