Third and fourth generation trainers Marc and Mitchell Conners celebrated their first stakes win as a partnership as stable star Willaidow carved out his own slice of history by capturing back-to-back renewals of the JRA Plate at Rosehill.
Marc is the son of four-time Golden Slipper winning trainer Clarry, whose father Clarry Conners Snr was also a noted horseman.
With 25-year-old Mitchell sent to the provincial NSW meeting at Newcastle to oversee another member of their team, Marc Conners had to savour the occasion without him, although it made it no less special.
“For a small stable like ours, it’s a lot of work. We have to put in a lot of hours,” Marc Conners said.
“These are the wins that are pretty special for us.”
Mitchell Conners was part of the team before being promoted to training partner and Conners said he had earned the position.
“He has put the hard yards in. He has done a lot of work,” he said.
“He is driving home from Newcastle today, he got beaten up there, so this will cheer him up.
“It’s a proud moment for me to have him down beside me. He will remember that for a long time.”
Willaidow ($4.60) won the corresponding race 12 months ago when it was known as the Southern Cross Stakes (1200m) and became the first horse in recent times to capture it in consecutive years.
He looked like being the hard luck tale of the race when he was held up for a run in the straight before James McDonald got him into the clear to run down The Instructor ($6.50) by a short head with Zarastro ($9.50) another length away third.
The winner of nine of his 26 starts, the seven-year-old has banked over $720,000 and been a stable flagbearer for several seasons, a remarkable achievement given the odds he has overcome.
“He is a $7000 horse and look what he’s done,” Conners said.
“He fractured his cannon bone after his third win, and he’s come back and done what he’s done. For a stable like us, they are dream horses. They’re the backbone. They pay the bills.”
Conners has no set plan for Willaidow and will let the dust settle before picking his way through the upcoming carnival races.
Trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald both enjoyed stellar afternoons on Saturday with five winners apiece, combining for three of them courtesy of Pippie Beach, Willie Oppa and Eagle Express.
