Training tweaks pay off for southern trotter

by Jonny Turner

A change of training regime allowed One Two Menny to show his true worth when winning at Winton yesterday.

The headstrong trotter delivered a polished front-running performance to win race 6 for trainer Robert Wilson and driver Kirk Larsen. It was his fourth win in 26 starts.

One Two Menny is well known as a horse with plenty of power but who can also get very keen in his races.

Though he clearly wasn’t too relaxed in the running yesterday, the trotter delighted Wilson with the manners he showed when striding to victory over a tidy field.

“It was extra good – the good thing was he settled and he dug in at the end and really run home good,” Wilson said.

“I was rapt with him.”

One Two Menny has been a constant work in progress since joining the Wilson stable at Balfour.

The trainer credits a change to the horse’s training regime as being the key to him producing excellent efforts in two of his three starts this time in.

“This season we have changed his training around a bit and tried to get him to relax a bit more in his runs.”

“Some of it has worked and some of it hasn’t.”

“But we have got a better understanding of the horse and I think he has got a bit ahead of him yet.”

One Two Menny is one of three horses the K Club Syndicate have bred from One Two Kenny, a daughter of former smart racemare One Under Kenny.

“They’re great guys, they are basically based out of Timaru and I hear from them weekly.”

“It is great to get a few dollars for them,” Wilson said.

One Two Menny’s win completed a winning trotting double for Kirk Larsen.

The trainer-driver produced Easy Count to win race 1 yesterday.

The countdown to a significant milestone heated up after Nathan Williamson drove two winners at yesterday’s meeting.

Victories with Bombay Glacier and Miki Knows took Williamson to 993 driving wins in New Zealand.

The reinsman is just seven wins away from becoming just the second Southland-based driver to win 1000 races.

Clark Barron was the first to achieve the feat in 2015.