KATE Hargreaves has had her trainer's licence less than three years, but that has not stopped her and partner Alex Ashwood from tasting their first Group race success.
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The young couple, who have called Bendigo home the last four months, broke through for a Group 3 victory with Well Defined in the $25,000 Tontine Trotting Championship at Terang on Tuesday night.
It capped an amazing 10 days for the 27-year-old trainer and 24-year-old reinsman, who had one of their stable favourites Resurgent Spirit contest the $70,000 Tasmania Cup on Saturday night in Hobart and finish fourth.
They have also picked up two wins with Well Defined at Boort last Sunday, with Chris Alford in the sulky, followed by the four-year-old's last gasp victory at Terang.
"It was pretty exciting, it has always been one of my goals to train a Group winner, so I am pretty rapt," she said.
"I have always had a pretty big opinion of the horse for a fair while and it's nice to see him put it together on the racetrack.
"It was a very patient drive by Alex. He is great driving form at the minute, which is really helping my horses.
"It was a terrific drive - he found the gap at the right time and was too good in the end."
It was an all Bendigo quinella, with Well Defined edging out the in-form Chris Svanosio-trained trotter Kyvalley Finn to claim the $14,250 first prize, and boosting his career earnings to $31,446 from 26 starts.
The son of former Canadian superstar Majestic Son, who won just shy of $2 million in his short, but lucrative racing career, Well Defined has graduated from maiden performer to Group winner in the space of a month.
His win at Terang was his fourth-on-end following success at Geelong, Ballarat, Boort and now Terang.
Hargreaves said it was no coincidence the stable's fortunes had been on the upswing since taking over the property formerly owned by Larry Eastman at Shelbourne.
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"We have certainly got better horses in our stable now and I think just being out on our own, whereas last year we both had full-time jobs and had to work the horses very early, has really helped," she said.
"Now we have a lot more time to put into the horses.
"That track is great at the new facility and we have that better stock."
Hargreaves continues to hold down a full-time job as a grade 2 teacher at Kennington Primary School and was stoked to share the news of Well Defined's win with her students on Wednesday morning.
"I always tell them about the wins and they get pretty excited, " she said.
"I have all my reading, writing and maths groups named after my horses, so the Well Defined group will be pretty happy.
"With the two jobs, I don't really have any spare time or time to socialise, but Alex and I have chosen to work pretty hard, but it's great the rewards are now coming.
"The sacrifice has been worth it."
Meanwhile, Hargreaves said after a short and successful Tasmanian campaign, Resurgent Spirit would be aimed at next month's $60,000 Mildura Pacing Cup.
"He did super ... he won his heat of the Tasmania Cup the week before and ran a great race to fun fourth in the final;," she said.
"The Mildura Cup is on the radar for him as well as some other feature races."
Hargreaves and Ashwood hope to continue the momentum at Kilmore on Wednesday night with the resuming Aldebaran Pete, who is having his first start since August last year.
"He is a bit of a headache that horse. He has a lot of ability, but does a lot of things wrong," she said.
"It just depends which Aldebaran Pete turns up."
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