LOOKING to build on an outstanding past two and a half years, former Junortoun trainer Chris Svanosio has settled into life at his new base at Romsey.
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The supremely talented trainer-driver has just ticked over two weeks at his new home and on Monday notched up his first winner since the move with the five-year-old mare Emijay at Tabcorp Park Melton.
He was perhaps unfortunate not to break through a few days earlier with Repeat After Me settling for third place behind the smart Emma Stewart-trained pacer The Storm Inside at harness racing headquarters last Saturday, while the undoubted stable star Magicool was an encouraging third behind Tornado Valley in the Group 3 Cranbourne Trotters Cup less than a fortnight ago.
Svanosio, who has joined girlfriend Elizabeth MacLean on her family's 40-acre property at Romsey, said the move placed him closer to Melton, which would be the stable's long-term focus.
"Elizabeth and I have been talking about it for awhile and we decided it was finally the right time," he said.
"We had a relatively good two to two-and-a-half years in Bendigo training at Bruce Morgan's place. I was happy training there, but this was the right move.
"It's a great property (at Romsey), so I am looking to have a real crack.
"The property Elizabeth and her father Alistair have set up is magnificent. The barn is great and we have a treadmill and swimming facilities, and the 40-aces is well fenced off.
"We are not too far from Melton, so hopefully we can get some nice city horses racing all the time."
Svanosio has retained his Bendigo staff, including Tarah Youngson and young reinswomen Michelle Phillips, who has also made the move south to further her opportunities, and Tayla French, who has been travelling back and forth from Heathcote.
He said he was grateful for their continued support and declared them as integral to the stable's success over the past two seasons.
A successful first few months of the 2019-20 season has yielded 17 winners and 28 placings for Svanosio. It follows 44 winners and 115 placing the previous season.
Reflecting on his past two and a half years back in Bendigo, Svanosio was hard-pressed to go past his association with the champion trotter Sparkling Success.
The John Meade-trained trotter provided Svanosio with his first two Group 1 wins as a driver in the 2018 Maori Mile at Bendigo and Great Southern Star at Melton, and a subsequent two more Group race wins before succumbing to injury ahead of a planned trip overseas to compete in the United States.
Ranking right up there alongside those achievements were his initial Group 1 victory as a trainer with Anywhere Hugo in a Vicbred Super Series final, and his second a year later with Kyvalley Finn.
Going forward, Svanosio is excited to see what his dual Group 3-winner Magicool can do up against the likes of the Andy Gath-trained star Tornado Valley and Dance Craze in this Saturday night's Group 3 trotters free for all at Melton.
"He's the stable star at the moment. He finished third the other week at Cranbourne behind those two and they are probably the best trotters and he is just a bit behind them at the moment," he said.
"If he can keep improving and be competitive against them we'll be pretty happy."
Also listed at starters at Melton are Kyvalley Finn, Norquay and Repeat After Me, while Pinevale Victoria is the first emergency in the Vicbred Platinum Home Grown Classic Final for three-year-old trotting fillies.
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