A BALLARAT Synthetic win on Monday with Just Wishing was indeed a wish come true for Graham Donaldson.
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The long-time Bendigo trainer capped a big two days for the stable with his second winner in as many days.
Just Wishing's emphatic 1500m benchmark 58 victory - the six-year-old mare's first with Donaldson as her trainer - followed that of Buchan Hoaks the day before at Wangaratta.
It was the first time in 15 years the affable trainer has gone back-to-back with his team.
He last achieved the feat in 2007 with his 2005 Donald Cup winner Sanireka at Wangaratta followed by Doc Searle at Benalla, a few days apart.
A gelding, who won seven races and was placed three times in 32 starts for Donaldson, Doc Searle was his last individual horse to score back-to-back wins at Benalla and Edenhope in April 2007, something Buchan Hopes and Just Wishing will be attempting to do when they next head to the races.
READ MORE: Trainer hopes Doc's a tonic
Ridden perfectly to instructions by Tahlia Hope, Just Wishing, a $15-chance and without a win since last September, was one of the outsiders in the small eight-horse field at Ballarat.
But Donaldson, who acquired the mare from Cranbourne trainer Bevan Laming last November, was bullish about her chances on race day.
The reason for his confidence was the daughter of So You Think's impressive synthetic-track form.
"Her form on synthetics is six starts, three wins, a second and a third, so guess where he is going in a fortnight? Ballarat." he said.
"I've basically raced her just to get the fitness up for the synthetics. From here on she should just about be right.
"She went super. The instructions to Tahlia were pretty much jump out, get to the front and go faster."
And that is exactly how the race unfolded.
Hope sent Just Wishing straight to the front from barrier six and was quick to build up a two-length buffer over her rivals.
When challenged on the corner by the equal favourite Bonamassa (Craig Newitt), the mare was able to find another gear, going on to score by nearly three-lengths and notching up her fourth win in 33 starts in the process.
Hope's good fortune was fellow jockey Bruno Neto's bad luck.
The Brazilian-born Neto, who is based at Bendigo with local trainer Brent Stanley, was originally engaged to ride Just Wishing, but due to a six-day suspension starting on Monday, he was sidelined.
Finding a replacement on Monday morning proved an exhaustive search for Donaldson and his daughter Emma Pontelandolfo, who co-owns Just Wishing and Buchan Hoaks.
"Tahlia was the last senior jockey we could find, then we would have gone to an apprentice," he said.
"I reckon Emma would have tried eight different jockeys, but Tahlia was happy to jump on and she got the result for us.
"She is a nice enough horse, we have just been waiting for the right conditions.
"Now that we've got them we should be okay."
The instructions to Tahlia (Hope) were pretty much jump out, get to the front and go faster.
- Graham Donaldson
Adding to Donaldson's excitement is the potential of the stable's unraced two-year-old Timbolton.
The gelding, by Turffontein out of Flying Choice, won an 800-metre jump-out at Kyneton earlier this month, beating Tern And Go, who came out and broke her maiden at Geelong 10-days later, and the metro-placed Lady Adelaide, both from the Patrick Payne stable.
Fresh from his Wangaratta win on Sunday with Buchan Hoaks, Donaldson will target the Elmore Cup on June 3 with the six-year-old gelding.
A good day for the Bendigo training ranks at Ballarat included a win in the final race on the program for the Kym Hann stable with Pal's Reward.
The five-year-old gelding won for the fourth time in 23 starts and was confidently ridden by Bendigo-based jockey John Robertson.
READ MORE: Buchan Hoaks likely bound for Elmore Cup
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