TRAINER Aaron Bain has wasted no time in vindicating his decision to open a satellite stable in Bendigo, scoring a winner with his first runner from the new operation at Lord's Raceway on Tuesday night.
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Melodys Daughter, one of two horses Bain has stabled at the Shelbourne property of trainer Kate Hargreaves and Alex Ashwood, scored an impressive win over the 2150m distance in a C1 event.
An encouraging win for the trainer and connections was the second-on-end for the four-year-old mare, who won at Kapunda on May 20, before his move to Bendigo.
Bain, who is currently third on the South Australian trainers premiership, was quick to praise a great drive from Alex Ashwood, who doubles as the satellite's stable's foreman.
"He assessed the race very well; we spoke about it (on Tuesday) and he said there would be a little bit of speed inside us," he said.
"Although she has gate speed, he said let's not use it, we'll just come off the gate slowly and hope they go hard, which they did, so full credit to him.
"He said he thought he went about 100 or 200m too early, but the runners up front were tiring and he had to go to stay in the run.
"To get a win was most pleasing. It was good to get the monkey off the back early so to speak and kick things off over there with a win with our first starter out of the Shelbourne facility."
The win aboard Melody's Daughter was the second leg of a double for Ashwood, who also saluted on the John Kennedy-trained Artmania in the night's opening race.
Michelle Phillips also notched up a driving double for the state's leading trainer Emma Stewart with Major Times and Ideal Conquest.
Bain prefers to space Melody's Daughter's runs and will likely target a C0-C1 mare's race on June 10 at Hamilton as they attempt to bring up three-straight wins.
The young trainer, who will be in Bendigo this weekend, indicated his other Shelbourne-based horse, Ideal World was nearing his first start after the move east.
The Group 3-placegetter will trial at Maryborough on Sunday, with Bain eyeing a race start within the following two weeks.
Ideal World as not raced since a sixth place finish in his Mildura Pacing Cup heat on April 9, won by San Carlo.
Meanwhile, a third Bain-trained horse Rising High, who ran an excellent second on debut at Cobram last Sunday, has returned to the Gawler stable for a tilt at the Group 1 Allwood Series for two-year-olds at Globe Derby.
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