Grant Milne took a chance a decade ago and it paid off again when Money In The Till won her debut on Wairio Cup Day yesterday.
The Edendale horseman took honours as the breeder, owner and trainer of the 4yr-old, who rewarded him for his patience with an easy win for driver Blair Orange.
Milne trains the pacer with father Alex and bred and owns Money In The Till with mother Karen.
"We’re super stoked. We’ve had her since she was a foal, bred, owned and trained her," Grant said.
"We have had to be really patient but she looked good today."
Money In The Till is the third foal from Tilly Patron, who joined the Milnes after running seventh in a maiden claiming race at Ascot Park in January of 2016.
Milne saw star southern performer Shania Patron in the mare’s pedigree and decided to take a punt and put in a claim for her.
"I wanted the group 1 family, so we claimed her so that we could breed foals from her.
"This is the second winner out of two starters."
Tilly Patron also won with Orange in the sulky before retiring to the broodmare paddock.
The mare’s first winner, Til Heavens Rockn, was sold to Australian owners before starting in New Zealand.
The pacer won the 10th race of his career in New South Wales last month.
Money In The Till is the second winner for the Alex and Grant Milne training partnership, with Grant also owning and breeding their first in Cruising Fontana.
Milne junior previously worked in touch and rugby league development and coaching roles, but these days sport takes a back seat to horse training.
"It’s a tough gig. Race winners make it a bit better, but they’re few and far between. I bred a lot of horses and that’s why I’m doing it, to try to get them running along.
"I do enjoy it, every day is a whole lot of joy."
Milne has put plenty of time into Money In The Till, who took until her 4yr-old season to make her winning debut.
"We have been super patient. She was always a bit flighty — any noise, if anything moved, she would jump and be scared of it. She had real flight complex.
"Just slowly taking her forward, we took all the gear off so that she could learn how to do it properly before adding blinds now that she’s ready.
"She’s ready to go now — it was the perfect day."
Always Dreaming won the feature Wairio Cup after a stirring home-straight battle with runner-up Wag Star.
Wag Star eyeballed the winner before the home turn as Always Dreaming rallied strongly to win for trainer Nathan Williamson and driver Matthew Williamson in the smart time of 2min 54.6sec for 2400m.
