Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Former problem pacer Miki Windermere has turned over a new leaf and he made a successful debut on the Gloucester Park circuit and at his first appearance under lights, when he gave reinsman Stuart McDonald a few concerns before scoring an easy win in the $21,000 Foton Media Autumn Series Pace on Friday night.
He was the $2.20 favourite from the outside barrier (No. 9) on the front line and settled down in seventh position while $8.50 chance Alreddy Flyin was setting a slow pace with a casual lead time of 38.5sec. and two opening quarters of 30.3sec.
Stuart McDonald sent Miki Windermere forward to the breeze after 700m before the WA-bred four-year-old took a narrow lead with 270m to travel.
After a third quarter of 29.4sec. Miki Windermere covered the final 400m in a modest 30.6sec. before winning by two lengths from the $5 chance Shalini, who rattled home from eighth at the bell.
“I’m happy with the way he went,” said McDonald. “He is just green; he didn’t want to get to the breeze, and he didn’t want to go past the leader.”
Miki Windermere is trained in Bunbury by Steve De Campo, who races the horse in partnership with his daughter Lara, her husband Reon Tither, Jeff Wright and Daid Cross. Miki Windermere is the first pacer bred by Lara Tither, whose husband, an accountant, has driven winners in New Zealand and in WA.
De Campo also trained Miki Windermere’s dam B D Windermere, a winner of four races in New Zealand who had eight starts in WA for one placing, a second to Glow Bright after setting the pace in a race at Gloucester Park on September 29, 2017.
B D Windermere’s full-brother Watching Our Coin has earned $196,110 from 13 wins and 20 placings from 59 starts. He was sold to race in America after having 21 starts in WA for trainer Michael Young for ten wins and seven placings in 2023 and 2024.
De Campo revealed that Miki Windermere is a work in progress, saying: “Initially, I couldn’t get him to pace; he kept on breaking up on me. Now he is just starting to put things together. He was brushing his knees and needs to race with spreaders.”