THERE'S an old Chinese proverb that says, 'good things come in pairs', and for Shane Organ, it has proved true.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Just weeks after scoring a drought-breaking training win with his only horse Tiza Nightmare, the 23-year-old buttered up by landing his first win as a driver aboard the Glenn Sharp-trained Mystic Chip at Lord's Raceway on Monday night.
Organ, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, was still on cloud nine the morning after his first driving win, while busy at work at trainer Gary Donaldson's Junortoun stables.
"The last couple of months I have been getting a couple more of drives and it's starting to get better and better," he said.
"He only won by half a head, but a win's a win, it doesn't matter how you get there.
"I have had heaps of placings on Glenn's horses. I drove Goodtime Rusty (for Terry French) a few times and got a third on him last week, so things have been good.
"It's been an amazing time, hopefully it leads into a good career in harness racing."
Organ's first driving win did not go unnoticed by his peers, who were only to happy to remind him of his success.
"Everyone at the track was pretty happy," he said.
Among the first of the well-wishers was trainer Sharp.
"Shane was more than happy, he couldn't stop talking," he said.
"To drive his first winner after getting that training winner the other week, it's great for a young bloke."
Mystic Chip, a seven-year-old mare, broke a six-month drought in recording her fifth career win from 74 starts.
With nearly a month in between starts, Sharp, who has been training trotters for about 17 years, said Mystic Chip was arguably a little underdone, but he would gladly take the win.
"It's been hard the way racing has been programmed, you don't get a run every week. It depends on the race and the number of horses," he said.
"She is probably underdone because she hasn't had enough racing, but she goes well fresh.
"That's the positive we got out of it."
Mystic Chip will back-up at Bendigo on Thursday night in a standing-start event.
"She's usually a pretty good beginner, so if she can get away good and get to the pegs, she can get an earn again," said Sharp.
"Whether she can win, I don't know."
The Longlea trainer also has Bellmac Bambi knocking on the door of a win, with the filly producing three placings from her last five starts.
"She's a nice little horse, touchwood, she hasn't done anything wrong up to this point," he said.
"She's close to winning one.
"After this she will go out for a bit of break, but once she comes back in the spring she will be a better horse next season."
Meanwhile, Strathfieldsaye trainer Glen Douglas extended his lead at the top of the Central region trainers' standings with a treble.
Meanwhile, Strathfieldsaye trainer Glen Douglas extended his lead at the top of the Central region trainers' standings with a treble.
Douglas bookended the meeting with wins with Ozzie Sunshine (driven by Ellen Tormey) and Motu Cullen (Alex Ashwood), and also picked up a victory with Diesel Don, who was having his first start for the stable.
Other winners on the card included the Donaldson-trained Flaming Fives, who blitzed the field in the NR 46 to 51 trot, to win by 19.2 metres, Edwin Bromac (Greg Norman), Streitkid (Kate Hargreaves) and Rigondeaux (Maddie Ray and Haydon Gray).
Rigondeaux has now won three of his five past starts since April 1, starting with a victory at Stawell before the move to regional racing.
READ MORE:
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.