By MIKE DILLON
Aaron Wheadon's eyes are always smiling, even though racing's Lady Luck has hardly smiled on him in the past couple of years.
In fact, she seems to have gone out of her way to make life tough.
So there were plenty of handshakes in the jockeys' room after Wheadon rode Kate Lorimer to victory in the 10th Birthday of Starship 1200 at Avondale on Saturday, his first win since the middle of last year.
Wheadon knows what it means to be able to shake hands. The former Takanini apprentice spent 18 months in agony after having his fingers squashed in the starting stalls at Paeroa.
He came back to ride a few winners, using the last of his apprentice allowance claim, but when opportunities dried up he headed to Australia where wins were also hard to come by.
Wheadon, who has been back home now for a couple of months, said there was no feeling like winning races.
The sentiments were echoed by Kate Lorimer's trainer, David Medcalfe, who is down to just the one horse in his stable.
There is not a lot of Kate Lorimer, but she shows plenty of fight in the final stages of her races and looked good dashing away from the opposition late on Saturday.
Jaiapeno went out favourite on the strength of first-day rider Sarah Kelly's 4.5kg apprentice allowance, but after having every chance, wilted in the closing 300m to be six lengths off the winner.
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Vinny Colgan was pretty sure Vee For Victory had got up in the last stride to beat Myoka in Saturday's $20,000 Streamline Freight Winter Cup at Avondale.
He became certain when Myoka's rider Michael Coleman swore at him.
"It's not printable what Mickey said," laughed Colgan as Coleman congratulated him back in the jockeys' room.
It wasn't until they lifted their sore heads off the pillows yesterday morning that the hard-case ownership syndicate realised for sure that they had won Saturday's feature.
Syndicate manager, former jumps rider Trevor Harrison, could not indulge in the immediate after-race celebrations, having to return to his job as a valuable member of the barrier staff, but joined his six mates on Saturday night.
Missing from that celebration was Vee For Victory's Matamata trainer, Karen Fursdon, who left for Australia on Friday with her family for the school holidays.
Vee For Victory may be only four weeks away from turning six, but she looks to have a future a bit beyond what you would expect.
It was a smart run by the victor. There was a lot to admire about the way she sprinted in Saturday's tough footing to catch Myoka, who had looked certain to win, after clearing a pocket late in the race.
Racing: Sweet comeback from crushing moment
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