Canardly Lover is a 3yr-old by boom sire Real Desire and the second foal of Just Another Lover, trained by Hamish Hunter. Canardly Lover has been nominated for the Sires' Stakes.
He is raced on lease by Brendan Cooney, of Wellington, the Centaurus syndicate, of Invercargill, Vin Nally, of Makarewa, Hillary Haggerty, of Invercargill and Caryn Nash, of Dunedin.
Canardly Lover was bred by Cooney, his wife, Aya Kovesy, and his brother, Graham, of Invercargill. They raced Just Another Lover (Holmes Hanover-Vonnie Franco), who won six races when trained by Ali Malcolmson at Tomahawk.
Nash, an administration assistant at Otago University, helps out at the Malcolmson stable. She took the opportunity to lease a half share in the first foal of Just Another Lover, an Elsu colt.
"He just didn't want to be a racehorse," she said.
She took a quarter share in Canardly Lover.
"I am very lucky," she said.
It was her 10th win as an owner. She won her first race with Silk Rocket in 1996.
She won six races with Whatafilly from the Malcolmson stable. Others to win in her ownership are Tee Jay Duffy and Reliable.
The $9000 maiden races have been introduced in Southland this season to encourage ownership.
"The idea is to give owners confidence that they can race here for a good stake and do not have to go further afield," Murray Swain, the president of the Winton Harness Racing Club, said.
"There will be about 70 $9000 races run during the season."
• Shadow Strike won his first start yesterday in a $4000 race.
He is a 3yr-old colt by Life Sign from Vera's Pride, who has left other winners, Versasprideandglory, Karackas and Vera's Gift. He is trained by Kirk Larsen for Clydevale breeder Bruce Stirling.
• Invercargill trainer Tony Barron produced Motu Young Jacob and Scarrymcleary for fresh-up wins yesterday with Dexter Dunn the driver.
The Murray Brown-trained Cherokee Charlie had his second win in as many starts. He is raced by the All Stars syndicate, including Pat Scanlan of East Taieri.
• Jack Trainor could take special satisfaction landing the Cran Dalgety-trained Hip Hop Anvil his first winner at Addington last night.
Trainor (17) began attending the stable at the age of 11 when he was at school in Dunedin. He has been in a full-time position with the stable since December after a stint with Graham and Paul Court at West Melton.
Trainor was having his eighth drive after being licenced as a junior six weeks ago. He is a son of Daryl and Anne Trainor, who operate a stable at Forbury Park.
• Sam Whitelock was on the bench for the All Blacks game against Tonga at Eden Park last night but his parents Braeden and Carolyn had a win with Paddy Brown.
The 4yr-old Christian Cullen-Braeside Star mare cleared maiden ranks from the stable of Mark Purdon and Grant Payne.
• Trainer Peter McKenzie said he would wait until this morning before making a decision on a start for Metrical in race 10 at Awapuni today.
Metrical has entered the field from third emergency. He has been rehandicapped 1kg for his win at Foxton on Thursday.
