KATRINA Fitzpatrick loves trotters. So much so the Cardigan harness racing trainer’s stable has largely been the exclusive domain of squaregaiters over the years.
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Rarely has there been a pacer in sight.
However, you can never say never, and new acquisition Chasing Chelsea has broken the mould for Fitzpatrick.
The four-year-old is a pacer, and Fitzpatrick could not happier with the way being reacquainted with the alternative gait has worked out.
Fitzpatrick said her friend Sue Brennan was looking to get back into harness racing ownership and Chasing Chelsea seemed an ideal prospect when she came on the market.
“I saw her advertised on the internet,” she said.
“When I first inquired about her I was told she had been sold.
“We then found out the sale didn’t go through, so we took the opportunity.”
Fitzpatrick said she had to go back about 20 years to the likes of Reasons (nine wins) and Rhapsody (12 wins) when she last trained pacers.
She said this had been highlighted by the fact that she had to buy a set of hopples when Chasing Chelsea arrived from the Bolinda stable of Paul and Kari Males.
One of the major benefits in getting Chasing Chelsea, which she races with her husband Darren and Sue Brennan, was that she was in full work and ready to race immediately.
She had finished second in her previous start on February 24.
Her first outing for the new connections was the Warehouse Sales Bracelet C1 final, 1620m, at Bendigo on March 9.
In a promising start for the new chapter in her career, Chasing Chelsea finished second to Ponder In Paris.
The daughter of Riverboat King has had seven starts since for a win at Cranbourne, two seconds and a third, and Fitzpatrick could not happier.
She is hoping Chasing Chelsea can continue her consistent run in the Harness Breeders Victoria C1 Pace for mares, 1710m, in Ballarat tonight, but concedes it is no easy task.
As well as drawing outside the front row, she runs into group 1 winner Hexham Heartbeat.
Smythes Creek trainer Emma Stewart is giving the 2012 Vicbred Super Series three-year-old fillies’ champion her first start since June last year.
Hexham Heartbeat has had just one racing campaign for three wins and five minor placings in 10 starts
Meanwhile, Fitzpatrick has no plans to make training pacers a habit.
Her small team remains predominantly trotters.
“I don’t know why it is. I just love them.”
