HE'S trained more than a few handy trotters over the journey and now Keith Semmens is convinced he has another in Downunder Barkers.
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Forty-seven starts into his career and with an impressive win at Tabcorp Park Melton last Saturday night under his belt, Semmens believes the five-year-old gelding is only now starting to realise his full potential.
If anyone would know it is Semmens, who has scored a bunch of feature race victories throughout his more than 50-year career, including a pair of Bendigo Trotters Cups wins with horses he bred, Cons Poem (1991) and Poets Corner (1999).
"He's taken a while to wake up to what he's supposed to be doing, but he is really going well at present," the said.
"He does have a lot of ability, but he's taken his time finding out how to put it all together.
"Saturday night was pretty impressive. We were concerned whether he would measure up to horses of metropolitan standard, but he it looks as though he has."
Semmens, who is based at Campbells Creek, rates Poets Corner, a winner of 21 starts, as one of the best horses he has trained and was optimistic Downunder Barkers could eventually reach the same level.
"He (Downunder Barkers) is getting towards that level now," he said.
"It's hard to compare them because things have improved so much with tracks and with sulkys and shoeing and feeding. Horses that could go 2:04 one time are going 1:59 now."
Downunder Barkers, who stretched his career record to sevens wins (two at Melton) and seven placings from 47 starts, is one of three horses currently being raced by Semmens, in conjunction with his sons Jon and David.
The other two - Adelle and Shield Maiden - are currently being trained by Gavin Lang and Glenn Conroy respectively are racing in good form.
That is especially the case with the three-year-old trotting filly Adelle, who has won all three starts (twice at Ballarat and once at Bendigo) for the Semmens family since being purchased from New Zealand a few months ago.
Her trainer Lang was in the sulky for Downunder Barkers' win on Saturday and was equally as upbeat as Semmens about the five-year-old's potential.
"He's got a great finishing burst when he is in form and at the moment he's a very happy horse and racing accordingly," the champion trainer-driver said.
"He has always showed he has the scope to race at metro level, the way he is hitting the line at the moment he would not be out of place in metro level races."
Semmens expects Downunder Barkers to have his next start at the showcase Redwood All Trotting Carnival at Maryborough on August 4.
Victoria's most unique harness racing meeting, highlighted by the running of the $50,000 Redwood Classic for two-year-olds and $75,000 Victoria Trotters Derby, both Group 1 events, it's an event Semmens is keen to involved in.
"It's a great meeting - you probably need to be a trotting freak to realise it, but it has come on from one two-year-old race to a huge attraction," he said.
"We will head there hopeful. Things can always go wrong but he's definitely up to that standard and we hope we can win."
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