Rainbow Flat trainer Tess Wilkes achieved a rare feat at the Christmas Party Race Day at Tuncurry on Monday, training five-year-old bay gelding Phylave to his third win on the trot.
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Phylave won by half a length in the 2100m Tuncurry Beach Bowling Club Benchmark 58 Handicap, improving on a winning streak that began in November with victories at Grafton and Taree.
Mrs Wilkes said it was the first time in nearly 20 years she'd trained a horse to three wins in a row and believed the feat was made even more remarkable by Phylave's past results.
"He's won three in a row but it took him so long to win," she said.
"It took him 30-odd starts to win his maiden - it's pretty unbelievable."
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Mrs Wilkes said the horse was "a bit of a nutter" when she first got him and had taken a while to mature, but it was all starting to come together now.
"He's always had a little bit of ability but it's just taken a little while for the penny to drop," she said.
"He's just learned how to win."
Mrs Wilkes also believed the soft sand training she'd been putting Phylave through had contributed to his good form.
"I think it has strengthened him up," she said.
Sydney jockey Alysha Collett rode Phylave to victory at both Tuncurry and Taree, and Mrs Wilkes said she deserved credit for getting the best out of the horse.
"She's a real good rider," she said.
Beyond this latest win, Mrs Wilkes admitted she would have to start taking Phylave to provincial races where he would face tougher competition, but she was keen to see how he would go.
She said she was considering starting him at Newcastle on Boxing Day.
"I'd love him to win some more," she said.
And given Phylave has just started to find his feet and is enjoying the lifestyle he leads on the Mid North Coast, Mrs Wilkes believes he's got a couple of good years of racing left in him.
"He'll race until he's seven or eight, I reckon," she said.
"The lifestyle they've got here makes them race longer."
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