By PAUL YANDALL
Homin Hosed, which picked up New Zealand's premier trotting prize last week, is also a pretty apt description of how its unassuming owners now feel.
Bryan and Marilyn Macey, of Matangi, near Hamilton, do not have a class trackside training ground or a large stable of champion runners, or
even any real history of breeding horses.
The only thing they really have is the only thing that matters in racing - a winner.
When 5-year-old Homin Hosed won the New Zealand Trotting Cup by a nose at Addington last Tuesday, a part-time hobby suddenly became a $209,000 ticket to glory for the Maceys.
"I actually thought Holmes DG had won. It was a hell of a feeling when the result came through," said Mr Macey, a 66-year-old retired veterinarian-cum-trainer.
"I was just happy because he'd run a good race. To win - well, it's hard to explain the feeling. You just had to be there."
And be a Macey, one suspects.
"When Bryan retired in 1994 he decided to train them fulltime," said 64-year-old Mrs Macey. "We said then that we'd give it five years to make a success out of it."
Five years on, they have career earnings of half a million dollars and 15 wins and six placings from 24 starts from their crown jewel.
Success does not get much bigger for a player in New Zealand's harness racing game - and a very small player at that.
The Maceys own six horses, five of which have potential, two of which have class.
Flask, a 3-year-old filly, is considered one of the best in the country. Something for the future, said Mr Macey.
But for now it is the backyard paddock for Homin Hosed. The champion will spend the summer training near the Maceys' newly extended farmhouse.
"They say he should always have a cover on him, but we pretty much let him be," said Mrs Macey.
Homin Hosed's Australian campaign begins in January, when it will race in the million-dollar Interdominion series.
So what does it take to win?
"Trying to breed the best horses as best you can and trying to train them properly," said Mr Macey.
Getting that right would get you halfway there, he said, and with a bit of luck - well, with a bit of luck you are Homin Hosed.
