The 6yr-old finally broke through to record his first win at his 27th start when he went clear in the maiden trot at Forbury Park last night.
Allen is leasing the son of Thanksgiving from his old rugby friend, Alan Edge, who raced the horse previously from his brother Neil Edge's stable after the horse began his career with Alan Clark.
Allen, a former Cantabrian who played representative rugby for the red and blacks, spent the last 40 years in Hawkes Bay before moving to Katiki last October.
''My brother [John] is down this way at Kakanui and trains greyhounds,'' he said''We've got 6km of beach there. I'm passionate about my trotters - I wouldn't have a pacer on the place.
''We use the beach and they've got 35 acres [14ha] of rolling hill just off the highway. [The horses] just thrive on it.''
Allen trained from Waimarama, southeast of Hastings, during his time in the North Island, and his last winner was the appropriately named Waimarama at Cambridge in December 2006.
Perfect start
Mitchell Kerr could not have asked for a better start to his training career when Alta Jerome won the junior drivers' mobile pace for Kerr (22) and his father, Paul.
Kerr was not expecting to begin his training career so quickly, having carved out a name for himself as a junior driver, and was greatly appreciative of his father's decision to bring him in to the partnership.
''Dad sort of surprised me when he got back from holiday,'' Kerr said.
''This is our first start tonight so that's good.''
Alta Jerome's win was his fifth from 16 starts for owners who include breeders Tony Dickinson, Cleland Murdoch and Dave Kennedy, along with Harness Racing New Zealand chairman Gary Allen and Carl Acklin, of Oamaru.
''He's always shown a bit of ability and with trips like that [in the running], he can capitalise on them,'' Kerr said.
He's probably going to go to Winton next week while we're down here, and then go out for a good break after that.''
A well-used trail
Graeme Anderson collected a win for his Cambridge friends John Dickie and Richard Bright when King Cyril took advantage of the trail to win the c1 mobile pace - one of three wins for Dexter Dunn on the night.
Anderson spent several years training in Cambridge in the late 1990s, and struck up a friendship with Dickie - the trainer of trotters such as Romper Stomper, Paramount Geegee and Flying Isa - and Bright, who runs the sports bar at Cambridge Raceway with Dickie.
The Mach Three 5yr-old won at Alexandra Park in December, but was sent south to Anderson two months ago.
King Cyril's first start for Anderson produced a seventh from a wide draw, but Anderson said the gelding took full advantage of last night's inside barrier draw.
