NZ HARNESS NEWS
Scott Phelan is trying to set his mind aside from the phone calls he keeps getting about the filly he trains, Magical Miss.
The daughter of Mach Three has been one of the talk horses in the north in recent weeks after two excellent trial wins by a combined total of 10 lengths.
As is often the case, agents and other trainers with rich clients have started ringing, but no-one has met his hefty asking price yet.
“There has been a fair bit of interest in her, but no money has been put up yet,” he said.
Phelan took Magical Miss to Cambridge for her debut last Friday evening with dreams of a winning debut and perhaps a sale deal, but the race was aborted with half a mile to go after a horse crashed and died a lap prior.
“She was travelling as good as gold at the time.
“She took a wee bit of a knock in the accident, but it was nothing too bad.
“We pretty much knew straight away that the race would be called off by the time we got back around.”
So, he takes her in to Alexandra Park tomorrow night (Friday) for a second attempt at a debut but she has drawn the outside of the front line in a strong field.
“It’s nice enough for a maiden field and I suppose it will mean we get a good line on just home good she is this week.
“Her draw isn’t very good but there’s not much we can do about it.
“She’s not as comfortable the Auckland way around, but it is a month until the next Cambridge meeting so we’ve got to start somewhere.”
Phelan is a pretty reserved character at the best of times, so it goes without saying that he isn’t getting carried away with his latest project.
“She’s a nice enough filly but she’s only ever worked with other horses about five or six times and two of them were at the trials and another was in the race at Cambridge.
“Everything she’s done has been by herself, so she still has a fair bit to learn.
“But if she keeps on improving, I think she should turn out to be quite a nice filly.”
That’s about all you can expect from the experienced trainer and driver who lets his efforts on the track do most of the talking.
Phelan rose to prominence as a teenager when promoted to drive aging champion Holmes DG by then-boss Barry Purdon back in 2003.
He would go on to join Purdon in a training partnership for four seasons from 2007-2011 before a stint in Australia.
More recently he worked at, and drove race night for, Stonewall Stud and Steve Telfer, but that partnership ended last season and he has now come full circle to work with Purdon again.
“I’m back at Barry’s in the mornings and I help Jay Abernethy out a little bit, too.”
Magical Miss, who he co-leases from Albany breeders Chris and Tina Barlow, is the only horse he has in training.
“I had three horses but I only had time to do two and she was the one sitting in the paddock.
“So, I sacked the other two because I wanted to get her back in work and running along.”
The hardest for Magical Miss to beat this week will be Caitlyn Clarke, who has drawn the inside barrier for Todd MacFarlane.
- NZ Harness News
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