BY HIS his own admission, George Osborne's 2019-20 season resume lacked just one thing - a city grade winner.
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The prolific Kyneton trainer produced a Victorian career-best season of 43 winners, enough to earn him a spot among the state's top 20 trainers.
That figure does not include his lone New South Wales success with Mount Horeb in the $73,500 City Handicap at Albury during March.
Putting the accomplishment into perspective, Osborne said his overall haul of 44 represented only a small increase on the previous season, but was a rise nevertheless.
"It was an interesting season. It wasn't a hugely productive year as far as good horses go, it was just placing the maidens, the (benchmark) 58s and 64s in the right races," he said.
"I didn't really have a great city season - that needs to lift.
"The highlight was probably late in the year when Reine Happy started winning races, left, right and centre.
"I really didn't realise until last Friday he'd won seven races this season and that made him the winningest horse in Victoria and the second-winningest in Australia."
The seventh and final win for Reine Happy came at Geelong, on the final day of the season, putting the lid on a bountiful season.
Exceptionally pleasing for Osborne - an avid and staunch supporter of female and apprentice jockeys - was the riding opportunities he was able to provide aboard the ultra-consistent now nine-year-old gelding.
Emerging apprentice Tayla Childs managed two straight wins at the end of the season, including her maiden win as a jockey at Bendigo on July 3, while the promising Kiran Quilty (one) and New South Wales youngster Tyler Schiller (two) accounted for a further three between them.
Osborne insists all three will be forces to be reckoned with in the years ahead.
Another clear highlight for the former New South Wales and Queensland trainer was a treble on his home track on Kyneton Cup day last November.
He struck early with the maiden mare Bella in race two, before adding a second victory with Uptown Lilly in the benchmark 70 fillies and mares handicap.
The treble was complete when the mare Salty Kisses and Reine Happy quinellaed the 1100m benchmark 64 handicap.
Both Uptown Lilly and Salty Kisses were ridden by Linda Meech, who finished the day with a treble, after a win in the day's opening race for trainer Danny O'Brien aboard November Dreaming.
The Osborne-Meech combination was desperately unlucky not to add a further success, with the front-runner Gasworx being run down in the shadows of the post in the final event by Brad Rawiller aboard Ocean's Fourteen.
"I was being hailed with the fourth one with about 20m to go, but we got run down," Osborne said.
"It was still a nice day for us."
The stable's next best performed horse behind Reine Happy was Being Dazzled, who accumulated four wins and four placings from 11 starts.
Intent on putting an end to his dry-spell at metropolitan level, Osborne feels he has just the horse to do it in Seeress.
The three-year-old filly burst to prominence with a convincing win on the Ballarat Synthetic last month and was an unlucky fifth in her follow up at Moonee Valley last Saturday, beaten by only a half a length after striking plenty of interference in the straight.
"I am hoping she can go on with it, she seems pretty smart," Osborne said of the daughter of multiple Group-race winner Nostradamus.
"I have a stack of young horses that have trialed really well that I am just holding back a little bit.
"It will be probably another few weeks before they get to the track, but there's still plenty of upside to the stable."
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