The highly popular Margo Nyhan-trained mare once again had racing fans marvelling at her stunning consistency when she ran to her 10th career win in her 181st career start at Waikouaiti yesterday.
Her 50 second and third placings have not only resulted in Sarah Palin regularly topping up her owners' bank accounts, but have also helped establish her as an equine cult heroine.
The 9yr-old mare means Nyhan is regularly bombarded with online messages and well wishes from total strangers.
``I get messages on Facebook all the time from just random people and I have no idea who they are,'' she said.
``It is just amazing. They say things like `you train my grandfather's favourite horse, Sarah Palin'.''
The curtain will soon come down on the popular trotter's career as she is in foal.
Her owners, Bevan and Keith Grice, have Sarah Palin in foal to sire Bacardi Lindy.
The resulting foal will be a close relation to star southern trotter Dark Horse who is Sarah Palin's half-sister, by Bacardi Lindy.
When time comes for Nyhan and Aaron Skerrett and Rob Colligan, who race the mare on lease from the Grices, to call time on her career it will be a sad moment.
The mare has about six weeks left before she has to retire, Nyhan said.
Registering her 10th career win was something that was far from Margot Nyhan's mind two days prior to yesterday's race.
The trotter had tied up badly after racing at Waikouaiti on Saturday and starting in yesterday's event looked highly unlikely, she said
Tie-up issues have doggged the later part of Sarah Palin's career and mean the trainer uses a special regime to keep the horse sound.
``She ties up chronically, and she did the other day, but she hadn't for two years because we work her completeley differently,'' Nyhan said.
`'After she races she might have two or three days off, but she will never jog.''
``She will go straight back into the cart and jog a lap and then go half a mile [800m] as quick as she wants to go, because it is all about the lactic acid build-up.''
Sarah Palin's win registered Nyhan's first training treble.
She and Peter Davis combined to win race 1 with My Eyre and race 2 with The Jandel Machine.
Waikouaiti racecourse seems to work the magic touch on The Jandel Machine. The pacer had been out of form before running second at Waikouaiti on Saturday and went one better when leading all of the way yesterday.
The gelding's career hung in limbo 12 months ago before he put in a good effort for fourth on the track.
That revived the The Jandel Machine's form and persuaded his connections to keep persevering with him, Davis said.
That was rewarded yesterday when the 5yr-old, who Davis describes as a horse who shows plenty of promise in trackwork but less at the races, ran to a bold front-running win.
Davis employed exactly the same tactics on Still Eyre who also ran to his maiden victory at Waikouaiti yesterday.
There were six win bets of $10,000 on yesterday's racing and three from $5000 to $9000.
All of the investments went down the drain except a $10,000 investment on Franco June, the winner of race 4.
The TAB could not confirm whether the big bets were from the same punter or different bettors, or where the bets were placed.
A spokesman confirmed the bets were placed on a TAB account, rather than at the track.
