CHRISTCHURCH - Timaru trainer Lyn Melville was on tenterhooks as she watched Saturday's Homeby Steeplechase at Riccarton.
Melville sat in the stand with fingers crossed and heart in the mouth as she dreaded her horse Tight Edge would break down during the race.
Tight Edge went on to win but Melville later admitted she had been on the point of not loading Tight Edge on the float to Riccarton after the horse developed swelling in the tendon area after a minor knock.
"I was sure in my own mind it would be all right but it looked ugly and I had second thoughts," Melville said.
"I had it checked out on the course and got the OK, but my greatest fear during the race was that he would break down."
Instead, it was one of the greatest thrills in racing for a small-team trainer who seems to save her best moments for Riccarton.
In the early 1980s one of her first racehorses, Polacca, raced with Ray Coupland, won the Easter Classic at Riccarton with Chris Johnson up.
Tight Edge, on the other hand, has won only one race on the flat and that was a long time ago - more than five years.
"But he was always going to be a jumper," said Melville, who has a strong background in eventing and showjumping.
"We bought him for that and had to give him a few years to settle down. He was a fiery sort," Melville, her husband Peter, and Temuka sportsman Bob Hanafin leased Tight Edge initially from Ron Langsford, who is best known as the trainer of the well-performed Rebel.
Now everything is set for the Grand National Steeplechase at Riccarton in August.
"He won't race again before Riccarton. It will give that leg a chance to look better."
Tight Edge was ridden by Barry Jones who was having his ride over the Riccarton country.
Jones began his association with racing 15 years ago when apprenticed to Kelly Thompson in Southland.
He later spent four years riding trackwork in Sydney, which he regarded as a great skill builder.
"You aren't in the limelight but what you learn about judgment of pace and general horsemanship is unequalled," Jones said.
Jones and his wife Judy then returned to New Zealand and were in the rental car and cafe business before the lure of the horses proved too strong.
"I'm now working full-time for Barry Howden and it's awesome. He's great to work with."
The revamped jumping course at Riccarton drew praise from riders, including Megan Prendergast, who nearly won on the grand veteran Joe Bee Oh.
Joe Bee Oh dictated the early pace but was harried at times in the middle stages before shooting through to lead at the last fence.
Meanwhile trainer Stephen Woodsford reckons he has a Winter Cup prospect in Townman after the four-year-old showed grit to win the Industrial Painters Handicap.
"That is what I will set him for now," Woodsford said.
"He loves Riccarton and he's a class horse. That is the race for him."
- NZPA
Racing: Victory sweeps away fears of a breakdown at Riccarton
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