Danger Zone top gun at Winton

By Jonny Turner 

Deserved win might be an overused term in harness racing but it surely applies to Danger Zone’s victory at Winton.

The pacer delivered a freshly made thrill for his owners and trainers Richard and Fiona Stevens when scoring for driver Blair Orange.

The victory came in a race the Stevens sponsored, the Subway Winton Mobile Pace.

The couple combine their passion for harness racing with running Subway franchises in Winton, as well as Queenstown.

Both require attention seven days a week, and both deliver rewards.

“You’ve got to do the paying job to do the fun job,” Fiona Stevens said.

“It is rather chaotic some weeks.”

Danger Zone brought fair form to his home track, partly because he had taken on quality fields in his thirteen prior starts.

The pacer contested three of this year’s Southern Supremacy Stakes heats and had he not, they may not have even been run.

“We had a go, the fields were quite light at that stage and we had a go.”

“We knew it was going to be tough.”

“He had a wee bit of a setback after that, so we gave him a spell, and he has come back a lot stronger going through the weeks and today was awesome.”

Danger Zone and Swahili are among the small team the Stevens prepare at Winton.

The owner-trainers purchased both three-year-olds from the national yearling sales and have gone on to secure their dams.

Danger Zone is from the race-winning Art Major mare Cougar Bromac, who is due to foal a full sibling to the Winton winner in the coming weeks.

The couple also have a yearling from the mare by emerging sire The Storm Inside.

Richard Stevens did the driving behind Swahili, meaning Orange was needed to jump behind Danger Zone when the pair clashed.

Thursday’s win was the sixth for the Stevens since they entered into an official training partnership.

The couple are enjoying their best year with their team with four wins so far.

Brett Gray added to his lead in the Southland trainers’ premiership with a winning treble at Winton, taking him to 32 victories this year.

The trainer combined with Brent Barclay for an upset win with maiden trotter Don’t Stop Believing before Nathan Williamson piloted both Jaccka Jim and Foxing Easton to victory.

Williamson was forced to scratch his comeback trotter Duchess Maria due to a minor hoof issue.

The problem is not expected to have a major impact on the three-year-old’s campaign and she remains on track for the upcoming Sires Stakes Classique at Addington.