FOR the second time within 24-hours on a Victorian racetrack, a winner saluted at three-figure odds on Tuesday.
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Remarkably both were prepared by Bendigo trainers.
A rare two $100-plus chance winners in two days was kick-started at Swan Hill on Monday with a win by the Rod Symons-trained mare Perfect War.
On Tuesday, it was the turn of fellow Bendigo trainer Erin Maher and jockey Tahlia Hope to orchestrate an upset with Stern In Grinzing at Kilmore.
The often moody five-year-old mare broke through for her maiden win with a bold and out of the ordinary front-running performance over 1600m.
It was the daughter of Zoustar's first win in 21 starts.
Stern In Grinzing had finished no closer than seventh at her past three starts and was the last horse home in a field of seven at her last run at Berrigan in August.
Maher, who is the third person to train the mare, is not shy to admit Stern In Grinzing has been more than a handful since arriving at her Bendigo stable late last year.
"She's been a headache .... a very, very trying horse to train," she said.
"We've tried a few things with her with ear muffs on, ear muffs off. She's obviously the very temperamental young woman that she is.
"She's highly seasonal and has been well on her game all week, so we thought we'd try something different and just lead from the gate and the result is there.
"She makes it a hard job, but at the same time, she's delivered today (Tuesday)."
Integral to Tuesday's bold plan was Hope, who picked up her fourth win of the new season and was having her fourth ride aboard Stern In Grinzing
The 23-year-old-year-old insisted Maher's change in tactics had made all the difference as the mare held on for a narrow win.
"She wasn't in Erin's good books before the race because she's been a bit of a handful," she said.
"She rolled along at a nice tempo, but was in a bit of a mood before the race.
"But once she was out in front she just rolled along and they weren't getting on top of me, so I thought we'd better get going before they do. To her credit, she did a good job.
"She is quite moody, one day she is really good and the next day she's not. Today it was going to go either way - I wasn't quite sure what horse I was getting.
"But going forward today was the key for her."
Originally trained by Jason Warren and Dean Krongold at Mornington for four starts, Stern In Grinzing has been with Maher for her last 14 starts, on the back of three in South Australia for Murray Bridge trainer Karen Byrnes.
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