Tamworth Harness Racing Club hosted its second meeting of the year on Sunday at the Tamworth Paceway where a Narrabri-trained pacer tasted victory for the first time.

Four-year-old brown gelding Rintin started for Narrabri trainer Jarred Hetherington for just the second time on Sunday and raced to a three-metre win.

Rintin, which was driven by Murray Sullivan, started the eighth and final race of the evening one out from the inside on the second row wearing the number eight saddlecloth.

In the 1609-metre Www.thepub.com.au Pace, the winless Rintin started alongside nine other pacers which were yet to earn a victory.

It was Rintin which would get the job done with a classy run.

At the 400-metre mark, the David Munsie-trained, Courtney Sutherland-driven Uncle Gregory led the way.

He led fifth-placed Rintin by about seven lengths, with three other pacers including the Roy Roots Junior-trained, Leonard Cain-driven favourite Marley Bromac hot on the leaders’ heels.

As the leader entered the final lap, Rintin had closed the gap and began to move wide to make his way past the four-pacer pack.

With half a circuit left to run, Rintin had overtaken three of the four pacers in front of him including Marley Bromac, and he had joined Uncle Gregory at the front.

Rintin then established a lead as he approached the final turn which he would never give up.

He held off the fast-finishing Jake Mitchell-trained, Brad Elder-driven Ghostly Courage to win by three metres, and eventually ran home more than 13 metres ahead of Uncle Gregory.

Rintin joined the Hetherington stable in December having only raced eight times previously for former trainer Bernie Hewitt who owns the four-year-old gelding.

Rintin only raced to a top-three finish once during those eight outings, back on Sunday, July 5, 2020, at Parkes, when Bernie’s son Doug drove him to third place.

In his first race for Hetherington back on Wednesday, December 23, 2020, Rintin placed third and finished eight metres behind second-placed Uncle Gregory.

Hetherington told The Courier that, following his win on Sunday, the gelding now was on the market and would soon move on to a different trainer.

Hetherington said that his goal for 2021 was to finish with more wins than last year.

“Last year was a bit disappointing, we finished with 22 wins and our goal is always to get to 25-30 wins,” Hetherington said.

“So that’s the goal this year, getting to the 25-30-win mark.

“It’s all about placing the right horses in the right races, there’s no point placing them in races that are just going to tire them out for no reason.”

To order photos from this page click here