AS FAR as new beginnings go, Mary-Jane Mifsud could not have scripted a better one for herself at Elmore last week.
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Returning from a long suspension for a positive cobalt swab, the former Kilmore trainer notched up the first winner from her new training base at Bagshot with Imnopumpkin.
It was a fresh start too for the three-year-old gelding and son of Art Major, who was having only his second race start, and first since finishing down the field at Bendigo in June for his former trainer Laura Crossland.
Mifsud was naturally stoked and relieved when Imnopumpkin, with Glenn Douglas in the sulky, was able to stave off a sustained challenge from the favourite Hanover Starzz and Ellen Tormey, to score a narrow victory in a three-year-old pace event.
"He is the first horse I have trained since I've been back," she said.
"It's very exciting being back.
"The horse trialed about three weeks (before Elmore) and won. He's actually a bit of a poor doer - he doesn't eat too well, so we have to space his runs a bit.
"We did have this race at Elmore picked out and we're very lucky Glenn drove the horse to perfection and it worked out on the day.
"He's a great driver. You always need luck in a race, but it helps if you have a class driver and Glenn knew the horse from the trials."
Mifsud is adopting a wait and see approach with Imnopumpkin's future racing program.
"We will see how his health is and go from there," he said.
Mifsud, whose small team of horses consists of Imnopumpkin, a pair of two-year-olds and two yearlings, said she could not be happier with her move to the Bendigo region about five months ago.
"I have my three-and-a-half year-old (Charlie) now, so we decided to move to somewhere with a bit more acreage," she said.
"It was like a little suburban house where we lived (in Kilmore) and I trained out of my father's property.
"Literally, property there nowadays is really quite high in price range, so we found a nice 30-acre property in Bagshot, which is nice.
"It's a really friendly community out at Bagshot."
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