AFTER four-and-a-half months without a meeting at Charlton, local trainer John Tormey said it was good not to have to go far to get the races on Monday.
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Better still he was able to celebrate with a victory.
Tormey - a mainstay of the Charlton harness racing scene - experienced success with the four-year-old gelding Hancocks Hero in a race named in honour of the club's newest trotting tenants, Michael Gadsden and Denbeigh Wade.
His other runner Bella Bronski finished fifth behind the Mark Thompson-trained Costly Mistake in the three-year-old pace.
Hancocks Hero, by Alta Christiano out of Ima Ritzi Lombo, was one of two locally-trained winners on the eight-race card, the first to be run at Charlton since late-March.
Greg Norman capped a successful day for the hometown training ranks by taking out the final event with Edwin Bromac.
Tormey said he was thrilled to see Charlton get its opportunity to again host meetings after going without since March 29.
"I was a bit surprised they put a meeting out into an area like this, with the way things have been," said Tormey in reference to the high number of active COVID-19 cases still presenting in Victoria.
"But we won't knock it back.
"I thought we might have been going back to not so many tracks, but as I say, we won't knock it back. It's great to be able to run at your own track."
Accustomed to travelling during his years a horse trainer, Tormey said the move to regional racing in early April had not impacted him too much.
"I didn't mind it when we were at Bendigo only and then we went to Cranbourne, Shepparton, Kilmore and that was a bit harder because sometimes you needed to go to Cranbourne to find a race," he said.
"But you do like racing at your home track.
'It was good seeing people, who don't normally get too many winners, getting them during the regional racing. It's a tough game and getting a winner is hard, but seeing plenty of people sharing the winners was great."
Tormey, who owns the local Charlton IGA supermarket, described Hancocks Hero's win as a thrill for owners Gary and Jackie Jason, who own the Ouyen IGA, and celebrated every win as 'if it's an Inter Dominion'.
The enigmatic pacer has now won five of 44 starts, but perhaps a more accurate guide as to his ability to frustrate connections is his astonishing tally of 18 placings.
"He's got good ability, but the races have to be run to suit for him to do much," he said.
"He ran about six seconds in a row at one stage, which didn't help him. It was when they bought the national rating system in and his rating kept going up one point.
"He went up a couple of classes without winning a race and it's taken time for him to get back to his right class.
"But if he's drawn to lead, he's always very competitive."
A smart drive on Hancocks Hero delivered Jordan Leedham his third career win.
The 17-year-old was unlucky not to score his maiden win aboard the gelding last month at Bendigo, with the pair only being run down late by Hard Rock Shannon.
"He does a good job and is a good kid to go with it. He's got a bright future," Tormey said.
READ MORE: Jordan Leedham ticks off first driving win
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