By Patrick Reincke
There’s no better feeling than getting a win on your home turf.
For local trainer Heidi Smith, her hopes of a victory at the 57th Annual St Pats Races rested on the shoulders of just two horses, Meteor’s Man in Race 2 and Pipe Dreams in Race 5.
While Pipe Dreams put in a commendable effort to finish fourth – not far off snagging third, it was the steely-eyed Meteor’s Man that saw her take out the second race of the day.
The ten-year-old gelding jumped well with Margaret Collet in the saddle.
Despite good speed early, the field kept tight and it wasn’t until the closing stages of the home straight that it edged out the favourite, Vietti, to win by half a length.
At the time of crossing the line, Heidi had no idea she had a winner.
“I was down past the finishing post,” Smith said post-race.
“With the angle, obviously in the top three because it was a pretty tight finish.
“My family was down a bit further and they were jumping all over the place that he won.”
Meteor’s Man had previously been trained by veteran Broken Hill trainer Michael Wayman before spending the past year and a bit with Swan Hill’s Con Kelly.
Heidi took over the reins last year. This is the second win from eight starts since she took over.
Heidi said it was great to be back home racing at St Pat’s and having her family there to see the win was just as special.
“We don’t get too much of a chance to race at home and to have all my family and friends be able to watch him was absolutely great.”
“A lot of other times with the amount of travelling we do, I don’t often get the family to be able to travel that far, so it was great.”
