SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Conners gets the votes as form trainer

Craig Young - November 22, 2008

RUNNING for local council certainly hasn't stopped Marc Conners from training racehorses. The Warwick Farm-based, third-generation trainer has a team of 17 in work and has had 19 winners since the racing season opened on August 1.

"It has been a big team effort, I can't do it all myself," the son of four-time Golden Slipper winning-trainer Clarry Connerssaid yesterday. "We've got a good team behind me; good staff make a big difference. You've got to keep good staff.  We've got a team that has been with us a long time now."

Conners produced another city winner when Smokin' Jewel held off the hot favourite in the final race at Canterbury on Thursday night. Yesterday, Western Beau missed a place in the Goulburn Cup, while he has Racing Romance (Plenary Group Hcp) and Mr Clangtastic (Deloitte Hcp) engaged at Randwick today.

"Racing Romance has done a good job, it is the first time we've been able to give her a real good preparation," Conners said. "She is just learning to race. She'll come back and make the grade next time 'round."

While Conners has no doubt the best is to come from Racing Romance, the trainer believes the last-start Randwick 2400-metre winner goes into today's race with more than an outside chance.

"If she gets the right run from the good barrier, she can do the job again," he said.

Mr Clangtastic has been a wonderful performer for the western Sydney stable.

"He'll have this run and one more run and then go to Queensland for the Magic Millions Stayers Cup," Conners said. "He has been in work for a while. Actually, we had a few problems getting him right. He has ordinary feet, had an abscess about a month ago, but he is good at the moment, and he might be out of his grade but it is a good starting point.

"He is a good, honest horse and he likes the sting out of the ground."

Conners missed out on a spot on the council but his father-in-law gained one. He went in with a mindset of returning something to the community. The father of three hasn't ruled out another run.

You wonder how he finds time for such pursuits, especially when the vote gathering took place with the football season winding up. Conners and wife Michelle have two daughters, Mikaela and Mia, and a son, Mitchell. Three young football stars and, at some stage, their father has coached them all.

Grading season is about to take place for the football, and when asked if the coach would be reapplying for a job, Conners replied: "I don't know which one I'll be coaching but I'll coach one of them."

Anyway, the extra workload hasn't stopped the Conners team from firing up. The 19 winners have Conners ensconced in the top 10 trainers in the state, and the workload isn't about to be eased off. "When you are winning races people are seeing you do something," Conners said. "If you are winning races, money keeps flowing through the business, to the owners' pockets. If you're not winning, money is only coming out of the owners' pockets.

"We've got a great group of owners. A lot have been with us for five to 10 years now."

The dearest horse Conners has purchased is yet to race. It is a three-year-old half-brother to the Caulfield Cup third-placegetter Barbaricus.

"I bought him for $150,000 at the Magic Millions a couple of years ago," Conners said, admitting it was a huge gamble. "He is a three-year-old now and has just been gelded. He was a horse that wanted extra time so he has had that now."

Another set to return to the track is Star Of Crown. The filly was the state's leading earner of BOBS prizemoney last season with $98,000 in bonuses.

For Conners, the hard work continues.

Wyong Race Club News

Narrow win to Prince Of Prague   
16/10/2008 12:00:00 PM (Local News) 

Heavily backed favourite, Prince Of Prague, gave supporters a few moments of concern before getting up in the last few bounds to win the Australian Fleet Sales Gosford Maiden (1350m).
The Marc Conners trained three year old, ridden by Craig Agnew, settled perfectly in fourth place but had to pull out all stops in the straight to grab the leader Oakfield Pride (Tye Angland) on the line to win by half a neck.
It was a good effort by the Darren Smith trained Oakfield Pride, a four year old having only his third race start.
The big run in the race came from the Stephen Schofield trained Words Of Wisdom (Patrick Ferris).
He came from last to finish third, beaten only a half neck and a short head.
"That's the first time he has not pulled in a race," Schofield said.
"I took the blinkers off and it appears to have worked."

By Grahame Timbrell

Stella takes command and shakes up bookies  
16/10/2008 12:00:00 PM (Local News) 

Bookmakers, hit earlier in the day when the heavily backed Lilli Bank won, were licking their wounds again after Stella Command won the Brentwood Village Kincumber Rating 65 (1200m) to give Marc Conners a double.
Stella Command, ridden by Robert Agnew, was backed in from $6.60 to $4.40 second favourite and won with authority.
Conners said Stella Command has shown plenty of promise early in her career before losing form.
"However this time in she is back to her old self," Conner said.
"She is only a pony but she has plenty of heart.
"There are no special plans."
Stella Command won by three quarters of a length from the Hawkes trained first starter MountDifficulty, an easing favourite with Mysecretdancer a further neck away third.

By Grahame Timbrell 

Wyong Race Club News

Ganderton gets the Prince home with clever ride   
28/10/2008 12:00:00 PM (Local News) 

A clever ride by apprentice Daniel Ganderton aboard Prince Of Prague won him the Blutongue Pat Hart Memorial Class One (1350m), a race which was also a heat of the Rising Star Series for apprentices.
It also gave Ganderton and Warwick Farm trainer Marc Conners the second leg of winning doubles.
Ganderton was not happy with the pace and took off 600 metres from home, circling the field and laying down a challenge to the heavily backed favourite and leader Watch The Tele (Nathan Berry)
Watch The Tele had no answer in the last two hundred metres and Prince of Prague bounded away to beat that horse by two lengths with Roman Interlude (Patrick Murphy) a further two and a half lengths away third.
Conners said the ride by Ganderton was not part of a pre race plan.
"It was a great move but you have to leave the initiative up to the rider," Conners said.
Ganderton has earlier won the Jack Daniels Maiden (1350m) on the Gai Waterhouse trained Impressionist whole Conners had earlier won the Penfolds Class Two (1600m) with Mossurmi, ridden by Craig Agnew.
Conners said Mossurmi had appreciated the solid pace up front.
"That was exactly what the horse needed," Conners said.
"He is a horse that likes the speed on and we have to look around for races for him where he is going to get those sort of conditions."
Agnew allowed Mossurmi to settle off the pace as Ganderton tried to lead all the way on the Gai Waterhouse trained favourite Baby Belle.
However the Port Macquarie trained Proceedings (Tye Angland) sat just off Baby Belle and took the lead in the straight.
Proceedings looked set to win at any old price until Mossurmi grabbed him near the line to score by a long neck.

By Grahame Timbrell