Local pacer Kid Montana races to Albion Park win

Narrabri-owned-and-trained pacer Kid Montana has started the 2019-20 harness racing season in scintillating fashion, culminating in an Albion Park win on Saturday evening.

It was a victory that part owner and trainer Peter Shepherdson labelled as the four-year-old gelding’s “most thrilling” victory yet.

Kid Montana, owned by Narrabri’s Nathan and Charles Dicks, Peter, Chris and Garry Shepherdson and Neil Drysdale, can no longer race locally after being graded too high for races at the Tamworth Harness Racing Club following three straight wins in July and August this year.

It was a situation that forced the local owners to try their luck elsewhere.

That led to the Kid Montana racing at the prestigious Albion Park Harness Racing Club for the first time on August 31 to finish the 2018-19 season.

In his first race at the metropolitan track he finished ninth, however he quickly adapted to the new surroundings.

In his next race at that venue on Saturday, September 14, which was his first start this season, Kid Montana placed third after starting from pole position across the 1660-metre distance.

The in-form brown gelding returned to the Albion Park track on Saturday where he started one in on the second row in the first race of the evening.

After getting off to a great start he and driver Nathan Dawson sat two back in the racing lane in sixth position for the majority of the race before taking off with about 400 metres to go in the 2138-metre TAB qualifying pace.

Kid Montana entered the final straight running alongside the Michael Tenardi-trained-and-driven Top Flight Cruize which had led for the majority of the race.

But Kid Montana was just too good at the death once again, flying down the final straight to a six-and-a-half-length win from the race’s $3.20 favourite Fortyeightheson, driven by Lola Weidemann, which started from pole position.

He secured the victory with his sixth best mile rate in 34 starts, a 1:55.8.

The victory was not only Kid Montana’s first at the Albion Park track, but it was his first at any metropolitan event.

“It’s the most thrilling of his wins because it’s his first metropolitan win,” said trainer and part owner Peter Shepherdson.

“As a trainer and owner you always hope that you have a horse good enough to go to the city and he is one that got there. You always look to be racing at the better tracks with the better prizemoney but some people just don’t get there.

“We are lucky enough that we have got there.

“At this stage we are planning to go back up there on Saturday week because we can’t get any races around here any more because he is too high a grade now.

“We’ve now got to be looking at Menangle or Albion Park and occasionally there will be one pop up at Newcastle.

“His next race [at Albion Park] will probably be a band five race now.”

Shepherdson said that driver Nathan Dawson drove Kid Montana superbly.

“It was a perfect drive,” Shepherdson said.

“[Kid Montana] nearly got into trouble as he worked his way out, but he settled down and kept forging ahead.

“The finish is what he’s good at, it’s how he’s won most of his races, he’s got a blistering sprint and he can maintain it over a pretty fair distance.”