Those thoughts certainly rung true for the Campbell family and the connections of Mazikeen following the young trotting mare's breakthrough win at Kilmore last Friday night

The daughter of Bacardi Lindy and the unraced mare Photogenic Too was having just the fourth start of her stop-start career.

Mazikeen, bred by Maree and husband Paul Campbell, has only recently returned to racing following a long layoff with injury.

The mare had two starts as an early three-year-old in late-2019 before suffering an unexplained tendon injury.

It has taken the Campbells plenty of patience and perseverance and a ton of good management by them and, in particular, veterinarian Sarah Jalim to not only get Mazikeen back to the track, but into the winner's circle.

Those efforts paid off when the mare made her race return earlier this month at Kilmore and were rewarded two-fold with a win last Friday.

"We really liked her as a young horse, she had a couple of starts and then she did her tendon," Maree Campbell said.

"It was 18-months in between starts, lots of ultra-sounds by Sarah Jalim from the Victorian Equine Group, and we brought her along nice and slowly to give her every possible chance we could. In the end it paid off.

"She's a nice type of trotter and has a good feel to her when you are driving her.

"The first couple of starts (in November and December 2019), before she broke down, we just wanted her to get around and do things right, but we always thought she would eventually win races."

An early frustration for Campbell was not knowing exactly when and how Mazikeen injured her tendon.

"She's such a hoon in the paddock, but there was no sign of it," she said.

"We detected a bit of inflammation and we kept it iced and then we took her in (to the vets) and found out she needed 12 months off.

"From there things started to mend and she got busy walking. But she was absolutely sick of doing the walking exercises once she got up to doing 40 minutes every day.

"She was actually glad to eventually able to do some trotting."

While Mazikeen's health and welfare were always front and centre in the Campbell's thinking, so too were their thoughts for the mare's ownership group, among them a sprinkling of first-timers.

All were offered and jumped at the chance of a share in another horse - this time a pacer - Matacey Mac.

The filly had 17 starts between November last year and August this year before being retired and provided many of her connections with their first win when she broke through at Charlton in April.

In a twist of irony, her retirement roughly coincided with the period when plans for Mazikeen's return were gathering pace.

Matacey Mac has since found a new home and a new career as an embryo recipient mare.

Mazikeen's breakthrough win was aided by a brilliant steer by champion driver Greg Sugars.

A permanent fixture towards the top of the state driver's premiership for well over a decade and the victor in 2014-15, Sugars has shown a definite knack for combining with the Campbells to get their horses their first win.

Some fresh momentum for the stable continued on Monday night when Belittled, driven by young gun James Herbertson, came from last in the home straight to finish all over the top of his rivals for a victory at Swan Hill.

It was the five-year-old pacer and one-time Lord's Raceway track record holder's first win since January, 16 starts ago.

By Campbell's own admission, it was a long time between drinks for the stable since Matacey Mac's triumph back in April.

"We had a great start to the year with Sunofatrump (January 2 at Melton) and Lucinda Mac and Belittled (January 21 at Bendigo) all winning within a few weeks of each other," she said.

"Hopefully the next one isn't too far away."

Next up for Mazikeen will be a standing start race at Maryborough this Sunday.

It's shaping as an exciting two-months ahead until the end of the 2021 season for the Campbell stable, with a trio of two-year-olds slated to make their debut in coming weeks, with one of them Mac Cheddar trialling at Bendigo last Monday night.

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