Danke means ''thanks'' in German but syndicate manager Mark McNamara was dishing out plenty of the English equivalent after race 1 at Forbury Park last night.
McNamara convinced 19 others to put in $150 each to buy the rising 8yr-old trotter, who had shown enough speed in his 73 starts, but not much in the way of manners.
But McNamara, the harness and thoroughbred commentator for Canterbury, had seen something in the son of Sundon that was worth chasing for the freshly-formed Danke For Coming Syndicate.
''He's gone some pretty good races in his time and we thought a change of scenery might have been a bit of a key,'' McNamara.
That change of scenery was the Burnham training operation of Mark Jones after spending his career with Murray Edmonds at Motukarara.
''We didn't expect to have a win so soon. We've got our money back in one hit so it's another pleasurable night at Forbury.''
• It was a mixture of the old and new for Bruce Negus last night when Em Ay produced an impressive burst to win a 1700m fillies and mares mobile pace.
On the filly's dam side, her sixth dam is Glint, a fine filly in 1955.
''It was the first horse my father [Bob] ever had when he was young and just starting out,'' Negus said.
''She won the Oaks and got second in the Derby to False Step. And she beat False Step in the Welcome Stakes, so she was really good - but there hasn't been a really good one since.
''So I'm hoping this is it - but I'm only hoping at this stage.''
By contrast, Em Ay's now-defunct sire, Rob Roy Mattgregor, left only one crop in New Zealand before transferring to Australia.
Em Ay is the first New Zealand winner for Rob Roy Mattgregor - and also the first winner in more than 10 years for Negus' sister, Robyn Garrett, and mother Heather Tangye.
''They haven't had a horse for years so they bought a half-share off me when I couldn't sell a Rob Roy Mattgregor to anybody,'' Negus said.
''They've given me free feeds and Christmas dinners for 50 to 60 years so I thought I better get them a good one.''
• Ray Chalklin had a dream introduction to harness racing when the Graeme Anderson-trained Highview Illusion held on to win a c1 mobile pace.
Chalklin has enjoyed success with the thoroughbred sprinter Anzac Star (10 wins) but thought about getting into harness racing in the last 12 months.
''Paul Barnes, at Wingatui, let Graeme know I was looking for a pacer,'' Chalklin said.
Graeme and I talked about a year ago and then this one came up.''
• Matthew Williamson's wait to bring up his 500th winner goes on, after Dexter Dunn pipped him at the line twice last night.
Dunn's three wins takes him to 214 wins for the season - six short of his record of 220 set in the 2010-11 season.
Dunn will drive at Ashburton tomorrow, Addington on Friday and Rangiora on July 26 before he heads to Europe to drive at the Vincent Delaney Memorial meeting in Ireland as well as enjoying a holiday.
Dunn is not fussed if he manages to set a new mark or not.
''It doesn't really worry me - 220 is an easy number to remember anyway.''
• Robbie Close edged closer to Stevie Golding in the junior drivers' premiership. He won with Zena Mac and Firebreak to move to 38 wins for the season, one behind Golding.
