A Jack Russell puppy from a litter on the family farm has ultimately delivered Wangaratta trainer Chris Davis his most successful galloper in his 30-year career.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Just Stellar broke a 567-day drought with victory in a benchmark 58 at Kilmore (1200m) on Thursday.
The seven-year-old mare is owned by Davis and wife Kirsty after Benalla trainer-breeder Russell Osborne and his wife, Dr Caroline Duddy, were at their wits end with her as a yearling.
The then unnamed Just Stellar out of She's Just Ace by Redente, was simply too aggressive and Osborne wasn't willing to keep her.
"He sent her to two breakers and they couldn't complete the job because she was that dangerous," Davis said.
"I'm a slaughterman for pet food, but I've had my trainer's licence for 30 years and our love of horses is paramount.
"Russell said to me 'this horse is so dangerous, either bring your gun or bring your float and you can take the horse away'.
ALSO IN SPORT:
"I opted for the better option of looking after the horse and he suggested I send her to Peter Moffat the breaker at Benalla. He was able to complete breaking her in and did a really good job on her.
"When we started taking her to the trials, she was quite impressive and was beating some really good horses.
"Russell had given me this horse virtually as a gift, so Caroline being the vet was coming to our farm at Violet Town checking on some other mares in the stables.
"We had a litter of puppies at that time and Caroline fell in love with these little Jack Russells and said Russell would love to have one as a companion. I said 'take one', it was the least I could do.
"I gave Russell a puppy from our litter of puppies and I'd like to call that even-steven (laughs). He got a $200,000 puppy and I got this horse called Just Stellar.
"Russell loves the story. The puppy was good for him and the horse has been very good for us.
"Russell and Caroline from Riverbank Farm have been extremely good to us, so we bred some more Redentes and we've had a lot of success with using their stud."
Davis revealed the aggression is still there with Just Stellar, with only three staff from the stable that handle her with kid gloves.
"We can't catch her in the paddock, she attacks us and chases us out of the paddock," Davis said.
"She's brought my stable manager to the ground and she's kicked me out of the stables.
"You've got to handle her very dominantly, but quietly. If you smack her she will attack you, so there's a lot of love given to Just Stellar."
The victory at Kimore on Thursday was Just Stellar's eighth win from 65 starts, having last saluted at Wangaratta on October 4, 2018.
Davis said Just Stellar pulled up extremely well, and, incredibly, will back up on Sunday at Swan Hill in a 0-58 handicap (1300m).
"If she was a two-year-old I wouldn't do it, but she's a well-raced seven-year-old, a strong, mature horse and you can do that," he said.
"We'll go there with more confidence in a 0-58 than the benchmark 58 at Kilmore."