Mattie Craven Racing Stable Update

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1 Mattie Craven Racing Stable Update Get Involved!!!! Stable Newsletter August 2017 In this edition: Century of winners for the season Mister Oz and Mister Gunsen return to form Meet Max We celebrate our recent success Get Involved We get to know Steve Blacker Welcome to the August edition of the Mattie Craven Racing stable newsletter. As always there has been plenty happening both on and off the track to keep the team busy. With the season rapidly drawing to a close, it is the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the season that we have had and take the chance to thank the many people that have helped make this season so successful. During August, we were privileged to achieve a significant milestone when we celebrated our 100th winner for the season. As a stable we are driven to ensure that we achieve the best results for our owners and we don t necessarily concentrate on reaching certain milestones. However it has been especially pleasing to reach the 100 winners mark, due largely to the huge team effort that it takes to do so. We won t be able to individually name all of the people but special thanks go to Mum, Dad, Simon, Glen and Danny for their ongoing support. Damien, Des, Harry and John for their help in establishing our new stables. All of our stable helpers, in particular Chris, Clare, Peppy, Malin, Max and Jimmy And most importantly, to our loyal and supportive owners. In this edition we will review the recent successes of a couple of veteran trotters in Mister Gunsen and Mister Oz. We get to know Steve Blacker who has recently joined our team and made an immediate impact behind the scenes helping out around the stables. As always, we are constantly on the lookout for new stable acquisitions, so if you would like to get involved with the stable, please get in contact or follow us on Twitter, Facebook or our mattiejcraven.com.au Century of Winners for the Season On a dull and dreary August night, the team made the trek down the road to Dalvui Raceway with a team of 9 runners engaged, hoping to secure that illusive winner to crack the ton for the season. With Prince McArdle and Emveepee representing the stables best chances, both going under in the first few races, things were looking bleak. With 5 runners facing the starter in penultimate race of the evening, the team remained hopeful that one of the five runners could get the job done. Enter Mister Gunsen! Given the perfect run throughout by Glen Craven, Mister Gunsen dashed through at the top of the lane to career away and record and effortless win. In what was a momentous occasion, the win was made all the more special being that Mister Gunsen is raced by Mattie s mum Helen and brother Simon. We certainly don t set out to achieve milestones like this, it is certainly satisfying and very much a team effort declared Mattie. I am very fortunate to have fantastic owners, staff, family and friends who have supported me throughout my career and I am indebted to so many people for helping me along the way. The bar has now certainly been raised for next season, with the stable gearing up to eclipse this seasons record.

2 Mattie Craven Racing Page 2 Mister Oz and Mister Gunsen return to form!! Tony Walker thought that these horses would do a One of the surprises of the stable in recent months has been the return to form of a former smart trotter in Mister Gunsen. Joining the stable with his former stablemate Misterr Oz, Mister Gunsen arrived in fine fettle having been off the scene for sometime convalescing from an injury. Sourced through the expert eye of Tony Maxi Div Walker, Mister Gunsen made his debut for the stable at Hamilton, almost 12 months to the day since his previous run on June 12. Commencing from 40 metres behind, Mister Gunsen made light work of his handicap, comfortably saluting with almost 10 metres to spare from his nearest rival in Columbias Deejay with Lombo Scrutinizer a further 4 metres away. However, it was to be his next win at Terang on the 15th August that was to be his most significant win for the stable. Beginning well for reinsman Glen Craven, Mister Gunsen occupied the coveted position behind the leader before letting loose up the lane to score effortlessly in a solid mile rate of Mister Gunsen s former stablemate in Mister Oz has also done a remarkable job for the stable since arriving from astute mentor Paul Grech. Stepping out for the first time for Mattie in late June, Mister Oz scored brilliantly at Horsham by an ever increasing 12 metres. Mister Oz then followed this up with wins at Terang the following week and Charlton three weeks later, making it 3 wins and 3 placings from 7 starts since joining the stable. Mister Oz is raced by local racing identities in Mark and John Atchison, Stuey Bishop, Matty Williams, Jockeys Ben Melham and Mark Zahra along with Geoff McLaren, Cork Walsh, Phillip Mitchem and Tyler Hussey They are a great bunch of owners and have been very supportive of me, mused Mattie. Tony Walker thought that these horses would do a great job and he was certainly prophetic in his thoughts. Hopefully both horses continue working through their grades with further wins in store. great job Mattie effusive in his praise for Mister Oz and Mister Gunsen Connections of Mister Oz following a recent win at Terang.

3 August 2017 Page 3 Meet Max! For many stables, it is the work of the unsung heroes behind the scenes that are pivotal to our success. Mattie Craven Racing is extremely lucky to have many dedicated staff, helpers, family and friends who work tirelessly to ensure that your horses are given every opportunity to reach their potential. One of the integral members of our team is Mark Maxi Driscoll. Max is responsible for breaking in our youngsters and ensuring that they are sufficiently educated to cope and adapt with the rigours of stable life. Often many people are unaware of the many hours that go into educating a horse and we are certainly lucky to have Max assist us with educating our youngsters. Located in Colac, Max receives most of our youngsters straight from the sales or the farm and is given the responsibility of teaching them the tricks of the trade. Max will spend countless hours handling the horse, grooming, tying up, picking up their feet and putting the horses mind at ease as it adjusts to being handled. From here, Max will begin placing gear on the horse to then commencing the mouthing process where he will teach the horse to accept the bit and respond to it. Following acceptance of the bit, Max will commence long reining the horse where he will walk behind the horse and teach it to steer and stop. Once satisfied that the horse has been successfully mouthed, Max will then progress to gaiting up the horse where he teaches and assists the horse to either pace or trot. Following a few trips behind the tractor or jogger, Max will then jump in the cart and begin driving the horse around his track and the road to future stardom begins!! Following a few weeks of practice the horse may then go home for a short spell before returning to Max for several more education and pretraining preparations. Max does a real good job in educating our youngsters and we thank him for the fantastic job that he does. Max does a real good job educating our youngsters Mattie s praise for break Max Driscoll Youngsters learning to be tied up at breaker Max Driscoll s

4 Recent Winners Congratulations to all involved!!!

5 Mattie Craven Racing 1799 Ayrford Road South Ecklin, via Terang Victoria 3264 Phone: Website: mattiejcraven.com.au Shares Available Currently we have shares available in a promising youngster by Pet Rock out of The Baggy Green. This gelding has recently been broken in and is progressing along nicely. Contact Mattie for more information. We are always on the lookout for new opportunities, so please get in contact with us to discuss your ownership requirements and how we can best meet your needs. We can cater for sole ownership or groups, so please feel free to get involved!! Get Involved Steve Blacker Profile Name: Steve Blacker Favourite Food: Chinese Favourite Drink: Bundy and Coke If you had to sing Karaoke what would you sing: Anything by Neil Diamond What do you like about the trots?? The horses and the people they are both very genuine. Favourite horse in the stable?? Magicool Earliest Harness Racing memory?? Going to Terang as a 5 or 6 year old and having a sit behind one of Rex Johnstone s horses.