THE wins have come thick and fast for the Charlton harness racing fraternity in the last week.
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Starting on Charlton Cup day, a prolific eight-day period was punctuated by a combined nine winners.
The town's newest arrival Shane Sanderson led the way with five winners, including a double on Sunday's Ouyen Cup day with Smoken Shazza and cup winner Blaster Ranger.
Those wins followed his earlier successes on Charlton Cup day with Dikerry and a double at Swan Hill on Tuesday night with Sea Hawke and Leigha Miller.
Greg Norman continued his impressive start to the 2021 harness racing season with a cup day double courtesy of Cee Cee In America and Fiftyshadesofhay.
John Tormey added to the haul with a victory to Our Quick Cash at Swan Hill, while the seventh arrived at Maryborough on Thursday when the Michael Gadsden-trained Sporting Model flashed home to win the last race on the program.
The winning-spree is another feather in the cap for the Carlton training centre, which continues to go from strength-to-strength.
A thrilled Charlton Harness Racing Club president Joey Thompson said he was unsure when the town's training ranks had last combined for as many winners in a single week.
"I honestly don't know, but it would be some length of time I would have thought," he said.
"I'm sure it would have been when (legendary trainer) Ian McCallum was up and firing and it could have been 25 or 30 years ago.
"When he was here, he had 30 horses in work, but we didn't have the number of trainers we have now.
"I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong."
The training centre has become a hive of activity following the 2019 arrival of Norman, that of Gadsden and Denbeigh Wade a year later and this month's addition of the Sanderson family, boosting the number of horses on the property to 50.
Thompson said the influx of trotting newcomers had breathed plenty of life into both the industry and town.
"Little towns thrive on having someone local to support," he said.
"People you talk to in town, they're watching the races.
"There's always been the interest here, albeit people haven't actively been involved. But that's changing, there's a lot more involvement these days."
The latest batch of winners adds to an impressive month overall for Charlton's trainers.
A cup day double boosted Norman's tally for the month to four wins following earlier successes with Apieceoflou at Horsham (March 8) ad Fiftyshadesofhay at Birchip (March 7), while Gadsden has three after landing a double early in the month at Shepparton with Sporting Model and Captain Bling.
Nine winners in eight days
Charlton Cup day (Sunday, March 14: Dikerry (Shane Sanderson); Cee Cee In America, Fiftyshadesofhay (Greg Norman).
Swan Hill (Tuesday, March 16: Our Quick Cash (John Tormey); Sea Hawke, Leigha Miller (Shane Sanderson).
Maryborough (Thursday, March 18): Sporting Model (Michael Gadsden).
Ouyen (Sunday, March 21): Smoken Shazza, Blaster Ranger (Shane Sanderson).
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