KEY POINTS:
Veteran Cambridge trainer Don Sellwood did not have to say much after his second Railway Handicap win at Ellerslie yesterday.
The tears he couldn't hold back after cheering Andrew Calder and Imananabaa home in the $200,000 group one feature said it all.
"This probably won't sink in for
a while," said an emotional Sellwood after regaining some composure.
"But it's a lot off my mind to win this. You really do deserve everything you get in this game. You're there every minute of every day worrying about them - I'm exhausted."
Stablemate Brianna may have failed by just a nose to make it a fairytale quinella for Sellwood.
Yet the photo-finish miss didn't dampen the moment.
He had repaid the faith of Imananabaa's trio of high-profile owners - Peter Walker, Sir Patrick Hogan and Alastair Sutherland - in switching the mare to his stable when Jim Gibbs announced his retirement.
Equally importantly, Sellwood had proven to himself he still had the group-race touch - and with a mare who needs "kids-gloves" handling.
Imananabaa's victory was Sellwood's second Railway. He won the 1979 version with Al Donte and two years later Drum added the Auckland Cup to his trophy cabinet.
Imananabaa's big-race breakthrough was Sellwood's first at group level since Count Chivas won the South Australian Derby in 1995.
Disillusioned with the game, Sellwood handed in his licence and took a job as foreman for Roger James.
"The kids had left home and I wanted a change of plan," said Sellwood of his foreman role. "But I wasn't really content there. I reapplied for my licence because I just thought, 'What do you do as well after all these years of doing what you do.'
"I love my horses. The hardest part is getting someone to help you."
Calder was determined not to let Sellwood down yesterday. He had been aboard in all three of the mare's seconds for Sellwood since November and was confident he had the key to the turnaround at Ellerslie.
"I said to Don there was going to be no hard-luck stories today," said Calder, who admits he battled with his weight on return to New Zealand.
"With no pacemaker in the field, I planned to have her two lengths further forward than normal.
Ironically, rider Noel Harris says Imananabaa cost him a closer spot aboard the late-charging Brianna.
"The stablemate didn't do me any favours in the first furlong."
