Big birthday celebrations for the Milnes at Gore

By Jonny Turner 

Money In The Till created a moment the Milne family won’t forget when she ran to victory at Gore on Thursday.

The win was the first official success father Alex and sons Grant and Nigel Milne have enjoyed together. 

Based in Victoria, Nigel is back in New Zealand to celebrate his 50th birthday and he’s now landed himself a present his whole family can enjoy.

Money In The Till is trained by Alex and Grant, with Grant breeding and owning the mare with he and Nigel’s mother, Karen.

Grant admitted he dreamt of creating a moment to treasure when asking Nigel to drive Money In The Till.

Seeing it become a reality was an incredible thrill.

“I offered Nigel the drive last week knowing he wasn’t here to drive horses,” Grant said. 

“He’s back home to celebrate a milestone birthday and to spend time with the family.”

“But I thought she’s a decent horse and I was picturing that special moment for the family.”

“Nigel’s wife and daughters were in the crowd and there were plenty of the family in the birdcage for the photo, so it was pretty special.”

Nigel has won 324 races in the sulky in Victoria, training a further 13 winners.

Thursday’s win was the horseman’s second driving victory in New Zealand.

Nigel drove Kaka Point Christy to score at Winton in 2010 when his father Alex trained in a solo capacity.

While it might be Nigel’s birthday, it now remains unclear who gifted whom the presents when the reinsman drove his family’s horse to win.

The win is also good reward for the work Nigel and his wife Danielle have been putting in at Alex and Grant’s Edendale stable.

“They are meant to be on holiday but Nigel and Danielle have been working every day at the stables,” Grant said.

“They’ve been putting in walk-in, walk-out yard which is a bit of a legacy project they’ll be leaving behind on their visit.”

Money In The Till’s victory didn’t come without a few worrying moments.

The mare raced greenly with a lap to go, refusing to cross to the lead.

Grant is hopeful the four-year-old will overcome those tendencies with more racing.

“She is not a leader and she was pricking her ears and she just didn’t want to cross over.”

“She will learn it one day, the week-to-week racing is going to be a big help, because she is just inexperienced.”

Money In The Till’s win came in the first heat of the Diamond Creek SBSR Tuapeka Golden Girls Series.

The Milnes will look at racing the mare in the next two heats of the series before its final on Tuapeka Cup Day.