"Quirky" combo wins at Winton

By Jonny Turner

Carl Hanna and the stock of the late champion sire Somebeachsomewhere again proved a winning combination at Winton on Saturday.

Hanna produced the seventh win of his training career when Oneloveonelife finally broke maidens courtesy of a perfect Kerryn Tomlinson drive.

Of those seven wins, six of Hanna’s victories have come with the stock of the champion former Canadian racehorse and turned sire, Somebeachsomewhere.

Known to leave horses with ability, Somebeachsomewhere has also left more than his share of quirky and headstrong horses.

Hanna joked that that was why he had enjoyed such good success with the stallion’s stock.

“They are quirky, a bit like myself I suppose,” Hanna quipped.

Hanna trains his horses on the dairy farm he runs near Gore.

The dairy season is approaching its quieter time of year which should give Hanna more time to train his team.

But it also raises other challenges.

“I don’t have a training track, I just work them around the paddocks and it can get a bit wet.”

“You don’t have to do much with them to keep them ticking over.”

All of Hanna’s career training wins have come with horses that have been tried by other trainers.

The trainer’s farm-based training techniques have clicked with horses like Tairlaw Toll and Oneloveonelife.

And the results have been pleasantly surprising for Hanna.

“It still surprises me how they keep doing the work and sticking on.”

“If they didn’t have the ability, they certainly wouldn’t be able to cop it at home, that’s for sure.”

Kerryn Tomlinson found a perfect run in the one-one for Oneloveonelife who scored in his 34th career start.

Tomlinson took out the junior driver’s event at Winton on Saturday with her front-running steer behind The Jafa Express.

Craig Ferguson enjoyed a perfect day out at Winton when producing his only two starters, Heez Good and Frisky Styx, to both win.

Frisky Styx copped plenty of pressure in the final 1000m of his debut, but he shrugged it off when powering to an impressive victory.

“He certainly copped a bit of pressure mid-race,” Ferguson said.

“I was a little bit concerned, he was only coming off the back of a very slow trial.”

“But he stuck to the task and finished it off well.”

Heez Good also impressed when sitting parked for the final 1000m of his victory with Mark Hurrell in the sulky.