PINK Galahs is the little horse that could.
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The Ecklin South-trained filly stunned the harness racing world on Saturday night when she won the Group 1 Bill Collins Trotters Sprint at Melton.
Proud trainer and driver Mattie Craven said the result was "unbelievable".
Pink Galahs beat $1.60 favourite Dance Craze, with Craven's cousin Jason Lee in the sulky, by a head.
"We can't believe it. We are so excited, it was pretty unbelievable," Craven told The Standard.
"She had beaten some of the fancied rivals a couple of weeks prior so we knew she was capable. But she is a little three-year-old filly going into open-age company. They are basically the best trotters in Australia.
"She was giving away age, experience - everything basically. We weren't expecting much at all. If we ran in the top-five we were going to be rapt.
"She can still compete in her age grade in the Victoria Oaks this week but we just felt she deserved a chance in a race like that. We had a throw at the stumps and hit the stumps."
Craven said Pink Galahs, whose win netted $28,500 in prize money, was athletic for a "little horse".
"If you saw her in a line-up, you'd never pick her out. She's tiny, she doesn't look anything," he said. "Everyone looks at her and just shakes their head, they can't believe what she's doing and how she does it."
Craven said the victory was special for all involved including co-owners Caleb and Laura Lewis and Bryan Healy.
Caleb, who grew up in Hamilton and owns the Gordon Hotel in Portland, is one of Craven's best mates. They knew Pink Galahs was something special early on despite her unassuming nature.
"Caleb is a big fan of Johnny Williamson and he has a song Gallery of Pink Galahs so that is where the name comes from," Craven said.
"Her nickname is The Brown Dog. She was fouled down at his father's place in Hamilton.
"They'd let her out around the farm and she's just wander around like a brown dog. She was tiny, like a little brown dog. The name stuck and we laugh about it all the time."
Craven said Pink Galahs' success was a testament to "all the people who help" including his partner Sofia Arvidsson, workers, parents, brothers, aunts and uncles.
"We are a team. I am just basically try and point everyone in the right direction," he said.
"Dad will be there at the drop of a hat to help, mum cooks us lunch everyday."
Justine McCullagh-Beasy
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
